Iain Robertson’s biography, net worth, fact, career, awards and life story

Iain Robertson (born 27 May 1981) is a BAFTA award winning Scottish actor.

He portrayed Lex in cult Glasgow gang film, Small Faces, though Robertson is also known for his work in the long-running children’s drama, Grange Hill and The Debt Collector, also starring Billy Connolly.

Robertson featured in Steven Spielberg’s Band of Brothers and played “Gash” in the cult British comedy Rab C. Nesbitt.

Early life

Robertson grew up in a family of seven in a tenement in Govan, Glasgow. He held no thoughts of becoming an actor until a primary school teacher pointed out his talent for drama.

Robertson has said: “growing up in Govan put fire in my belly, made me push harder and also appreciate the things that have come my way”.

At the age of 11, Robertson joined a local dramatic arts group. He set about producing his own play, co-written and directed by his friends. Soon after, he won a scholarship to the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London.

On winning the scholarship at the age of 12, Robertson appeared in British dramas Kavanagh Q.C., Silent Witness and Bramwell.

In 1995 Gillies Mackinnon cast Robertson as the lead in the award winning feature film Small Faces alongside Kevin McKidd, Laura Fraser and Claire Higgins. The film earned Robertson a Best Performance BAFTA.

Career

Robertson was once described by British film critic, Barry Norman, as “the best thing to come out of Scotland since whisky”. Robertson portrayed Craig Stevenson in the paranormal drama series Sea of Souls.

He also appeared in the big screen sequel Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction, alongside American actress Sharon Stone. In a prolific period, Robertson also took parts in the thriller The Contractor with Wesley Snipes. He joined the cast of Rab C. Nesbitt returning to the streets of his youth replacing Andrew Farlie as Nesbitt’s son Gash.

In 2012, Robertson starred with Simon Callow and Harry Enfield in the feature-length film Acts of Godfrey, a British comedy written entirely in verse.

Robertson has worked extensively in British theatre, most notably in the Millennium production of Bill Bryden’s The Mysteries at The Royal National Theatre and alongside Derek Jacobi in Michael Grandage’s production of The Tempest at the Old Vic theatre.

Subsequently, Robertson appeared as Spanky in a revival of John Byrne’s Slab Boys trilogy, and as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet at the Citizens’ Theatre. In 2009 he performed at the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh, in a theatre adaptation of James Hogg’s “Confessions of a Justified Sinner” .

During the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Robertson performed in D. C. Jackson’s My Romantic History at the Traverse Theatre.

Robertson also starred in a one-man show Angels by Ronan O’Donnell at the “Play, a Pie and a Pint” event in Glasgow. One critic described Robertson as giving ‘the performance of a lifetime’.

In 2011 he appeared in a revival of The Hard Man, a play concerning the life of the infamous Scottish criminal Jimmy Boyle.

Robertson starred with Dawn Steele on Sea of Souls, they had previously appeared together in The Slab Boys. He also worked with co-star Bill Paterson on the feature film The Match.

Personal life

Robertson divorced his wife Judith Milne in 2009, after three years of marriage. They had no children.

In 2006, Robertson was accused of assault against a photographer in Stirling. Robertson was acquitted of the charge.

Robertson is a prominent supporter of the Scottish National Party. He arranges a Burns Night for the First Minister of Scotland on a yearly basis.

Filmography

• Whisky Galore (2015)
• Pale Star (2015)
• Acts of Godfrey (2010)
• Rab C. Nesbitt (2008) (TV series)
• Next Time Ned (2009)
• The Contractor (2007)
• Basic Instinct 2 (2006)
• Casualty (2005) (TV series)
• Sea of Souls (2004) (TV series)
• One Last Chance (2004)
• Gunpowder, Treason & Plot (2003) (TV series)
• Taggart (2002) (TV series)
• Band of Brothers (2001) (miniseries)
• Watchmen (2001)
• Hereafter (2000) (TV series)
• Fat Chance (2000)
• Homesick (2000)
• Oliver Twist (1999) (miniseries)
• Rebus (1999) (TV series)
• The Match (1999)
• Poached (1998)
• Grange Hill (TV series) (1998)
• Plunkett & Macleane (1998)
• The Debt Collector (1998)
• Bramwell (1998) (TV series)
• Psychos (1998) (TV series)
• Trail By Jury (1997) (TV series)
• The Bill (1997) (TV series)
• Silent Witness (1996) (TV series)
• A Mugs Game (1996) (TV series)
• Bodyguards (1996) (TV series)
• Small Faces (1996)
• Kavanagh QC (1995) (TV series)

Selected theatre credits

• The Mysteries (1999) (Royal National Theatre)
• The Good Hope (2000) (Royal National Theatre)
• Romeo & Juliet (2006) (Citizens Theatre)
• Blood Wedding (2006) (Citizens Theatre)
• The Slab Boys Trilogy (2003) (Traverse Theatre)
• The Winters Tale (2000) (Royal National Theatre)
• The Tempest (2002) (Old Vic/Sheffield Crucible)
• Passing Places (2001) (Greenwich Theatre)
• Strangers, Babies (2006) (Traverse Theatre)
• Small Craft Warnings (2008) (Arcola Theatre)
• Confessions of a Justified Sinner (2009) (Royal Lyceum Theatre)
• Takin Over the Asylum (2013)
• Taming of the Shrew (2013)
• Lysistrata (2010)
• My Romantic History (2010) (Bush Theatre)

Selected radio credits

• McLevy: The Blue Gown (2011)
• An Audience with Ed Reardon (2010)
• The Sensitive (2010)
• My Blue Hen (2009)
• The Astronaut (2009)
• Tough Love (2008)
• Jimmy Murphy Makes Amends (2008)
• Rebus – Black & Blue (2008)
• Saturday, Sunday, Monday (2007)
• The Tenderness of Wolves (2007)
• Faust (2006)
• The Best Snow for Skiing (2005)
• Japanese Tales (2004)
• Soft Fall the Sounds of Eden (2004)
• Just Prose (2003)
• The Nativity (2003)
• The Passion (2003)
• The Prisoner of Papa Stour (1996)

Awards

• BAFTA (1996, for Small Faces)
• Ian Charleson Commendation (1999, for The Mysteries)
• Ian Charleson Award 3rd Prize (2002, for The Tempest)
• BAFTA (2005, for Sea of Souls)
• Edinburgh Fringe First (2010, for My Romantic History)