Ian Buchanan

Actor

Born in Hamilton, Scotland, Ian worked at a local hotel as a bellhop while still a teenager. He went on to work as a bartender and restaurant manager in Scotland. While vacationing in Spain, his exceptional good looks captured the attention of a photographer. He agreed to a photo session that went so well he quickly found regular modeling work. He moved to London where he soon became an international fashion model. When the prestigious Ford Agency signed him in the 1980s, he relocated to New York City.

Ian studied acting at New York's Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. He was also coached by notable playwright and actress Marcia Haufrecht. His hard work paid off when he was offered the role of heartthrob ‘Duke Lavery’ on “General Hospital” (1963) in 1986 who most notably sizzled with co-star Finola Hughes. The role became Buchanan's launch pad to other television opportunities. When he left the soap in 1989, he appeared on prime-time in “It's Garry Shandling's Show”(1986) from 1988-1990.

A chance meeting with director David Lynch while he was taping a Calvin Klein commercial with Lara Flynn Boyle led to his role as the pompous ‘Dick Tremayne’ in “Twin Peaks.” Following the finale of that show, Lynch cast him in the series “On the Air.” His feature film credits include “Bobby and Marilyn,” “Double Exposure,” “The Cool Surface,” and “The Seventh Sign.”

In 1990, he appeared in numerous primetime/ television shows, including “The Equalizer”, “The Flash” as the main villain, Stan Kovacs, on “Columbo Cries Wolf” he played a wealthy Playboy-style magazine publisher who murders his partner and on “Quantum Leap” he played a vampire in the Halloween episode.

He returned to daytime television in 1993 as the mysterious psychologist Dr. James Warwick on “The Bold and the Beautiful”. He was the first ever actor on the show to receive a Daytime Emmy Award in 1997 and stayed with the show until 1999, returning on several occasions from 2004 to 2011.

A string of guest-starring roles on various TV shows followed as well as some film work including playing Jodie Foster's Realtor on “Panic Room” (2002). He has since appeared on various soap operas: including the "General Hospital" spin-off “Port Charles” portraying the sinister Joshua Temple until the show's end in 2003. In 2005, he joined the cast of "All My Children," in the role of Dr. Greg Madden until his character was killed off in 2006.

In 2012, he joined "Days of Our Lives" in the newly created contract role of Ian McAllister, but was let go, as the result of a shift in the direction of the series.
Not long after he returned to "General Hospital" after a 23-year long absence where he was reunited with actress Finola Hughes.