A brief history of Jack and his background.

In the beginning:

Originally born in South London, Jack grew up just outside of the capitial in the Carshalton area where he spent much of his early life thinking about a career as an astronaut, then a fire-fighter, before settling on the notion of being a para-psychologist. After all, there was no theatre in the family so why would that even have occurred to him? However, he did spend much of his time being involved in school assembly plays, cumulating with his performance as the Ugly Prince in Rumplestiltskin. However, after leaving primary school, young Jack simply forgot about performing completely, until a quirk of fate changed his direction.

Moving into Acting:

When he was just about to start answer all the serious questions about what he was going to do with his life, as all teenagers face at high school, Jack won a pair of tickets to see a West End production. Lust, starring Denis Lawson (Star Wars, Holby City) and Sophie Aldred (Corners, Doctor Who) was staged at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. After watching the fantastic final matinee performance and having the chance to meet, speak and hug Sophie afterwards, he got the bug.

Within 48 hours he had joined the school drama club, and never looked back. Under the guidence of Gordon Yuill, (who also invited him to work with the Clothcap Players) Jack went on to appear in over 30 school productions in four years and study A-Level Theatre Studies.

Outside of School:

Within a few weeks of him starting at the school drama club, he was invited to audition for an amateur theatre company, St. Dunstan's Players, in Reigate. He was successful and joined the 1994 production of Oh! What a Lovely War, playing a variety of roles in the show. After that completed it's run, he was asked back the following year for On Monday Next, where the script was especially adapted to create a role for him.

Working with the Clothcap Players, Jack was also taken on tour with Gordon Yuill on a restaged version of his first drama club show, Captain Stirrick, which resulted in an award for best Under 18's Production at the Norbury and Thorton Heath Drama Festival.

Getting Serious:

As time moved on, Jack became Head Boy of Carshalton Boys, and became involved in assistant-teaching with younger pupils and used the experience to develop his Theatre Studies A-Level. As his time with the studies and Clothcap Players drew to a close, he won the School Drama Cup for his performances and contribution to the club.

However, the time came when things would have to go to the next step, and after a final summer arts festival, it was time to leave. Now Jack wanted to start on the road to taking his school and amateur experience as a starting point to become - much to his bank managers' horror - a professional actor.

So it was now off to University - and the Welsh Valleys.

Aberystwyth:

Jack won a place at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and joined a three year Drama course, working under several tutors of note, including Richard Cheshire, Mike Pearson, Joan Mills, David Ian Rabey, Charmian Saville and the late Graham Laker. Jack soon adjusted to the demands of student theatre, appearing in Cymbline, Hamlet, Crave and an original piece, Falling Silent, as well as several successful "out of department" productions, including Macbeth (Dynosis Theatre), and Road (Black Treacle Theatre), as well as some television work for Channel 5 in The Alchemists.

The demands of the course also saw Jack study additional aspects of theatre and film-making, including set design, administration, film editing, and Theatre In Education, but acting reamined his one true course.

He successfully completed the course, receiving an upper 2:1 in Drama (BA Hons), and was then set to continue his studies in Nottingham for a Masters Degree.

Things go wrong, things go right:

Having started his continued studies at Nottingham, it quickly became clear that the academic approach of the course did not suit his practical training, and it was mutually agreed he would be allowed to leave. From this point, he double his efforts to establish himself as a professional actor and began furiously sending out letters to anyone who would receive them.

During his time at Nottingham University, Jack had also secured work at the Galleries of Justice, a Nottingham-based historical museum which offered performers the chance to work on a corporate level. The time here was extremely useful to him, as it required him to use his acting skills to a variety of different audiences and create a vast number of characters. However, it was not long before, having answered an advert in The Stage, Jack won his first professional acting role...

In Panto.

Working at last:

Invited to an audition for a touring production of Dick Whittington, Jack was asked to read for the role of Dick. He was a little surprised when, three weeks later, he received a call to not only tell him he had won his first professional acting role, but it was the part of King Rat.

After a wait of four months, rehearsals began and a tour eventually set out around Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire. For three months Jack regularly enjoyed being pelted with bags of sweets and shouted at by children who didn't think he was very nice at all. Although the tour was problematic, it wrapped at the end of January 2002, with his enthusiasm for pantomime undiminished. However, a stroke of luck saw him walk straight into another role within two days of being back home.

Marching on:

As Jack started to wind down from being abused by children, he received a call inviting him to Carlton Studios in Nottingham to join Crossroads for one episode. Having grown up with the original show as a child, Jack didn't hesitate in accepting the part, and was promptly on location the following day.

Shortly after, more work followed, including a TIE tour called Know the Score (which saw Jack playing a cocaine addict, and again, children not thinking he was very nice), more corporate engagements, before he was invited to join the London Dungeon's Actors Company.

Moving back to London, Jack began work developing and performing in a number of live shows for one of London's most (in)famous tourtist attractions, as well as using the flexiability of the work to expand his experience. This was one of his busiest periods to date, with audio work, short films, additional television work (including engagements for US, European, and Japanese TV) all adding to his credits.

Jack's the next year saw him join the production The Siege, written by Iain Landles and performed at the White Bear Theatre in the summer of 2003.

Further South:

At the end of 2003 Jack won his first leading acting role (on the very same day he became an uncle), in a revival of Popcorn at the Poole Lighthouse Theatre, which entered into production summer 2004. While the show was well-received and played to packed houses, the production was abandoned by the theatre itself, much to the disappointment of it's cast and crew. To this day it remains one of his favourite productions.

After production of Popcorn was brought to an end, Jack suffered some health problems, which forced him to cancel working as an actor until mid 2005.

However, while recovering, Jack began to re-organise his life and decided to change the direction of his career. As such, when he started acting once again, most notably with David Benson on the production The Haunted Stage, and returned to Equity, he discovered his stage name had been taken and had, having completed the short film, U OWE ME, to re-invent himself once more.

Thus over a four day period, having discovered his favourite second choices were also taken, and with the help of his friends, he became Jack (a suggestion from a friend) Bowman (his nan's sister's married surname!), which is the moniker under which he now performs.

And Lately:

However, Jack Bowman is still here; Jack uses an alias for his many writing and production projects having now developed himself further as a playwright, director and producer. His first production, FROZEN, a dark tale of chance meetings, is scheduled for mid/late-2006, while work continues on OVERTURES, another two hander for actresses, a low-budget feature, provisionally titled EVERLASTING LOVE, and several other treatments in development.

STAY TUNED!