
ĭuring his schooling, Heughan performed in numerous plays including The Twits at Citizens Theatre, an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, Aeschylus's Greek tragedy Prometheus Bound, and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. He subsequently spent two years working and travelling and was awarded a prestigious place at RSAMD, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) in Glasgow, graduating in 2003. Moving to Edinburgh at age twelve he attended James Gillespie's High School for a year and then the Edinburgh Rudolf Steiner School until the end of the sixth year. During this time he lived in converted stables in the grounds of Kenmure Castle. Īged five, Heughan moved from Balmaclellan to nearby New Galloway where he attended Kells Primary School. Sam's mother, Chrissie Heughan, an artist and artisan papermaker struggled to raise the two brothers after their father left when they were both young. Tolkien inspiring them to name Heughan and his older brother after characters from The Lord of the Rings.

His parents had been part of a hippie community in London called Gandalf's Garden which was heavily influenced by the works of J. Sam Roland Heughan was born on 30 April 1980 in the historic county of Dumfries and Galloway. The same year Heughan launched his own whisky brand, The Sassenach (named after his Outlander character's nickname for his wife, Claire ), winning consecutive double golds in the 20 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Heughan and his Outlander co-star Graham McTavish co-wrote Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other which reached number one on the New York Times ' Best Seller List for hardcover nonfiction, and combined print and e-book nonfiction in November 2020.

Among his numerous plays he was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Most Promising Performer for his performance in Outlying Islands performed at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs. Heughan has also starred in films such as the spy comedy The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018), The Empty Train, and the superhero action film Bloodshot (2020). He is best known for his starring role as Jamie Fraser in the Starz drama series Outlander (2014–present) for which he has won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Cable Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actor and the Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television, and received a nomination for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series. Sam Roland Heughan ( / ˈ h j uː ə n/ born 30 April 1980) is a Scottish actor, producer, author, and entrepreneur.
