Biography

John Gaffney was born in Hamilton in Scotland and moved to the island of Jersey in 1983. It was here where he got a taste for acting after being approached to take on a stage role by a local theatre director whilst singing in a night club. When he returned to Scotland in 1992, Gaffney was offered a place on an acting course at the prestigious Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formally the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama) but family commitments forced him to decline the opportunity and instead decided to return to his trade as a plasterer.

In 2008, Gaffney returned to acting with small parts in short films including R.E.M, Hush (2010), and A Spanking in Paradise (2010). In 2011 he landed his first major role, starring as Dougie Fallon in the independently made television series The Crews (2011). Starring alongside David Hayman and Stephen McCole, Gaffney's character Fallon was a high level member of a drug-dealing gang in Glasgow who has risen through the ranks of the criminal underworld. The following year, Gaffney landed the role of Superintendent Charles Sloan in the feature Sci Fi film Night Is Day: The Movie (2012) which premiered at the 2012 edition of the Glasgow Film Festival.

Starring opposite Duncan Airlie James, 2013 saw Gaffney star as Liverpudlian gangster called Butler in the short film The Priest with Two Guns (2013). The character, known as 'Butler the Bookie' is owed money by the brother of Father O'Reilly (played by James) who is being held hostage until the debt is repaid. In the same year, Gaffney also made appearances in the short films V for Visa (2013) and "Doug And Steves Big Holy Adventure" by John McPhail as well as Blink (2013) by Colin Ross Smith.

In 2014, Gaffney was approached by Andy S. McEwan to play the role of Tam in the short comedy film Broken Record (2014). The film saw Gaffney star as part of a comedy duo with Steven Patrick where they played a couple of house clearance workers in the 1990s who think they have stumbled upon hidden treasure in the form of old gramophone records. The film was warmly received by critics with many commenting on Gaffney's flawless comedic performance.

Later that year, Gaffney was recommended by Chris Quick to director Johnny Herbin who was casting for his short film Electric Faces (2015). Quick, a producer on the film, suggested Gaffney was an ideal candidate to play the part of Lucas after working with him on the set of Broken Record (2014). Herbin agreed with the decision and Gaffney was cast as Lucas. In 2015, Gaffney was cast in Where Do We Go from Here? (2015), the first feature film of Scottish director John McPhail and later played the role of Coleman in Crime (2015) by Carter Ferguson.
- IMDb mini biography by: Chris Quick