Main content

Alan Cumming, actor

Alan Cumming, actor, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury item he would take with him if cast away to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.

Alan Cumming's wide-ranging career on stage includes playing Hamlet, starring opposite Daniel Radcliffe in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame and – perhaps most notably - taking the role of the Emcee in the musical Cabaret in London and New York to great acclaim: his 1998 Broadway performance won seven awards, including a Tony. He’s also appeared in films including GoldenEye and Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, and in the TV series The Good Wife.

Alan was born in Perthshire in 1965. His father was a forester and the family moved to the Panmure estate on the east coast of Scotland. Encouraged by his English teacher, Alan grew up loving drama at school but his childhood was blighted by his violent and abusive father. He worked for the publisher DC Thomson as a sub-editor before going to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. There he launched his performing career with fellow student Forbes Masson: together they were Victor and Barry, a comedy and music double-act. They drew on these characters for their Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú TV sit-com The High Life, based around a fictional Scottish airline.

Alan has published a novel and three memoirs: his 2014 autobiography Not My Father’s Son detailed his very difficult relationship with his father, both in his early years and later in his life.

In 2022 Alan is developing a solo dance-theatre work, focusing on the personal history of the Scottish poet Robert Burns, which he will perform in Scotland and New York. He’s now also the co-owner of a bar, Club Cumming, in Manhattan.

DISC ONE: Dignity by Deacon Blue
DISC TWO: L’Amour Looks Something Like You by Kate Bush
DISC THREE: Barcelona by Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé
DISC FOUR: I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers
DISC FIVE: Whenever Wherever Whatever by Maxwell
DISC SIX: Give Me Back My Heart by Dollar
DISC SEVEN: Catalani: La Wally : Ebben? ne andrò lontana Act 1 by Maria Callas and Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Tullio Serafin
DISC EIGHT: These Are My Mountains by Peter Morrison

BOOK CHOICE: Desert Gardening for Beginners: How to grow vegetables, flowers, and herbs in an Arid Climate by Cathy Cromell, Linda A. Guy, Lucy K. Bradley
LUXURY ITEM: Marijuana seeds
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Give Me Back My Heart by Dollar

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor

Available now

35 minutes

Last on

Fri 25 Mar 2022 09:00

Music Played

  • Deacon Blue

    Dignity

    • Raintown.
    • Sony Music UK.
    • 8.
  • Kate Bush

    L'Amour Looks Something Like You

    • The Kick Inside.
    • Parlophone UK.
    • 10.
  • Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé

    Barcelona

    • Queen: Greatest Hits III.
    • Parlophone.
    • 3.
  • The Proclaimers

    I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

    • Sunshine on Leith.
    • Chrysalis Records Limited.
    • 4.
  • Maxwell

    Whenever Wherever Whatever (Remastered 2021)

    • Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite.
    • Columbia.
    • 7.
  • Dollar

    Give Me Back My Heart

    • Playlist: The Best Of Dollar.
    • Rhino.
    • 3.
  • Alfredo Catalani

    La Wally: Ebben? ne andrò lontana

    Singer: Maria Callas. Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Tullio Serafin.
    • Les N°1 De Maria Callas.
    • Universal Music Division Decca Records France.
    • 13.
  • Peter Morrison

    These Are My Mountains

    • Scotland Auld And New.
    • Decca.
    • 6.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 20 Mar 2022 11:00
  • Fri 25 Mar 2022 09:00

The Desert Island Discs podcast

The Desert Island Discs podcast

Subscribe or download individual episodes.

Listen to over 2,000 programmes

Click above to browse castaways, from 1942 to today.

Articles

Read the surprising things we've learned about some stand-out castaways.

Podcast