James Mackenzie (actor)

Last updated

James Mackenzie
James mackenzie raven (cropped).jpg
Mackenzie as Raven in 2009
Born (1979-05-15) 15 May 1979 (age 44)
Dundee, Scotland
Alma mater Queen Margaret University College
Occupation(s)Actor and game show host
Years active1995–present [1]
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Website http://www.jamesmackenzie.co.uk

James Mackenzie (born 15 May 1979) is a Scottish actor and game show host, best known for playing the original lead role in the children's game show Raven . His titular character's catchphrase on the show was "Let the challenge... Begin." He has also played Gary Trenton in the BBC Scotland soap opera River City . Since 2018, Mackenzie has played a widower father in the CBeebies show Molly and Mack .

Contents

Personal life

Mackenzie was born in Dundee and has lived in Scotland all his life. He was educated at Queen Margaret University College, where he studied acting. [1] He is the son of actor Michael Mackenzie, who in the 1970s played the title role of Tarot in Ace of Wands , a cult children's TV series of the time; [2] Mackenzie Sr. also made several appearances in Raven: The Island as Cyrus, as well as in River City, with Mackenzie playing the character Alasdair Quinn. [2]

Career

His television career has mainly focused on the Raven series, but he has also appeared in several other television programmes, such as Rebus , Taggart , [3] CBBC series Dani's House and Scottish soap opera River City . His stage career over the years has spanned everything from Macbeth to pantomime. His voice can also be heard on many commercial voiceovers. [4] Mackenzie toured the UK with Dundee Rep's production of Sunshine on Leith , [5] a musical based on the songs of the Proclaimers, starring alongside The Lord of the Rings' Billy Boyd. [6]

As well as his acting work, he has also presented for CBBC on a couple of occasions, and appeared as a special guest presenter on the CBBC art show, SMart . [7] He currently has a part on Molly and Mack as a widower father, and played a convict called Caleb in season 4 of Outlander. [8]

Filmography

Television
YearTitleRole
1997–1999 Taggart Keith Burns
2001 Rebus Pete
2002–2010 Raven Raven
2017–2018Raven of Old
2006 Still Game Leader of the Neds
2006 Raven: The Island Raven
2007 Raven: The Secret Temple Raven
2009 Raven: The Dragon's Eye Raven
2011–2012 Dani's House Zorlock
2015–2017 River City Gary Trenton
2018– Molly and Mack James
2018–2019 Outlander Caleb
2019 Swashbuckle Al-Hoy
2024A Scottish Love SchemeRory

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Boyd (actor)</span> Scottish actor and musician

William Nathan Boyd, professionally known as Billy Boyd, is a Scottish actor and musician. He played Peregrin "Pippin" Took in Peter Jackson's epic film trilogy The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003), Barret Bonden in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) and Glen and Glenda in the Child's Play film Seed of Chucky (2004) and second season of the television series Chucky (2022).

Alexander Morton is a Scottish actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Mackenzie</span> Scottish singer (1957–1997)

William MacArthur MacKenzie was a Scottish singer and songwriter, known for his distinctive high tenor voice. He was the co-founder and lead vocalist of post-punk and new wave band the Associates. He also had a brief solo career releasing his debut studio album, Outernational, in 1992, his only solo album released during his lifetime.

Devon Carlo Anderson is an English actor. Anderson's roles include Billie Jackson in EastEnders and Sonny Valentine in Hollyoaks.

<i>River City</i> Glasgow-based soap opera

River City is a Scottish television soap opera created by Stephen Greenhorn which has been broadcast on BBC One Scotland since 24 September 2002. Since 2019, the show has aired episodes a day earlier on the new BBC Scotland channel. Set in the fictional district of Shieldinch in the west end of Glasgow, River City follows the lives of the local residents and their families as they go about their day-to-day lives. From its inception in 2002, the soap struggled to grasp viewers' approval, but would gradually see a rise in popularity. In 2023, the soap won 'Best Drama' at the Royal Television Society Scotland awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Corkhill</span> Soap opera character

Jimmy Corkhill is a fictional character from Brookside, played by Dean Sullivan, who joined the series in 1986. Jimmy originally appeared on a recurring basis appearing alongside his brother, Billy, before becoming a regular character, featured in major storylines, and remained in the show until its end 17 years later. He is cited as one of the show's most popular characters, and was the longest-featured character. Jimmy has often been cited as a lovable rogue by television critics.

Samuel Robertson is a Scottish actor and model. He is best known for portraying Adam Barlow in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, and Flynn in the E4 comedy-drama series Beaver Falls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Abbott</span> Soap opera character

Billy Abbott is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless, an American soap opera on the CBS network. Created by William J. Bell as the son of John Abbott and Jill Abbott, the character is currently portrayed by Jason Thompson. The character is known for being a "spoiled rich boy," a "screw up," and for his gambling addictions and consumption of alcohol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Media of Scotland</span>

There are several types of mass media in Scotland: television, cinema, radio, newspapers, magazines, game design and websites. The majority of Scotland's media is located in Glasgow, the countries largest city, which serves as the HQ for much of the countries major media employers such as broadcasters BBC Scotland and STV, radio services including BBC Radio Scotland, Clyde 1 and Pure Radio Scotland. Game design and production company, Rockstar North, has its international offices in the countries capital city, Edinburgh.

Amy Louise Robbins is an English stage, film and TV actress best known for her role as Dr. Jill Weatherill in the British television series The Royal. Before this, she played Police Sergeant Rachel James in the BBC One hospital drama Casualty. Robbins has appeared in many TV series including Emmerdale, EastEnders, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks, Holby City, World's End, Where the Heart Is, Happiness, My Hero, Heartbeat, Dalziel and Pascoe, The Slammer, Doctors, People Like Us and Noah's Ark.

Stephen Greenhorn is a Scottish playwright and screenwriter. He is the creator of the BBC Scotland soap opera River City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mackenzie Browning</span> Soap opera character

Mackenzie Browning is a fictional character from the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. The role was most recently portrayed by Kelly Kruger, who portrayed the role from February 19, 2002, to July 1, 2003, and from March 28, 2018, to January 11, 2019. Previously, the role was portrayed by Ashley Bashioum from 1999 to 2002 and 2004 to 2005, Nicole Tarantini temporarily in 2001, Rachel Kimsey from 2005 to 2006 and Clementine Ford from 2009 to 2010.

Lindsay McKenzie is a Scottish actress who starred in BBC One children's show, Raven: The Island, playing the part of Princess Erina. She attended Kilmarnock Academy and then went to study acting at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clementine Ford</span> American actress

Clementine Shepherd Ford is an American actress known for her appearance as Molly Kroll on Showtime's The L Word. In April 2009, she joined the cast of the soap opera The Young and the Restless in the role of Mackenzie Browning. She left the show in 2010.

Juliet Cadzow is a Scottish film and television actress. She played Edie McCredie in the children's television series Balamory, Suzie Fraser in BBC series River City and various roles in BBC series Still Game.

Mackenzie is a unisex given name. It is derived from the Scottish surname, from the Gaelic MacCoinnich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Episode 4466</span> EastEnders episode

Episode 4466 of the BBC soap opera EastEnders was broadcast on BBC One on 23 July 2012, between 9pm and 9.30pm. It was written by Matt Evans, directed by Clive Arnold, and executively produced by Lorraine Newman. It included seven minutes of live footage, during which the character of Billy Mitchell, played by Perry Fenwick, carried the Olympic Torch as an official torch bearer as part of the official torch relay for the London 2012 Olympic Games, and Lola Pearce, played by Danielle Harold, gave birth to her daughter. The storyline for the episode was announced in November 2011, with the fact that Lola would give birth being reported in July 2012. The episode received positive reviews, with Karen Edwards from Heat calling it "special" and praising Harold's performance, and Jane Rackham from the Radio Times calling it "highly topical", though Boyd Hilton from Heat felt that Billy's torch bearing was a "gimmick" and the whole episode should have been live. It was watched by an average of 7.32 million people on its initial broadcast. It was accompanied by a special, one-off BBC Red Button episode called "Billy's Olympic Nightmare". The episode received an All About Soap award nomination for Best Episode, under the name "Billy and the Olympic Torch", and a British Soap Award nomination for "Spectacular Scene of the Year", both in 2013.

Shane O'Meara is an Irish actor, known for his roles as Connor Mulgrew in the BBC One school-based drama series Waterloo Road and Sean Donoghue in the BBC medical soap opera, Doctors.

Aisha Toussaint is a Seychellois-Scottish actress and presenter. From 2017 to 2018, she portrayed the role of Jules Belmont in River City and in 2017, she began presenting the CBBC series Raven.

Molly and Mack is a British children's television series that began airing on CBeebies in 2018. It ran for five seasons.

References

  1. 1 2 "James Mackenzie" . Retrieved 27 November 2007.
  2. 1 2 Fotheringham, Ann (25 January 2019). "From Raven to Rabbie - James Mackenzie on his acting journey". Glasgow Times. Gannett Company. Newsquest Media Group. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  3. "James Mackenzie is Scotland's new fantasy pin-up". 2 December 2002. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  4. "The Spotlight: JAMES MACKENZIE". Archived from the original on 6 July 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2007.
  5. "James Mackenzie |Brennan Artists". Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  6. "Billy Boyd Interview with The Proclaimers" . Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  7. "CBBC Episode Listing" . Retrieved 6 September 2009.
  8. Truscott, Isabelle (28 November 2019). ""Let the Challenge Begin!" - Raven star takes on Sahara". Peeblesshire News. Gannett Company. Newsquest Media Group. Retrieved 21 March 2021.