Ford John Kiernan (born 10 January 1962) is a Scottish comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his work with

Greg Hemphill Gregory Edward Hemphill (born 14 December 1969) is a Scottish-Canadian comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his work with Ford Kiernan on the BBC Scotland comedy series ''Chewin' The Fat'' (1999–2005) and ''Still Game'' ...

on the

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...

comedy series ''

Chewin' the Fat ''Chewin' the Fat'' is a Scottish comedy sketch show, starring Ford Kiernan, Greg Hemphill and Karen Dunbar. Comedians Paul Riley and Mark Cox also appeared regularly on the show among other actors such as Gregor Fisher and Tom Urie. ''Chewi ...

'' (1999–2005) and ''

Still Game ''Still Game'' is a Scottish sitcom, produced by The Comedy Unit with BBC Scotland. It was created by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who played the lead characters, Jack Jarvis, Esq and Victor McDade, two Glaswegian pensioners. The characte ...

'' (2002–2007, 2016–2019). He also starred as Archie Henderson in ''

Dear Green Place ''Dear Green Place'' is a Scottish comedy programme set in a park in central Glasgow. It first aired on 19 October 2007 on BBC One Scotland. The second series finished airing on 5 December 2008. The show was created by comedy actor Paul Riley, ...

'' (2007–2008) and as Colin Holliday in ''

Happy Hollidays ''Happy Hollidays'' is a Scottish television situation comedy, created and written by Simon Carlyle and Gregor Sharp, and broadcast by BBC Scotland. One series of the comedy was commissioned by BBC Scotland and the show was produced by Effinge ...

'' (2009).

Career

Kiernan first performed comedy in 1990 at the comedy club in the basement of the Blackfriars pub in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. He took up performing full-time in 1993. A run of successful solo jobs led to his being offered a slot in the

Edinburgh Comedy Festival Edinburgh Comedy Festival was a short-lived festival of comedy shows which operated during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2008 and 2009. Effectively a marketing campaign for the "Big Four" venues at the Fringe - Assembly (events promoter ...

in 1994, in a show called ''The Best Of Scottish Comedy'', alongside John Paul "JP" Leach and Alan Taylor. Leach and Kiernan teamed up as a double act during this festival, and had shows at the next two festivals, ''After Eight Mince'' and ''The Full Bhoona'', both at the

Gilded Balloon Gilded Balloon is a producer and promoter of live entertainment events, based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and best known as one of the Big Four venue operators at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe each August. The company has its origins in a venue kn ...

. Kiernan was one of the first performers at The Comedy Cellar, a comedy night started in 1993 by Ed Byrne in Glasgow. He co-wrote a play with JP Leach, ''Don't Start Me'', which won a Fringe First Award at the 1995

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

. Kiernan has also broadcast frequently on

BBC Radio Four BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

and

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 November 197 ...

Television

Kiernan wrote sketches for ''

Pulp Video Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...

'' (BBC Scotland 1995). Between 1999 and 2005 he was a writer for ''

'' and starred in it alongside

, both playing various roles.

Karen Dunbar Karen Dunbar (born 1 April 1971) is a Scottish comedian, actress and writer. She first appeared on television on the BBC Scotland sketch comedy series ''Chewin' the Fat'' (1999–2002), and was subsequently given her own show by the channel titl ...

, Paul Riley, and Mark Cox were also in the show. At first, it was shown only in Scotland, but the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

broadcast the third and fourth series throughout the UK. The spin-off ''

'' started in Scotland only but later reached a wider audience. Every episode of this show was co-written by Kiernan and Hemphill. In 1999 and 2000 Kiernan and Hemphill also scripted seven episodes for the children's TV series ''

Hububb Hububb is a Children's Television programme broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom, it was named after Les Bubb who also played the title character with the same name. The show ran from 1997 until 2001. Five series of the show were made. It ...

'', with Kiernan guest-starring in three episodes, including two of them written by other writers. In 2007 and 2008 Kiernan starred in ''

'', a

BBC One Scotland BBC One Scotland is a Scottish free-to-air television channel owned and operated by BBC Scotland and is a Scottish variation of the UK-wide BBC One. For all of the time the channel is referred to on screen as ''BBC One Scotland'', sometimes us ...

sitcom about park wardens. The show was co-written by Paul Riley and

Rab Christie Rab �âːb( dlm, Arba, la, Arba, it, Arbe, german: Arbey) is an island in the northern Dalmatia region in Croatia, located just off the northern Croatian coast in the Adriatic Sea. The island is long, has an area of and 9,328 inhabitants (2 ...

. In January 2009 Kiernan starred in ''No Holds Bard'', a one-off comedy special shown on BBC Scotland on

Burns Night A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), the author of many Scots poems. The suppers are normally held on or near the poet's birthday, 25 January, known as Burns Night ( sc ...

as part of a line-up of special programmes to mark the 250th birthday of

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

. Kiernan played a caravan park boss in the comedy ''

''. A pilot episode was shown on BBC 1 in early 2009 and a series was broadcast later in the year. In October 2011 Kiernan played

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

in ''

The Hunt for Tony Blair ''The Hunt for Tony Blair'' is a one-off episode of '' The Comic Strip Presents...'', a British television comedy, which was first shown on Channel 4 on 14 October 2011. The 49-minute film was written by Peter Richardson and Pete Richens and pr ...

'', a one-off episode of ''

The Comic Strip The Comic Strip are a group of British comedians who came to prominence in the 1980s. They are known for their television series ''The Comic Strip Presents...'', which was labelled as a pioneering example of the alternative comedy scene. The c ...

Presents...'' In 2011 and 2013, Kiernan played George McVie in '' The Field of Blood''. In 2016 he played Felix in ''Journey Bound''.

Films

Kiernan has had several

bit-part In acting, a bit part is a role in which there is direct interaction with the principal actors and no more than five lines of dialogue, often referred to as a five-or-less or under-five in the United States, or under sixes in British televisio ...

roles in films. In 1996 he starred alongside

Robert Carlyle Robert Carlyle (born 14 April 1961) is a Scottish actor. His film work includes '' Trainspotting'' (1996), ''The Full Monty'' (1997), ''The World Is Not Enough'' (1999), ''Angela's Ashes'' (1999), '' The Beach'' (2000), ''28 Weeks Later'' (20 ...

in ''

Carla's Song ''Carla's Song'' is a 1996 film directed by Ken Loach and written by Paul Laverty, that deals with the impact of the Contra War in Nicaragua. It is a United Kingdom–Spain–Germany co-production. Plot Set in 1987, Carla's Song tells the st ...

'' and in 2002 he played the role of Black Joke Chief in the

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

film ''

Gangs of New York ''Gangs of New York'' is a 2002 American epic historical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian and Kenneth Lonergan, based on Herbert Asbury's 1927 book ''The Gangs of New York''. The film stars Le ...

''. Kiernan lends his voice to the character of Banjo Barry in the animated film ''

Sir Billi ''Sir Billi'' (also known as ''Guardian of the Highlands'') is a 2012 British computer-animated adventure comedy film directed by Sascha Hartmann and written by his wife Tessa Hartmann, based on an original story they developed together. Produc ...

''. The film was released in 2012. In 2012 Kiernan starred in the film '' Song for Amy''. He has also starred in short films such as ''The Taxidermist'' and ''Perfect''. In 2020, Kieran played the role of Gavin in the American comedy movie '' Then Came You'', alongside

Craig Ferguson Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish-born American comedian, actor, writer, and television host. He is best known for hosting the CBS late-night talk show ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' (2005–2014), for which he won a ...

who had appeared with Kiernan in ''Still Game'' three years earlier.

Filmography

Personal life

Born in

Shettleston, Glasgow Shettleston ( sco, Shuttlestoun, gd, Baile Nighean Sheadna) is a district in the east end of Glasgow in Scotland. Toponymy The origin of the name 'Shettleston' is not clear and, like many place-names of possibly medieval origin, has had a multi ...

, Kiernan was educated at Alexandra Parade Primary School and Whitehill Secondary School. He then went on to train as a tailor and work as a barman at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. In January 2014 Ford's 12-year-old son Sonny was found dead in the family home. The cause of death was choking. The stage show ''Still Game Live'' was dedicated to Sonny later that year.

References

External links

* *
Gazetter for Scotland biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiernan, Ford Living people 1962 births Male actors from Glasgow People from Dennistoun People educated at Whitehill Secondary School Scottish male comedians Scottish male film actors Scottish male television actors Comedians from Glasgow