James David Graham Niven was born in Scotland in 1910 on St. David's Day. After moving from Scotland to the United States, he initially made a living selling whiskey on the streets of New York City, but moved to Hollywood following a brief career as the co-founder of the Pony Express Racing Association. Once in Hollywood David worked as an extra in films which led to his being signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Myer. His most noted films include, "Around The World In 80 Days," "The Bishop's Wife," "Please Don't Eat The Daisies," "Separate Tables," (winning the Academy Award for best actor) and "Pink Panther."

David joined the Rifle Brigade, a Light Infantry Regiment in the British Army during WW II. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Commandos and took part in the Normandy invasion. It was during the war, David met and married his wife, Primmie, a member of the Royal Air Force. Following the war, David returned to greater success in his Hollywood career and had two sons, David Jr. and Jamie. However Primmie died soon after their second son was born. David later remarried and returned to Europe with his second wife and family. There, they adopted two daughters. David Niven died in 1983 of Lou Gehrig's Disease.

Actor, his most famous role was that of Scrooge in the classic film adaption of Dicken's A Christmas Carol.

Scotland's National Poet. See our tribute to Burns at: http://www.geocities.com/anexplorer/rburns.html

Playwrite, author/creator of Peter Pan one of the most famous childrens plays ever written. The creator of Peter Pan was born in Kirriemuir, Angus , on 9 May 1860. Barrie was the ninth child of a handloom weaver, and the older favourite son David was killed in a skating accident when Barrie was seven. Barrie moved to London in 1885 to work as a journalist, and wrote for the British Weekly under the pseudonym "Gavin Ogilvy" but made his name by writing for the stage. Enormously popular in their day, "The Admirable Crichton" (1902) and "What Every Woman Knows" (1908) are among the few of his plays still performed.

Barrie married Mary Ansell, an actress, on 9 July 1894. The marriage seems never to have been consummated; and in 1909 Mary left him for Gilbert Canaan. Barrie visited the U.S.A in 1896 and afterwards met Arthur and Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, for whose children (George, Jack, Peter, Michael, and Nicholas) Barrie wrote "The Little White Bird" (1902), a fantasy set in London's Kensington Gardens (where Barrie, who lived in Bayswater, often walked with his Newfoundland dog Luath), and out of this grew the play "Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up" (1904). Luath became the dog Nana, the Llewelyn Davies children were the original "Lost Boys"; and Barrie (himself a boy who never escaped his own childhood) became their legal guardian after their parents died (Arthur in 1907, Sylvia in 1910). The play was turned into a book, "Peter and Wendy" (1911), and the story has made Barrie one of the greatest Scottish names in children's literature, alongside Robert Louis Stevenson and Kenneth Grahame.

He declined a knighthood in 1909 but received a baronetcy in 1913 and the Order of Merit in 1922. In 1912 he commissioned Sir George Frampton to make a statue of Peter Pan which still stands in Kensington Gardens (near the Westbourne Gate entrance). Barrie was Chancellor of Edinburgh University, and Rector of St. Andrews University, in which capacity he gave an address published as "Courage" (1922). According to "Peter Pan" (Act 3), "To die will be an awfully big adventure." J. M. Barrie died on 19 June 1937 and is buried with his parents in Kirriemuir. A statue of Peter Pan, similar to the one in London, stands in the town square.

Creator/author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, The Lost World and historical fiction Conan Doyle was born 22 May 1859 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He received his medical degree from the University of Edinburgh,where he studied under Joseph Bell. ACD lived in Southsea, Birmingham and elsewhere, but practised as a doctor only briefly. First short story published 1879 (not about Sherlock Holmes); first novel, 1887, A Study in Scarlet, appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual. Lived for a time in Surrey, later at Crowborough, Sussex.

Author of more than 50 books, including historical novels (most famous The White Company), Science fiction (The Lost World and other novels of Professor Challenger), domestic comedy, seafaring adventure, the supernatural, poetry, military history, many other subjects. In 1893, he "killed" Sherlock Holmes by reporting his apparent death in "The Final Problem", last story of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. He wanted to devote time and attention to his "more serious" writings but fans were outraged. Holmes was briefly brought back in The Hound of the Baskervilles, 1901, then revived in "The Empty House", 1903, and subsequent tales. Knighted 1902 for his work in Boer War propaganda-- and, some said, because of the publication of The Hound of the Baskervilles. Constant writer of letters to the editor and crusader for social reforms such as criminal justice (he took a personal role in the George Edalji and Oscar Slater cases), military strategy (though he never served in the armed forces), public health, sports (cricket, boxing, Olympics), divorce law reform, Belgian exploitation of the Congo, the Piltdown hoax. He twice ran unsuccessfully for Parliament.

One of the world's greatest Automobile racers, Jackie Stewart was three-time F1 World Champion and winner of 27 Grands Prix. His first days on the F1 circuit were in the mid-60s until his 1973 retirement (precipitated in part by safety concerns) He then began a broadcasting career with ABC, before moving to his current post at the helm of his own fledgling F1 team.

Author , novelist, poet, historian, and biographer whose prose did much to popularize Scottish history and culture. Scott was born on Aug. 15, 1771 in Edinburgh. He is often considered both the inventor and the greatest practitioner of the historical novel. Scott's father was a lawyer and his mother was the daughter of a physician. From his earliest years, like Burns, Scott was fond of listening to his elderly relatives' accounts and stories of the Scottish Border, and he soon became a voracious reader of poetry, history, drama, and fairy tales and romances. He had a remarkable memory and astonished visitors by his eager reciting of poetry. He had a love of the natural beauty of the country side and a deep appreciation of the historic struggles of his Scottish ancestors.

In 1813 Scott rediscovered the unfinished manuscript of a novel he had started in 1805, and in the early summer of 1814,with extraordinary speed, he completed almost the whole of his novel, which he titled Waverley. It became one of the rare cases in literary history when something both original and powerful also proved extremely popular. Focusing on the Jacobite rebellion of 1745, it forcefull recreated the manners and loyalties of a vanished Scottish Highland society. The book was published anonymously, as were all of the many novels he wrote down to 1827.

Sott followed up Waverley with a whole series of historical novels set in Scotland that are now known as the "Waverley" novels. His works included the masterpieces Rob Roy and The Heart of Midlothian (both 1818), The Bride of Lammermoor and A Legend of Montrose (both 1819). He later turned to themes from English history and elsewhere writing Ivanhoe (1819), a novel set in 12th-century England and one that remains his most popular book. The best of his later novels are Redgauntlet (1824) and The Talisman (1825), the latter being set in Palestine during the Crusades. Scott died on Sept. 21, 1832 in Abbotsford, Roxburgh, Scotland

Author of such classics as Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh in 1850. The son of a prosperous civil engineer, he studied law at Edinburgh University. However, when he became afflicted with a severe respiratory illness in his early twenties, from which he was to suffer for the rest of his life, he decided to become a professional writer. The harsh nature of the Scottish climate forced him to spend long periods abroad and he eventually settled in Samoa, where he died on 3 December 1894.

Stevenson's Calvinistic upbringing gave him a preoccupation with pre-destination and a fascination with the presence of evil. In Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde he explores the darker side of the human psyche, and the character of the Master in The Master of Ballantrae (1889) was intended to be 'all I know of the Devil'. Stevenson is best known for his novels of historical adventure, including Treasure Island (1883), Kidnapped(1886) and Catriona (1893). During the last years of his life Robert Louis Stevenson was working on his unfinished masterpiece, Weir of Hermiston, which is at once a romantic historical novel and an emotional reworking of one of Stevenson's own most distressing experiences, the conflict between father and son.

Actor, the first James Bond, was born Thomas Connery in the Fountainbridge district of Edinburgh, Scotland on August 25, 1930. The son of an impoverished truck-driver, he joined the Royal Navy after high school, but was released due to ulcers. He then drifted into many jobs, including laborer, lifeguard and model for art classes. His career as a bodybuilder led to his representing Scotland in the 1953 Mr. Universe contest (he placed 3rd) which further led to a job with the touring company of South Pacific, other stage productions, his television debut and the signing of a movie contract with MGM in the late 1950's.

He was cast as the first James Bond in Dr. No in 1962 even though Ian Fleming was quoted as saying,"He [Connery] is not exactly what I envisioned" as the fictional British agent . However, the film was a huge success, which led to 3 more Bond films in the next 5 years. Tired of being identified only as 007, Connery quit the role after You Only Live Twice, in order to devote more time to his family and to golf (a game he learned for1964's Goldfinger).

Connery has played many varied roles in films over the years, working with directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, John Huston and Brian De Palma. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1987, for his role in The Untouchables. He was also named People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1989. In 1997, Connery was honored by the Film Society at Lincoln Center in New York. In the New Years Honors List for 1998, he was denied a knighthood from the British government due to his active political support for Scottish nationalism. Sean has been married twice. His first wife was actress Diane Cilento. Sean has been married to French artist Micheline Roquebrune since 1975. Sean has recently created a major film studio in his native Scotland.

Rock star born on Christmas Day, 1954, in Aberdeen Scotland. She fell in love with music at an early age, playing a toy piano given to her by her father. She received formal training in the piano and later the flute, which would become her favourite instrument and, was accepted into Royal Academy of Music at 17.

Throughout the 80's, Lennox enjoyed huge success in Europe and North America as a part of Eurythmics. Their hits included "Sweet Dreams" and "Here Comes the Rain Again". Eurythmics released many songs and albums during the decade, until the band split in '89. Annie then released "Why", her first solo song, in 1992. The song (along with her first album, Diva) rose to the top of the charts, effectively proving her solo abilities.

The commercial success of Diva exceeded anything the Eurythmics had achieved, not to mention earning Lennox nominations (and several awards, including a Grammy) for just about every major music award. She helped to further secure her reputation as one of the best female singer/song-writers today with songs like "Walking on Broken Glass". Lennox has maintained her popularity and has recently re-united with her old Eurythmics partner, Dave Stewart.