James MacPherson

Who is James MacPherson?

James MacPherson is a Scottish actor, best-known for his role as Detective Chief Inspector Michael Jardine in the STV drama, Taggart.

MacPherson was raised in South Lanarkshire. He left Hamilton Grammar School at 17 and got a job as a laboratory technician at the Institute of Neurosciences at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow. Part of his job was to collect brain samples for experimentation. MacPherson worked in the lab for five years and met his future wife Jacqueline while he was there.

MacPherson went for an interview to be a police officer, but soon realised that he did not have the requisite personality for the job. It was then that his thoughts turned to acting. He joined an amateur dramatic group in Motherwell, before moving on to a repertory theatre in East Kilbride and a place in drama school.

It was after MacPherson landed the part of Hugh Hamilton in Citizens on BBC Radio 4 that his television career began to take off. While he was based in London MacPherson auditioned for a part in the children's series Dramarama, but was unsuccessful.