Best Known For:
Rab C Nesbitt.
Early-life:
Barbara Ann Rafferty was born in Clydebank in 1954. At the age of 13, she joined her local amateur dramatics outfit, Clydebank Rep. When she was 15, she pestered the producer of BBC drama This Man Craig for a part in the show. It did the trick because she ended up starring in three episodes. Aged 16, Barbara began working for a wealthy French widower. He liked her so much, he sent her to study at the Sorbonne University in Paris. When she returned home, she joined a drama group in Glasgow. It wasn't long until she landed a role as a woman with baby in horror classic The Wicker Man (1973).
Career:
Starting a family and self doubt led to her giving up acting. Her confidence returned when she was cast in a schools tour. Her big break came in 1988 when she was cast as Ella Cotter in a pilot episode made for BBC Scotland entitled Rab C Nesbitt's Seasonal Greet. A full series of Rab C Nesbitt followed in 1990 and the rest they say is history. Since landing a role on the hugely popular sitcom, Rafferty has been in a number of theatre productions, including high-profile pantomimes, and starred in High Road, Hamish Macbeth, Rockface, Sea of Souls, River City and Garrow's Law. On the big screen, she has starred in The Last King of Scotland (2006).
Quote:
"Joining Nesbitt was wonderful. The characters became so iconoclastic and it also opened the doors for the big pantos."
Trivia:
When Rafferty thought she had turned her back on acting for good, she had spells working in the civil service and in a wine bar.