- Born
- Height6′ (1.83 m)
- Buchanan was born June 16, 1957 in Hamilton, Scotland. He worked at a local hotel as a bellhop while still a teenager. By the time he turned 14 his parents, both of whom fought alcoholism, died suddenly. He and his five siblings were left alone and his dreams of moving to the U.S. were put on hold. Buchanan 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 Buchanan in the 1980s, he relocated to New York City. Buchanan 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 launchpad 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. The recurring spot as Dick Tremayne on Twin Peaks (1990) followed from 1990-1991. In 1990, he played a wealthy Playboy-style magazine publisher who murders his partner in Columbo Cries Wolf (1990). Buchanan returned to daytime television in 1993 as the mysterious psychologist Dr. James Warwick on The Bold and the Beautiful (1987). 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). Buchanan has since appeared on various soap operas: on the "General Hospital" spin-off Port Charles (1997) from 2002-2003, and as a vampire in the 1993 Halloween episode of Quantum Leap (1989), he played the devious fertility specialist Dr. Greg Madden on All My Children (1970) who had performed Erica Kane's (Susan Lucci) controversial abortion in the 1970s and had a short run as Ian McAllister on Days of Our Lives (1965) in 2012. Not long after Buchanan returned to "General Hospital" after a 23 year long absence where he was reunited with Finola Hughes.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Torsten B. Tomaschek
- Born and grew up in Hamilton, Scotland, as the second of six children (two sisters, three brothers). His father worked as a foreman and his mother was a nurse. Both struggled with alcoholism and died by the time Ian was 14.
- At one point he was Giorgio Armani's personal fitting model for his designs.
- A hotel bellhop at age 14, he was a bartender at age 18 and at age 20 was managing a restaurant.
- An ensemble member of The Citizen's Band, an avant-garde cabaret collective of international performance artists, reminiscent of the Weimar Era, whose acclaimed theatrical presentations deal with current and controversial political, religious and social themes.
- During a vacation in Spain, Ian caught the attention of a photographer who was impressed by his looks. Their shooting session was so successful that Ian was soon working as a model. He eventually moved to London and became a top international fashion model, going on assignments all over the world. Rather than pursue an acting career in London, however, Ian relocated to New York City and continued modeling with the prestigious Ford Agency.
- I go through phases. I either want to do absolutely nothing, lie in the shade and eat Bon Bons, or else I want to be so busy I don't know where I am.
- When I was a child, I had an active imagination, like all children do. I didn't think that the way children play, where they pretend to be someone else, had anything to do with acting, but I eventually realized that what children do is exactly what acting is about: becoming someone else.
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