Scottish celebrities

Although Scotland is a region of England, it has an identity. Many celebrities are Scottish and they are proud of it.

Walter Scott :

Walter Scott was born in august the 15th 1771 and he died in September the 21st 1832. He was a Scottish historical novelist, playwrigh and poet. His works were recognized worldwide and had a profound influence on Romantic Scottish writers.

Walter Scott was born in Edinburgh. Son of a Scottish lawyer, he studied in his hometown. After starting as a lawyer, he began to write many poems. His first work, The Heart of Midlothian was published in 1792. With The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, he bagan to be famous.

However, since 1812, the glory of Lord Byron threatened his career. Thus, at the age of 25, he started to write novels. With Ivanhoe in 1820, he reached the pinnacle of fame. In one of his famous novels, Quentin Durward in 1823, he described the France of Louis XI.

Thanks to him, the use of the kilt and tartan is traditional, indeed its port was banned by Act of Parliament

William Wallace :

William Wallace was a Scottish landowner who became one of the main leaders during the Wars of Scottish Independence. He died in august the 23rd in 1305; sentenced to death for high treason against his sovereign, the king of england.

We do not know his date of birth and the beginning of his life. It measured about two meters, he had muscular legs and arms. The legend of William Wallace may be based on reality.

He was also the subject of literary works by Sir Walter Scott. The game « Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings » has been inspired by him.

Bob Roy :

Robert Roy MacGregor was christened in March the 7st in 1671. He was nicknamed «Rob Roy» or « Red MacGregor ». He was a outlaw and a Scottish folk hero of the early eighteenth century, known as «Robin des Bois».

After the confiscation of its land by the Duke, Rob Roy fought against him until 1722, when he was forced to surrender. Imprisoned, he was finally pardoned, en1727.

The legend of Robert Roy MacGregor inspired the novel Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott.

Robert Louis Stevenson :

Robert Louis Stevenson was born in november the 13rd in 1850 in Edinburgh. He was a Scottish writer and a great traveler.

He is famous thanks to his novels Treasure Island (1883), Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) and Kidnapped (1886). A literary celebrity during his lifetime, Stevenson now ranks among the 26 most translated authors in the world.

Suffering from tuberculosis, Stevenson travels the world in search of a warmer climate. Between 1880 and 1887, Stevenson searched in vain for a place of residence suitable to his state of health. He spent his summers at various places in Scotland and England. When his father died in 1887, Stevenson wanted to live in Colorado. Always to escape the symptoms of the disease, he settled in Samoa, and spent his last years.

Arthur Conan Doyle :

Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born in may the 22nd in 1859 in Edinburg. He was a Scottish doctor, author and poet, and is most notably famous for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes.

The first Sherlock Holmes short story called, A Scandal in Bohemia, appeared in The Strand Magazine in 1891. These novels were so successful and the stories were followed by everyone, Conan Doyle had to give up his medical career and focus on his writing. He was tired of his own creation and in 1894 he killed Holmes in The Final Problem. He was inundated with letters of protest. Thus, he decided to revive the character of Holmes, who appeared in numerous short stories over the next 23 years.

But Conan Doyle didn't spend his time to wrote Sherlock Holmes short story. He wrote several popular works of historic fiction, including Micah Clarke (1888), The White Company (1890), Rodney Stone (1896), and Sir Nigel (1906). He gave more importance to these new books than to Sherlock Holmes's story.

He was politically engaged, he served as a doctor in the Boer War ( British Empire against the independent of Boer republics ). On his return, he wrote two books defending England's participation in this conflict. He received the knighthood in 1902 for these books, this is why it is called Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died on July 7, 1930, at the age of 71. He is buried in the churchyard at Minstead, near Southampton in the South of England. A statue honors Conan Doyle at Crowborough Cross. His house is trying to be preserved by fans.

Sean Connery :

Sean Connery is an actor, born 25 August 1930 in Edinburgh in Scotland. He is famous because he played the role of James Bond seven times. He won numerous awards, including an Oscar, a BAFTA the same year and two Golden Globes.

Sean Connery came from a modest backgroung. His mother was a cleaning lady and his father wasa factory worker and truck driver. During his childhood, he had many different jobs such as a lorry driver, a laborer, artist's model. When he xas 23, he had a choice between becoming a professional footballer or an actor and he chose acting.

Les criminels de Londres, in 1957 was Sean's first major movie role. He turned in severals others films. His big breakthrough came in 1962 when he started to be the secret agent James Bond in 1962 in the film James Bond against Dr. No. He played James Bond in six more films.

Connery managed to make other films besides Bond. He has maintained a successful career as an actor and has appeared in films.

But his fame allows him especially advocate for the independence of his homeland. He even became the main contributor to the Scottish National Party.

Voted "Sexiest Man of the Century" by People magazine in 1999, he runs the happy days in the Bahamas with his French wife Micheline Roquebrune.

James Clark :

James Clark was born on March 4, 1936 at Kilmany in Scotland and died on April 7, 1968 during a Formula 2 race at Hockenheim in Germany. He was a Scottish racing driver. His brief career in the 1960s marked the history of motorsport.

He won two titles of world champion in 1963 and 1965.

John Logie Baird :

John Logie Baird was born in 1888 and died in 1946. He was from Helensbugh. He pioneered the invention of television. In 1925, he successfully demonstrated a machine which converted light reflected from an object into a varying electric current. This experiment heralded a revolution in communication and entertainment.

William Thomson :

William Thomson was born in 1824 and died in 1907. He was Prodessor of Natural Philosophy at Glasgow University for over fifty years. He was a distinguished physicist, engineer and inventor, writing overs 600 scientific papers and filinf more than 70 patents. He developed the transatlantic telegraph cable.

There are many others Scottish celebrities, like Susan Boyle, the music group Texas or Travis...