Sylvester McCoy Biography

Fast Facts

• Won a BBC TV60 Award for Best Popular Drama Series along with Peter Davison for "Doctor Who" in 1996
• His first job in the theater was selling tickets and keeping books in the box office of London's Roundhouse Theatre," which eventually led to him joining a sketch show
• Trained to be a priest at Blair's College from the age of 12 to the age of 16, but his application to be a monk was rejected because he was too young, and after starting at a co-ed grammar school, he quickly decided to change his career path
• After completing school, he worked at an insurance company in London until the age of 24
• Quote: "Theater is like broad brush painting, where you can go anywhere with your brush․ But film is like painting with one of those little, pointy brushes, a stroke here and a stroke there․ I love that as well․"
• Quote: "Time can be a constraint․ But then constraint can sometimes be a good thing I've found․"
• Appeared in a musical play written especially for him called "The Pied Piper," performed at the National Theatre
• Best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor on the long-running science fiction series "Doctor Who․"
• Loves travel, and has gone to India, China, Hong Kong, Japan, the South Sea Islands, America and Australia
• Was one of the final two actors considered for the role of Bilbo in Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy