Frank Gilhooley, a Scottish actor, was born and raised in Loanhead, a mining town in central Scotland. He never aspired to become an actor, instead, he pursued a career as a landscape contractor, starting his own business in the early 1990s. Frank has been married to his childhood sweetheart, Angela, since 1993, and they have three young sons together.
Frank's entry into acting was accidental, as he got involved with the Edinburgh Theatre Workshops community play in 2001. He was quickly selected to play Frank Rowley in John Godber's 'Up'n Under' during the Edinburgh festival that year. After the festival, Frank signed with agent PLA Associates and waited a year for his first acting role, 'John' in 'One Last Chance', alongside James Cosmo's mobsters in the Scottish Highlands.
Since then, Frank has worked steadily across the UK's film and television spectrum, enjoying a varied acting career. In 2007, he worked with director Ken Loach on the award-winning movie 'It's A Free World', where he played a pivotal role alongside lead actress Keirston Wareing. Frank also attended the first Scottish Masterclass given by L.A.'s world-famous acting teacher Bernard Hiller in 2008, and has since worked closely with Bernie, even teaching his methods in his own night classes and masterclasses.
Frank has appeared in numerous projects, including 'Case Histories' with Jason Isaacs and Victoria Wood, and 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' as a violent inmate in the Kyln. In 2014, he played Torin in the global television serialization of Diana Gabaldon's top-selling books, 'Outlander'. The following year, Frank trained for six months and cycled across Western Australia for charity, and later hiked the West Highland way with his son.
Frank's recent projects include playing manipulative character John Maclean in 'Rivercity' in 2017/18, and the loveable but violent character Dickson in 'Outlaw King' for Oscar-nominated director David Mackenzie. Frank has also been asked to co-direct Jerry Buys' planned movie 'Due Justice', stating that he will bring an emotional creativity to the movie and relish every moment of every shot to emotionally engage the audience from the opening shot.
