If you’ve ever wondered where Outlander’s Jamie Fraser actor Sam Heughan or The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie author Dame Muriel Spark were educated, we’ve got the answers for you.
How many of the stars in our photo gallery did you know went to James Gillespie's in Edinburgh – either its former girls school, boys school, primary or the high school – and did any attend at the same time as you or your children?
5. John Leslie
Former Blue Peter presenter John Leslie was educated at James Gillespie's High School, alongside his brother Grant Stott. He later presented ITV's This Morning and the gameshow Wheel of Fortune. He was also the studio host for the first series of the UK version of Survivor. He was wrongly named as the alleged rapist of TV star Ulrika Jonsson by Matthew Wright. However, Leslie's career imploded as he became the centre of a media storm. Photo: Third Party
6. Sam Heughan
Sam Heughan, who is known to millions thanks to his role as highland warrior Jamie Fraser in Outlander, moved to Edinburgh as a young boy so his mother could enrol at Edinburgh College of Art. He recalled in his recent memoir how big a change it was from his New Galloway birthplace, writing: “After years of living in a quiet community, my mother, my brother and I packed our belongings for what felt like a whole new world. Swapping the stable and the castle ruins for a suburban street in Edinburgh, we set about settling in for this new chapter in our lives.” The 12-year-old Heughan attended James Gillespie's High School, which he recalls as having “very strong on rules and discipline”. Photo: Third Party
7. Muriel Spark
Dame Muriel Spark is one of Scotland's most celebrated writers, and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie was famously inspired by her time at James Gillespie’s High School in Edinburgh and her teacher, Christina Kay, whose former pupils have said she bore a remarkable resemblance to the main character. Photo: Scottish Poetry Library Photo: Scottish Poetry Library
8. Alastair Sim
Alastair Sim famously played Ebenezer Scrooge on the big screen, and although there have been countless versions of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in the years since, not one has come close to Sim’s 1951 film, Scrooge. Edinburgh-born Sim, who died in 1976, was educated at James Gillespie's and George Heriot's. Photo: Third Party