John Cairney, 'The Man Who Played Robert Burns' is an actor, writer, lecturer and football fan. After National Service 1948-50 Cairney enrolled at the Glasgow College of Drama and the University of Glasgow simultaneously, graduating in drama in 1953. In 1989 he gained an MLitt from Glasgow University for a History of Solo Theatre and in 1994 a PhD from Victoria University, Wellington for his study of R.L. Stevenson and Theatre. Cairney's professional association with Burns began in 1965 with the one man show, There Was A Man by Tom Wright. In 1968 he wrote and starred in a six-part serial of the Burns story for Scottish Television, Burns. From 1975-79 his company Shanter Productions organised a Burns festival in Ayr. From 1974-81 he toured the world with his solo version of The Robert Burns Story and from 1981-85 he toured with his wife, New Zealand actress Alannah O'Sullivan, in The Burns Experience. In 1986 Shanter Productions presented the first full-length modern Burns musical There Was A Lad. In 1996 in commemoration of the Burns International Year a video, Robert Burns: An Immortal Memory, was issued, written and narrated by Cairney. Prior to and interspersed between these performances he played a multitude of other characters on stage, radio, television and film. His films include Jason and the Argonauts, Victim and A Night to Remember. His theatre work includes Cyrano de Bergerac at Newcastle; C. S. Lewis in Shadowlands at the Court Theatre, Christchurch as well as Murder in the Cathedral and Macbeth at the Edinburgh Festival. On television he played the lead in This Man Craig as well as appearing in many other popular series. Since 1990 Cairney has lived in Auckland, New Zealand. He has written two autobiographies and is still very much in demand as a lecturer, writer and consultant on all aspects of Burns.
