A beard is the collection of hair that grows on the chin, cheeks and neck, but not the upper lip, of human beings. Usually, only pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards. However, women with hirsutism may develop a beard. When differentiating between upper and lower facial hair, a beard specifically excludes the moustache, which refers to hair above the upper lip and around it.

The Greek word for beard: πώγων (pōgōn) is the root of a number of technical and humorous words relating to beards. For example the study of beards is called "pogonology", giving rise to "pogonologist" and similar words. Those terms are fairly respectable because the study is non-trivial (in fact challenging) and apart from constituting a specialism in the field of dermatology, research pogonologists commonly are employed by major producers of cosmetic products and equipment.

Perhaps less seriously, other words relating to beards have been coined. For example some dictionaries now list "pogonotomy" (literally "beard cutting") as a term for shaving. Its converse is "pogonotrophy" for beard growing. Such words commonly are used to convey humorous pretentiousness. On the other hand, the "pogon" root and derivatives such as "pog-" are fairly common in biological nomenclature. For instance Pogonomyrmex is the genus of "bearded ants". The name of Pogonymus pogognathus, a small Hawaiian fish, includes the root twice. Dipogon lignosus is a trailing leguminous plant. The name means something like "two-bearded, woody".

In the course of history, men with facial hair have been ascribed various attributes such as wisdom and knowledge, sexual virility, masculinity, or high social status; and, conversely, filthiness, crudeness, or an eccentric disposition.

Biology

The beard develops during puberty. Beard growth is linked to stimulation of hair follicles in the area by dihydrotestosterone, which continues to affect beard growth after puberty. Hair follicles from different areas vary in what hormones they are stimulated or inhibited by; dihydrotestostorone also promotes balding. Dihydrotestosterone is produced from testosterone, the levels of which vary with season; thus beards grow faster in summer.

Difficulties in measuring beard growth have led to controversy concerning the effects of hormonal activity on short term pogonotrophy. For example, a physicist had to spend periods of several weeks on a remote island in comparative isolation. He noticed that his beard growth diminished, but the day before he was due to leave the island it increased again, to reach unusually high rates during the first day or two on the mainland. He studied the effect and concluded that the stimulus for increased beard growth was related to the resumption of sexual activity. However, at that time professional pogonologists reacted vigorously and almost dismissively.

How fast the beard grows is also genetic.

Evolution

Biologists characterize beards as secondary sexual characteristics because they are unique to one gender, yet do not play a direct role in reproduction. Charles Darwin first noted a possible evolutionary explanation of beards in his work The Descent of Man, which hypothesized that the process of sexual selection may have lead to beards. Modern biologists have reaffirmed the role of sexual selection in the evolution of beards, concluding that there is evidence that a preponderance of females in the past found mates with beards more attractive than mates without beards.

Evolutionary psychology explanations for the existence of beards include signaling sexual maturity and signaling dominance by increasing perceived size of jaws, and clean-shaved faces are rated less dominant than bearded. Some scholars assert that it is not yet established whether the sexual selection leading to beards is rooted in attractiveness (inter-sexual selection) or dominance (intra-sexual selection). A beard can be explained as an indicator of a males' overall condition. Amount of facial hairiness appears to influence male attractiveness. Presence of beard makes the owner vulnerable in fights, which is costly, so biologists have speculated that there must be other evolutionary benefits that outweighs that drawback. Excess testosterone evidenced by the beard may indicate mild immunosupression, which may support spermatogenesis.

History

Ancient and classical world

The highest ranking Ancient Egyptians grew hair on their chins which was often dyed or hennaed (reddish brown) and sometimes plaited with interwoven gold thread. A metal false beard, or postiche, which was a sign of sovereignty, was worn by queens, kings and sometimes cows. This was held in place by a ribbon tied over the head and attached to a gold chin strap, a fashion existing from about 3000 to 1580 BC.

Mesopotamian civilizations (Sumerian, Assyrians, Babylonians, Chaldeans and Medians) devoted great care to oiling and dressing their beards, using tongs and curling irons to create elaborate ringlets and tiered patterns.

The Persians were fond of long beards. In ''Travels'' by Adam Olearius, a King of Persia commands his steward's head to be cut off, and on its being brought to him, remarks, "what a pity it was, that a man possessing such fine mustachios, should have been executed."

Ancient India

In ancient India, the beard was allowed to grow long, a symbol of dignity and of wisdom (cf. sadhu). The nations in the east generally treated their beards with great care and veneration, and the punishment for licentiousness and adultery was to have the beard of the offending parties publicly cut off. They had such a sacred regard for the preservation of their beards that a man might pledge it for the payment of a debt.

Ancient Greece

The ancient Greeks regarded the beard as a badge or sign of virility; in the Homeric epics it had almost sanctified significance, so that a common form of entreaty was to touch the beard of the person addressed. It was only shaven as a sign of mourning, though in this case it was instead often left untrimmed. A smooth face was regarded as a sign of effeminacy. The Spartans punished cowards by shaving off a portion of their beards. From the earliest times, however, the shaving of the upper lip was not uncommon. Greek beards were also frequently curled with tongs.

Ancient Macedon

In the time of Alexander the Great the custom of smooth shaving was introduced. Reportedly, Alexander ordered his soldiers to be clean shaven, fearing that their beards would serve as handles for their enemies to grab and to hold the soldier as he was killed. The practice of shaving spread from the Macedonians, whose kings are represented on coins, etc. with smooth faces, throughout the whole known world of the Macedonian Empire. Laws were passed against it, without effect, at Rhodes and Byzantium; and even Aristotle conformed to the new custom, unlike the other philosophers, who retained the beard as a badge of their profession. A man with a beard after the Macedonian period implied a philosopher, and there are many allusions to this custom of the later philosophers in such proverbs as: "The beard does not make the sage."

Ancient Rome

Shaving seems to have not been known to the Romans during their early history (under the Kings of Rome and the early Republic). Pliny tells us that P. Ticinius was the first who brought a barber to Rome, which was in the 454th year from the founding of the city (that is, around 299 BC). Scipio Africanus was apparently the first among the Romans who shaved his beard. However, after that point, shaving seems to have caught on very quickly, and soon almost all Roman men were clean-shaven; being clean-shaven became a sign of being Roman and not Greek. Only in the later times of the Republic did the Roman youth begin shaving their beards only partially, trimming it into an ornamental form; prepubescent boys oiled their chins in hopes of forcing premature growth of a beard.

Still, beards remained rare among the Romans throughout the Late Republic and the early Principate. In a general way, in Rome at this time, a long beard was considered a mark of slovenliness and squalor. The censors L. Veturius and P. Licinius compelled M. Livius, who had been banished, on his restoration to the city, to be shaved, and to lay aside his dirty appearance, and then, but not until then, to come into the Senate. The first occasion of shaving was regarded as the beginning of manhood, and the day on which this took place was celebrated as a festival. Usually, this was done when the young Roman assumed the ''toga virilis''. Augustus did it in his twenty-fourth year, Caligula in his twentieth. The hair cut off on such occasions was consecrated to a god. Thus Nero put his into a golden box set with pearls, and dedicated it to Jupiter Capitolinus. The Romans, unlike the Greeks, let their beards grow in time of mourning; so did Augustus for the death of Julius Caesar. Other occasions of mourning on which the beard was allowed to grow were, appearance as a ''reus'', condemnation, or some public calamity. On the other hand, men of the country areas around Rome in the time of Varro seem not to have shaved except when they came to market every eighth day, so that their usual appearance was most likely a short stubble.

In the second century AD the Emperor Hadrian, according to Dion Cassius, was the first of all the Caesars to grow a beard; Plutarch says that he did it to hide scars on his face. This was a period in Rome of widespread imitation of Greek culture, and many other men grew beards in imitation of Hadrian and the Greek fashion. Until the time of Constantine the Great the emperors appear in busts and coins with beards; but Constantine and his successors until the reign of Phocas, with the exception of Julian the Apostate, are represented as beardless.

Celts and Germanic tribes

Late Hellenistic sculptures of Celts portray them with long hair and mustaches but beardless.

Among the Celts of Scotland and Ireland men typically let their facial hair grow into a full circle of beard, and it was often seen as dishonourable for a Gaelic man to have no facial hair.

Tacitus states that among the Catti, a Germanic tribe (perhaps the Chatten), a young man was not allowed to shave or cut his hair until he had slain an enemy. The Lombards derived their fame from the great length of their beards (Longobards – Long Beards – Langbärte). When Otto the Great said anything serious, he swore by his beard, which covered his breast.

Middle ages

In the Middle Ages, a beard displayed a knight's virility and honour. The Castilian knight El Cid is described in ''The Lay of the Cid'' as "the one with the flowery beard". Holding somebody else's beard was a serious offence that had to be righted in a duel.

From the Renaissance to the present day

In the 15th century, most European men were clean-shaven. Sixteenth-century beards were allowed to grow to an amazing length (see the portraits of John Knox, Bishop Gardiner and Thomas Cranmer). Some beards of this time were the Spanish spade beard, the English square cut beard, the forked beard, and the stiletto beard. In 1587 Francis Drake claimed, in a figure of speech, to have singed the King of Spain's beard.

Strangely, this trend was especially marked during Queen Mary's reign, a time of reaction against Protestant reform (Cardinal Pole's beard is a good example).

In urban circles of Western Europe and the Americas, beards were out of fashion after the early 17th century; to such an extent that, in 1698, Peter the Great of Russia ordered men to shave off their beards, and in 1705 levied a tax on beards in order to bring Russian society more in line with contemporary Western Europe.

The popularity of the beard declined in western society, and during the early eighteenth century most men, particularly amongst the nobility and upper classes, went clean shaven. There was, however, a dramatic shift in the beard's popularity during the 1850s, with it becoming markedly more popular. Consequently, beards were adopted by many leaders, such as Alexander III of Russia, Napoleon III of France, Frederick III of Germany), as well as many leading statesmen and cultural figures, such as Benjamin Disraeli, Charles Dickens, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Karl Marx, and Giuseppe Verdi. This trend can be recognised in the United States of America, where the shift can be seen amongst the post-Civil War presidents. Before Abraham Lincoln, no President had a beard; after Lincoln until William Howard Taft, every President except Andrew Johnson and William McKinley had either a beard or a moustache.

The beard became linked in this period with notions of masculinity and male courage. The resulting popularity has contributed to the stereotypical Victorian male figure in the popular mind, the stern figure clothed in black whose gravitas is added to by a heavy beard.

By the early twentieth century beards began a slow decline in popularity. Although retained by some prominent figures who were young men in the Victorian period (like Sigmund Freud), most men who retained facial hair during the 1920s and 1930s limited themselves to a moustache or a goatee (such as with Marcel Proust, Albert Einstein, Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Adolf Hitler, and Joseph Stalin). In America, meanwhile, popular movies portrayed heroes with clean shaven faces and "crew cuts". Concurrently, the psychological mass marketing of Madison Avenue was becoming prevalent. The Gillette Safety Razor Company was one of these marketers' early clients. These events conspired to popularize short hair and clean shaven faces as the only acceptable style for decades to come. The few men who wore the beard or portions of the beard during this period were frequently either old, Central Europeans; members of a religious sect that required it; or in academia.

The beard was reintroduced to mainstream society by the counterculture, firstly with the "beatniks" in the 1950s, and then with the hippie movement of the mid 1960s. Following the Vietnam War, beards exploded in popularity. In the mid-late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, beards were worn by hippies and businessmen alike. Popular rock, soul and folk musicians like The Beatles, Barry White and the male members of Peter, Paul, and Mary wore full beards. The trend of seemingly ubiquitous beards in American culture subsided in the mid 1980s.

From the 1990s onward, the fashion in beards has generally trended toward either a goatee, Van Dyke, or a closely cropped full beard undercut on the throat. By 2010, the fashionable length approached a "two-day shadow". By the end of the 20th century, the closely clipped Verdi beard, often with a matching integrated moustache, had become relatively common.

One stratum of American society where facial hair is virtually nonexistent is in government and politics. The last President of the United States to wear any type of facial hair was William Howard Taft, who was in office from 1909 till 1913. The last Vice President of the United States to wear any facial hair was Charles Curtis, who was in office from 1929 till 1933.

Beards in religion

Beards also play an important role in some religions.

In Greek mythology and art Zeus and Poseidon are always portrayed with beards, but Apollo never is. A bearded Hermes was replaced with the more familiar beardless youth in the 5th century BC. Zoroaster, the 11th/10th century BC era founder of Zoroastrianism is almost always depicted with a beard.

Christianity

Jesus is almost always portrayed with a beard in iconography and art dating from the 4th century onward. In paintings and statues most of the Old Testament Biblical characters such as Moses and Abraham and Jesus' New Testament disciples such as St Peter are with beard, as was John the Baptist. John the Apostle is generally depicted as clean-shaven in Western European art, however, to emphasize his relative youth. Eight of the figures portrayed in the painting entitled ''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci are bearded. Mainstream Christianity holds Isaiah Chapter 50: Verse 6 as a prophecy of Christ's crucifixion, and as so, as a description of Christ having his beard plucked by his tormentors.

In Eastern Christianity, beards are often worn by members of the priesthood and by monastics, and at times have been recommended for all believers. Amish and Hutterite men shave until they are married, then grow a beard and are never thereafter without one, although it is a particular form of a beard (see Visual markers of marital status). Many Syrian Christians from Kerala in India wore long beards.

In the 1160s, Burchardus, abbot of the cistercien monastery of Bellevaux in the Franche-Comté, wrote a treatise on beards. In his opinion beards were appropriate for lay brothers, but not for the priests among the monks.

Nowadays, members of many Catholic religious communities, mainly those of Franciscan origin, use a beard as a sign of their vocation. At various times in its history and depending on various circumstances the Catholic Church permitted and prohibited facial hair ("barbae nutritio") for clergy. The vast majority of Roman or Latin-rite clergy are clean-shaven.

Although most Protestant Christians today follow the prevailing fashion of their culture, some historically have taken the lead in fashion by openly encouraging the growth of the beard as "a habit most natural, scriptural, manly, and beneficial" (C. H. Spurgeon), or by banning shaving altogether, as in the case of some Presbyterian Churches. Some Messianic Jews also wear beards to show their observance of the Old Testament.

Diarmaid MacCulloch writes: "There is no doubt that Cranmer mourned the dead king (Henry VIII)", and it was said that he showed his grief by growing a beard. But "it was a break from the past for a clergyman to abandon his clean-shaven appearance which was the norm for late medieval priesthood; with Luther providing a precedent [during his exile period], virtually all the continental reformers had deliberately grown beards as a mark of their rejection of the old church, and the significance of clerical beards as an aggressive anti-Catholic gesture was well recognised in mid-Tudor England."

Modern Mormon men are strongly encouraged to be clean shaven. Formal prohibitions against facial hair are given to young men entering their two-year missionary service. Students and staff of the church-sponsored Brigham Young University are asked to adhere to the Church Educational System Honor Code, which states in part: "Men are expected to be clean-shaven; beards are not acceptable."

Hinduism

The ancient text followed regarding beards depends on the Deva and other teachings, varying according to whom the devotee worships or follows. Many Sadhus, Yogis, or Yoga practitioners keep beards, and represent all situations of life. Shaivite ascetics generally have beards, as they are not permitted to own anything, which would include a razor. The beard is also a sign of a nomadic and ascetic lifestyle.

Vaishnava men, typically of the ISKCON sect, are encouraged to be clean-shaven as a sign of cleanliness. Vaishnavas of the Gaudiya tradition on the other hand generally keep beards and a shaven head (except a small tail called a ''shikha'').

Islam

The Prophet Muhammad viewed growing a beard as sunnah. Trimming the mustaches is one of the ''fitra''. There are those who view it as a ''sunnah'' and they may argue that it has an equivalent status to the nine other acts of fitrah, of the ''saḥīḥ'' ''aḥādīth'' about the ten acts of fitrah, but this argument is considered weak by many at best.

In the Islamic tradition, God commanded Abraham to keep his beard, shorten his moustache, clip his nails, shave the hair around his genitals, and pluck his armpit hair.

Judaism

The Bible states in Leviticus 19:27 that "You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard." Talmudic tradition explains this to mean that a man may not shave his beard with a razor with a single blade, since the cutting action of the blade against the skin "mars" the beard. Because scissors have two blades, some opinions in halakha (Jewish law) permit their use to trim the beard, as the cutting action comes from contact of the two blades and not the blade against the skin. For this reason, most poskim (Jewish legal deciders) rule that Orthodox Jews may use electric razors to remain cleanshaven, as such shavers cut by trapping the hair between the blades and the metal grating, halakhically a scissor-like action. Some prominent contemporary poskim maintain that electric shavers constitute a razor-like action and consequently prohibit their use.

The Zohar, one of the primary sources of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), attributes holiness to the beard, specifying that hairs of the beard symbolize channels of subconscious holy energy that flows from above to the human soul. Therefore, most Hasidic Jews, for whom Kabbalah plays an important role in their religious practice, traditionally do not remove or even trim their beards.

Also, some Jews refrain from shaving during the 30-day mourning period after the death of a close relative, known in Hebrew as the ''Shloshim'' (thirty) as well as during periods of the Counting of the Omer and the Three Weeks.

Sikhism

Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, ordained and established the keeping of unshorn hair as part of the identity and one of the insignia of Sikhs. Sikhs consider the beard to be part of the nobility and dignity of their manhood. Sikhs also refrain from cutting their hair and beards out of respect for the God-given form. Kesh, uncut hair, is one of the Five Ks, five compulsory articles of faith for a baptized Sikh. As such, a Sikh man is easily identified by his turban and uncut beard.

Rastafari Movement

A male Rastafarian's beard is a sign of his pact with God (Jah or Jehovah), and his Bible is his source of knowledge. Leviticus 21:5 ("They shall not make any baldness on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their flesh.") Likewise, it is not uncommon for a Rastafarian beard to grow uncombed, like dreadlocks.

The "Philosopher's beard"

In Greco-Roman antiquity the beard was "seen as the defining characteristic of the philosopher; philosophers had to have beards, and anyone with a beard was assumed to be a philosopher." While one may be tempted to think that Socrates and Plato sported "philosopher's beards", such is not the case. Shaving was not widespread in Athens during fifth & fourth-century BCE and so they would not be distinguished from the general populace for having a beard. The popularity of shaving did not rise in the region until the example of Alexander the Great near the end of the fourth century BCE. The popularity of shaving did not spread to Rome until the end of the third century BCE following its acceptance by Scipio Africanus. In Rome shaving's popularity grew to the point that for a respectable Roman citizen it was seen almost as compulsory.

The idea of the philosopher's beard gained traction when in 155 BCE three philosophers arrived in Rome as Greek diplomats: Carneades, head of the Platonic Academy; Critolaus of Aristotle's Lyceum; and the head of the Stoics Diogenes of Babylon. "In contrast to their beautifully clean-shaven Italian audience, these three intellectuals all sported magnificent beards." Thus the connection of beards and philosophy caught hold of the Roman public imagination.

The importance of the beard to Roman philosophers is best seen by the extreme value that the Stoic philosopher Epictetus placed on it. As historian John Sellars puts it, Epictetus "affirmed the philosopher's beard as something almost sacred...to express the idea that philosophy is no mere intellectual hobby but rather a way of life that, by definition, transforms every aspect of one's behavior, including one's shaving habits. If someone continues to shave in order to look the part of a respectable Roman citizen, it is clear that they have not yet embraced philosophy conceived as a way of life and have not yet escaped the social customs of the majority...the true philosopher will only act according to reason or according to nature, rejecting the arbitrary conventions that guide the behavior of everyone else."

Epictetus saw his beard as an integral part of his identity and held that he would rather be executed than submit to any force demanding he remove it. In his Discourses 1.2.29, he puts forward such a hypothetical confrontation: "'Come now, Epictetus, shave your beard'. If I am a philosopher, I answer, I will not shave it off. 'Then I will have you beheaded'. If it will do you any good, behead me." The act of shaving "would be to compromise his philosophical ideal of living in accordance with nature and it would be to submit to the unjustified authority of another."

This was not a theoretical in the age of Epictetus, for the Emperor Domitian had the hair and beard forcibly shaven off of the philosopher Apollonius of Tyana "as punishment for anti-State activities." This disgraced Apollonius while avoiding making him a martyr like Socrates. Well before his declaration of "death before shaving" Epictetus had been forced to flee Rome when Domitian banished all philosophers from Italy under threat of execution.

Roman philosophers sported different styles of beards to distinguish which school they belonged to. Cynics with long dirty beards to indicate their "strict indifference to all external goods and social customs"; Stoics occasionally trimming and washing their beards in accord with their view "that it is acceptable to prefer certain external goods so long as they are never valued above virtue"; Peripatetics took great care of their beards believing in accord with Aristotle that "external goods and social status were necessary for the good life together with virtue". To a Roman philosopher in this era, having a beard and its condition indicated their commitment to live in accord with their philosophy.

Modern prohibition of beards

Civilian prohibitions

Professional airline pilots are required to be clean shaven to facilitate a tight seal with auxiliary oxygen masks. Similarly, fire fighters may also be prohibited from full beards to obtain a proper seal with SCBA equipment.

Isezaki city in Gunma prefecture, Japan, decided to ban beards for male municipal employees on May 19, 2010.

Sports

The International Boxing Association prohibits the wearing of beards by amateur boxers, although the Amateur Boxing Association of England allows exceptions for Sikh men, on condition that the beard be covered with a fine net. As a safety precaution, high school wrestlers must be clean-shaven before each match, though neatly trimmed moustaches are often allowed.

The Cincinnati Reds had a longstanding enforced policy where all players had to be completely clean shaven (no beards, long sideburns or moustaches). However, this policy was abolished following the sale of the team by Marge Schott in 1999. Under owner George Steinbrenner, the New York Yankees baseball team had a strict dress code that prohibited long hair and facial hair below the lip; the practice has been continued under Hank and Hal Steinbrenner when control of the Yankees was transferred to them after the season. More recently, Willie Randolph and Joe Girardi, both former Yankee assistant coaches, adopted a similar clean-shaven policy for their ballclubs: the New York Mets and Florida Marlins, respectively. Fredi Gonzalez, who replaced Girardi as the Marlins' manager, dropped that policy when he took over after the 2006 season. Girardi is now the manager of the Yankees.

Playoff beard is a tradition common on teams in the National Hockey League and now in other leagues where players allow their beards to grow from the beginning of the playoff season until the playoffs are over for their team.

San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson, who claims not to have shaved since the 2010 All-Star Game, has grown a very dark black beard that has become popular in the MLB and with its fans. MLB Fan Cave presented a "Journey Inside Brian Wilson's Beard", which was an interactive screenshot of Wilson's beard, where one can click on different sections to see various fictional activities performed by small "residents" of the beard. The hosts on sports shows sometimes wear replica beards, and the Giants gave them away to fans as a promo.

Armed forces

Depending on the country and period, facial hair was either prohibited in the army or an integral part of the uniform.

Styles

Beard hair is most commonly removed by shaving. If only the area above the upper lip is left unshaven, the resulting facial hairstyle is known as a moustache; if hair is left only on the chin, the style is a chin beard.

Full – downward flowing beard with either styled or integrated moustache

Sideburns – hair grown from the temples down the cheeks toward the jawline.

Chinstrap – a beard with long sideburns that comes forward and ends under the chin.

Donegal – similar to the chinstrap beard but covers the entire chin.

Garibaldi – wide, full beard with rounded bottom and integrated moustache

Goatee – A tuft of hair grown on the chin, sometimes resembling a billy goat's.

Junco – A goatee which extends upward and connects to the corners of the mouth.

Hollywoodian- A beard with integrated mustache that is worn on the lower part of the chin and jaw area, without connecting sideburns.

Reed – A beard with integrated mustache that is worn on the lower part of the chin and jaw area that tapers towards the ears without connecting sideburns.

Royale – is a narrow pointed beard extending from the chin. The style was popular in France during the period of the Second Empire, from which it gets its alternative name, the ''imperial'' or ''impériale''.

Stubble – a very short beard of only one to a few days growth. This became fashionable during the heyday of ''Miami Vice''. During this time, a modified electric razor called the Miami Device became popular, which would trim stubble to a preset length.

Van Dyke – A goatee accompanied by a moustache.

Verdi – short beard with rounded bottom and slightly shaven cheeks with prominent moustache

Neckbeard (Neard) – Similar to the Chinstrap, but with the chin and jawline shaven, leaving hair to grow only on the neck. While never as popular as other beard styles, a few noted historical figures have worn this type of beard, such as Nero and Horace Greeley.

Soul patch – a small beard just below the lower lip and above the chin

Friendly Mutton Chops – long muttonchop type sideburns connected to a mustache, but with a shaved chin

Stashburns or the Lemmy – Sideburns that drop down the jaw but jut upwards across the mustache, leaving the chin exposed. Similar to "Friendly Mutton Chops", but often found in southern and southwestern American culture.

Monkey Tail – a Van Dyke as viewed from one side, and a Donegal + moustache as viewed from the other, giving the impression that a monkey's tail stretches from an ear down to the chin and around one's mouth.

Quotations regarding beards

"The beard is the handsomeness of the face, and a wife is the joy in a man's heart." – R' Akiva, Eicha Rabbah

Leonato: You may light on a husband that hath no beard.Beatrice: What should I do with him? Dress him in my apparel and make him my waiting-gentlewoman? He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man: and he that is more than a youth is not for me, and he that is less than a man, I am not for him... -William Shakespeare – Excerpt from ''Much Ado About Nothing'' – Act 2, Scene I

"You should be women, and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so" – Banquo, to the witches, in Shakespeare's ''Macbeth''.

Early Christian attitudes

St Clement of Alexandria

*"The hair of the chin showed him to be a man." St Clement of Alexandria (c.195, E), 2.271

*"How womanly it is for one who is a man to comb himself and shave himself with a razor, for the sake of fine effect, and to arrange his hair at the mirror, shave his cheeks, pluck hairs out of them, and smooth them!...For God wished women to be smooth and to rejoice in their locks alone growing spontaneously, as a horse in his mane. But He adorned man like the lions, with a beard, and endowed him as an attribute of manhood, with a hairy chest—a sign of strength and rule." St. Clement of Alexandria, 2.275

*"This, then, is the mark of the man, the beard. By this, he is seen to be a man. It is older than Eve. It is the token of the superior nature....It is therefore unholy to desecrate the symbol of manhood, hairiness." St. Clement of Alexandria, 2.276

*"It is not lawful to pluck out the beard, man's natural and noble adornment." St. Clement of Alexandria, 2.277

St Cyprian

*"In their manners, there was no discipline. In men, their beards were defaced." St Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.438

*"The beard must not be plucked. 'You will not deface the figure of your beard'." (Leviticus 19:27) St. Cyprian, 5.553

Lactantius

*"The nature of the beard contributes in an incredible degree to distinguish the maturity of bodies, or to distinguish the sex, or to contribute to the beauty of manliness and strength." Lactantius (c. 304–314, W), 7.288

Apostolic Constitutions

*"Men may not destroy the hair of their beards and unnaturally change the form of a man. For the Law says, "You will not deface your beards." For God the Creator has made this decent for women, but has determined that it is unsuitable for men." Apostolic Constitutions (compiled c.390, E) 7.392. (1)

Augustine of Hippo

*"There are some details of the body which are there for simply aesthetic reasons, and for no practical purpose—for instance, the nipples on a man's chest, and the beard on his face, the latter being clearly for a masculine ornament, not for protection. This is shown by the fact that women's faces are hairless, and since women are the weaker sex, it would surely be more appropriate for them to be given such a protection." City of God (c. 410) book 22, chapter 24

See also

Bearded lady

Beard Liberation Front

Facial hair in the military

Facial hair

Five o'clock shadow

Other facial hair styles: Moustache, Sideburns, Stubble, Chin curtain

Removal/shaping of facial hair: Shaving, Clean-shaven, Barber

Women and facial hair: Bearded lady, Depilation

Barbatus (disambiguation), a common Latin name, meaning "bearded"

World Beard and Moustache Championships

Joseph Palmer defended himself from being forcibly shaved in 1830

Goatee

References

Further reading

Reginald Reynolds: ''Beards: Their Social Standing, Religious Involvements, Decorative Possibilities, and Value in Offence and Defence Through the Ages'' (Doubleday, 1949) (ISBN 0-15-610845-3)

Helen Bunkin, Randall Williams: ''Beards, Beards, Beards'' (Hunter & Cyr, 2000) (ISBN 1-58838-001-7)

Allan Peterkin: ''One Thousand Beards. A Cultural History of Facial Hair'' (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2001) (ISBN 1-55152-107-5)

''A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs'', David W. Bercot, Editor, pg 66–67.

External links

The British Beard Club

World Beard and Moustache Association

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Name	David Tennant
Birthname	David John McDonald
Birth date	April 18, 1971
Birth place	Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland
Occupation	Actor, presenter
Yearsactive	1987–present
Spouse	Georgia Moffett (2011–present)
Children	1 daughter
Parents	Alexander McDonaldHelen McDonald (deceased)
Website	}}

David Tennant (born David John McDonald; 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised ''Hamlet'', Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'', along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial ''Casanova'' and as Barty Crouch, Jr. in the 2005 film adaptation, ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire''.

Early life

Tennant was born in Bathgate, West Lothian, the son of Essdale Helen (née McLeod) and Alexander McDonald. He grew up with his brother Blair and sister Karen in Ralston, Renfrewshire, where his father was the local Church of Scotland minister. Tennant's maternal great-grandparents, William and Agnes Blair, were staunch Protestants from Derry in Northern Ireland and among the signatories of the Ulster Covenant; William was a member of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland. Tennant's maternal grandfather, footballer Archie McLeod, met William and Agnes's daughter Nellie while playing for Derry City.

Tennant was educated at Ralston Primary and Paisley Grammar School where he enjoyed a fruitful relationship with English language teacher Moira Robertson, who was among the first to recognise his potential. He acted in school productions throughout primary and secondary school (his talent at this young age was spotted by actress Edith MacArthur, who after seeing his first role aged 11, told his parents she predicted he would become a successful stage actor). He also attended Saturday classes at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama; at 16, he passed an audition for the Academy, one of their youngest students, and studied there between the ages of 17–20. He earned a bachelor's degree and was flatmates with friend Louise Delamere.

At the age of three, Tennant told his parents that he wanted to become an actor because he was a fan of ''Doctor Who'', and they tried to encourage him to do more conventional work. He watched almost every ''Doctor Who'' episode for years, and he met Tom Baker at a book signing event in Glasgow and spoke to him. Although such an aspiration might have been common for any British child of the 1970s, Tennant says he was "absurdly single-minded" in pursuing his goal. He adopted the professional name "Tennant" – inspired by Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys, after reading a copy of ''Smash Hits'' magazine – because there was another David McDonald already on the books of the Equity union.

Career

Early work

Tennant made his professional acting debut while still in secondary school. When he was 16 he acted in an anti-smoking film made by the Glasgow Health Board which aired on television and was also screened in schools. The following year, he played a role in an episode of ''Dramarama''.

Tennant's first professional role upon graduating from drama school was in a staging of ''The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui'' co-starring Ashley Jensen, one of a few plays in which he performed as part of the agitprop 7:84 Theatre Company. Tennant also made an early television appearance in the Scottish TV sitcom ''Rab C Nesbitt'' as a transsexual barmaid called Davina. In the 1990s, Tennant appeared in several plays at the Dundee Repertory Theatre.

Tennant's first major TV role was as the manic depressive Campbell in the Scottish drama series ''Takin' Over the Asylum'' (1994). During filming, Tennant met comic actress and writer Arabella Weir. When he moved to London shortly afterwards he lodged with Weir for five years and became godfather to her youngest child. He has subsequently appeared alongside Weir in many productions; as a guest in her spoof television series, ''Posh Nosh''; in the ''Doctor Who'' audio drama ''Exile''—during which Weir played an alternate version of the Doctor—and as panellists on the ''West Wing Ultimate Quiz'' on More4.

One of his earliest big screen roles was in ''Jude'' (1996), in which he shared a scene with Christopher Eccleston, playing a drunken undergraduate who challenges Eccleston's Jude to prove his intellect. Coincidentally, Eccleston later portrayed the incarnation of The Doctor immediately preceding Tennant's.

Tennant developed his career in the British theatre, frequently performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company. His first Shakespearean role for the RSC was in ''As You Like It'' (1996); having auditioned for the role of Orlando, the romantic lead, he was instead cast as the jester Touchstone, which he played in his natural Scottish accent. He subsequently specialised in comic roles, playing Antipholus of Syracuse in ''The Comedy of Errors'' and Captain Jack Absolute in ''The Rivals'', although he also played the tragic role of Romeo in ''Romeo and Juliet''.

Tennant also contributed to several audio dramatisations of Shakespeare for the Arkangel Shakespeare series (1998). His roles include a reprisal of his Antipholus of Syracuse in ''The Comedy of Errors'', as well as Launcelot Gobbo in ''The Merchant of Venice'', Edgar/Poor Tom in ''King Lear'', and Mercutio in ''Romeo and Juliet'', all of which he performs in his natural accent.

In 1995, Tennant appeared at the Royal National Theatre, London, playing the role of Nicholas Beckett in Joe Orton's ''What the Butler Saw''. The plot required Tennant to appear naked on stage.

In television, Tennant appeared in the first episode of Reeves and Mortimer's re-vamped ''Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)'' in 2000, playing an eccentric artist. This is one of his few TV roles in his native Scottish accent. During the Christmas season of 2002, he starred in a series of television commercials for Boots the Chemists.

Tennant began to appear on television more prominently in 2004 and 2005, when he appeared in a dramatisation of ''He Knew He Was Right'' (2004), ''Blackpool'' (2004), ''Casanova'' (2005) and ''The Quatermass Experiment'' (2005).

In film, he appeared in Stephen Fry's ''Bright Young Things'' (2003) and played Barty Crouch Jr. in ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' (2005).

''Doctor Who'' (2005–2010)

''Doctor Who'' returned to British screens in 2005, with Christopher Eccleston playing the role of the Ninth Doctor. After Eccleston's announcement on 31 March 2005 that he would not be returning for a second series, the BBC confirmed Tennant as his replacement in a press release on 16 April 2005. He made his first, brief appearance as the Tenth Doctor in the episode "The Parting of the Ways" (2005) at the end of the regeneration scene, and also appeared in a special 7-minute mini-episode shown as part of the 2005 Children in Need appeal, broadcast on 18 November 2005. He began filming the new series of ''Doctor Who'' in late July 2005. His first full-length outing as the Doctor was a 60-minute special, "The Christmas Invasion", first broadcast on Christmas Day 2005.

Tennant has expressed enthusiasm about fulfilling his childhood dream. He remarked to an interviewer for GWR FM, "Who wouldn't want to be the Doctor? I've even got my own TARDIS!" In 2006, readers of ''Doctor Who Magazine'' voted Tennant 'Best Doctor!', over perennial favourite Tom Baker. In 2007, Tennant's Doctor was voted the "coolest character" on UK television in a ''Radio Times'' survey. When Tennant was cast as Eccleston's successor, he had wanted to use his native Scottish accent and become 'the first kilted Doctor' according to an interview in the ''Daily Star'', but writer Russell T Davies did not want the Doctor's accent 'touring the regions', so he used "estuary" English instead.

Tennant had previously had a small role in the BBC's animated ''Doctor Who'' webcast ''Scream of the Shalka''. Not originally cast in the production, Tennant happened to be recording a radio play in a neighbouring studio, and when he discovered what was being recorded next door managed to convince the director to give him a small role. This personal enthusiasm for the series had also been expressed by his participation in several audio plays based on the ''Doctor Who'' television series which had been produced by Big Finish Productions, although he did not play the Doctor in any of these productions. His first such role was in the Seventh Doctor audio ''Colditz'', where he played a Nazi lieutenant guard at Colditz Castle. In 2004 Tennant played a lead role in the Big Finish audio play series ''Dalek Empire III''. He played the part of Galanar, a young man who is given an assignment to discover the secrets of the Daleks. In 2005, he starred in ''UNIT: The Wasting'' for Big Finish, recreating his role of Brimmicombe-Wood from a Doctor Who Unbound play, ''Sympathy for the Devil''. In both of these audio productions Tennant worked alongside Doctor Who-alumnus Nicholas Courtney, who reprised the character of Sir Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. He also played an unnamed Time Lord in another Doctor Who Unbound play ''Exile''. ''UNIT: The Wasting'', was recorded between Tennant getting the role of the Doctor and it being announced. He also played the title role in Big Finish's adaptation of Bryan Talbot's ''The Adventures of Luther Arkwright'' (2005). In 2006, he recorded abridged audio books of ''The Stone Rose'' by Jacqueline Rayner, ''The Feast of the Drowned'' by Stephen Cole and ''The Resurrection Casket'' by Justin Richards, for BBC Worldwide.

He made his directorial debut directing the ''Doctor Who Confidential'' episode that accompanies Steven Moffat's episode "Blink", entitled "Do You Remember The First Time?", which aired on 9 June 2007. In 2007, Tennant's Tenth Doctor appeared with Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor in a ''Doctor Who'' special for Children in Need, written by Steven Moffat and entitled "Time Crash". This was the first "multi-Doctor" story in the series since ''The Two Doctors'' in 1985 (not counting the 1993 special ''Dimensions in Time''). Tennant also later performed alongside Davison's daughter, Georgia Moffett, in the 2008 episode "The Doctor's Daughter" with her taking the titular role as Jenny.

Tennant also featured as the Doctor in an animated version of ''Doctor Who'' for ''Totally Doctor Who'', ''The Infinite Quest'', which aired on CBBC. He also starred as the Doctor in another animated six-part ''Doctor Who'' series, ''Dreamland''. Tennant guest-starred as the Doctor in a two-part story in ''Doctor Who'' spin-off ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'', broadcast in October 2009. Tennant continued to play the Tenth Doctor into the revived programme's fourth series in 2008. However, on 29 October 2008, Tennant announced that he would be stepping down from the role after three full series. He played the Doctor in four special episodes in 2009, before his final episode aired on 1 January 2010. The ''Daily Mirror'' reported that Tennant was forbidden from attending ''Doctor Who'' fan conventions while playing the role. This was done to avoid the chance that Tennant could accidentally let slip any plot points during filming of the series. He said at the Children in Need concert that his favourite ''Doctor Who'' story is ''Genesis of the Daleks'' from the Tom Baker era, while another interview included him mentioning that his favourite classic monsters were the Zygons; although he never appeared in a television story with the Zygons, his Doctor confronted them in the novel ''Sting of the Zygons''.

Other television roles (2005–present)

While playing the Doctor, Tennant was also in the early December 2005 ITV drama ''Secret Smile''. His performance as Jimmy Porter in ''Look Back in Anger'' at the Theatre Royal, Bath and Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh was recorded by the National Video Archive of Performance for the Victoria and Albert Museum Theatre Collection. He revived this performance for the anniversary of the Royal Court Theatre in a rehearsed reading. In January 2006, he took a one-day break from shooting ''Doctor Who'' to play Richard Hoggart in a dramatisation of the 1960 ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' obscenity trial, ''The Chatterley Affair''. The play was written by Andrew Davies and directed by ''Doctor Who'''s James Hawes for the digital television channel BBC Four. Hoggart's son Simon Hoggart praised Tennant's performance in ''The Guardian'' newspaper.

On 25 February 2007, Tennant starred in ''Recovery'', a 90-minute BBC1 drama written by Tony Marchant. Tennant played Alan, a self-made building site manager who attempted to rebuild his life after suffering a debilitating brain injury. His co-star in the drama was friend Sarah Parish, with whom he had previously appeared in ''Blackpool'' and an episode of ''Doctor Who''. She joked that "we're like George and Mildred – in 20 years' time we'll probably be doing a ropey old sitcom in a terraced house in Preston." Later in 2007 he starred in ''Learners'', a BBC comedy drama written by and starring Jessica Hynes (another ''Doctor Who'' co-star, in the episodes "Human Nature", "The Family of Blood" and "The End of Time"), in which he played a Christian driving instructor who became the object of a student's affection. ''Learners'' was broadcast on BBC One on 11 November 2007. Tennant had a cameo appearance as the Doctor in the 2007 finale episode of the BBC/HBO comedy series ''Extras'' alongside Ricky Gervais. In November 2008 Tennant played Sir Arthur Eddington in the BBC and HBO biopic ''Einstein and Eddington'', which was filmed in Cambridge and Hungary.

In 2009 he worked on a film version of the RSC's 2008 ''Hamlet'' for BBC2. From October 2009, he hosted the ''Masterpiece Contemporary'' programming strand on the American Public Broadcasting Service. In December 2009, he filmed the lead in an NBC pilot, ''Rex Is Not Your Lawyer,'' playing Rex, a Chicago lawyer who starts to coach clients to represent themselves when he starts suffering panic attacks. The pilot was not picked up and the project was shelved. In October 2010 he starred as Dave, a man struggling to raise five children after the death of his partner, in the British drama ''Single Father''. For this role he was nominated as Best Actor at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards 2010.

In 2011 he starred in the BBC Two British TV film ''United'', which tells the story of the Manchester United "Busby Babes" team and the 1958 Munich air disaster, playing coach and assistant manager Jimmy Murphy. In September 2011, he appeared in a guest role in one episode of the comedy series ''This is Jinsy'', and also started filming Love Life, a semi-improvised BBC1 drama series, on location in Margate, Kent.

Other work (2007–present)

Tennant is the voice behind the 2007 advertising campaign for catalogue retailer Argos and appeared in adverts for The Proclaimers 2008 album and learndirect's in June 2008, using his natural Scottish accent in both. More recently, Tennant's voice can be heard on Tesco Mobile and Nintendo Wii adverts.

Tennant appeared in Derren Brown's ''Trick or Treat''. In the 26 April – 2 May issue of ''TV & Satellite Week'' Brown is quoted as saying "One of the appeals of ''Doctor Who'' for David is time travel, so I wanted to give him that experience. He was open and up for it, and I got a good reaction. He's a real screamer!". The episode aired on Channel 4 on 16 May 2008, and showed Tennant apparently predicting future events correctly by using automatic writing. Tennant also returned for the final episode of the series with the rest of the participants from the other episodes in the series to take part in one final experiment.

Tennant appeared in the 2008 episode "Holofile 703: Us and Phlegm" of the radio series ''Nebulous'' (a parody of ''Doctor Who'') in the role of Doctor Beep, using his Lothian accent.

In 2008, Tennant voiced the character of Hamish the Hunter in the 2008 English language DVD re-release of the 2006 animated Norwegian film, ''Free Jimmy'', alongside Woody Harrelson. The English language version of the film has dialogue written by Simon Pegg, who also starred in it as a main voice actor.

In early 2009 Tennant narrated the digital planetarium space dome film "We are Astronomers" commissioned by the UK's National Space Centre.

On 13 March 2009, Tennant presented Comic Relief with Davina McCall. He played guitar with band Franz Ferdinand on a special Comic Relief edition of ''Top of the Pops''.

In summer 2009, he filmed ''St. Trinian's II: The Legend of Fritton's Gold'' in which he plays the antagonist, Pomfrey. The film was released in December 2009.

At the October 2009 Spooky Empire convention, John Landis announced Tennant's casting in his movie ''Burke and Hare'', starring alongside Simon Pegg. In January 2010 it was announced Tennant had dropped out of the film (replaced by Andy Serkis) due to scheduling problems.

In November 2009, Tennant co-hosted the Absolute Radio Breakfast Show with Christian O'Connell for three consecutive days. He returned to co-host the show for one day in October 2010 and again in September 2011.

Tennant also provides the narration and all the character voices for the audio book versions of the ''Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III'' stories by Cressida Cowell such as ''How to Train Your Dragon''. In these audio books, Tennant employs his vocal skills to create a vast cast of recognisably distinct voices. Some of his most memorable characterisations include the Norfolk yokel of Norbert the Nutjob, the broad Glaswegian of Gobber the Belch, the hissing and whining of Toothless the Dragon and the sly insinuations of Alvin the Treacherous. He also played the role of Spitelout in the recent animated film adaption of said books. On 7 March 2010 he also appeared as George in a one-part BBC Radio 4 adaptation of ''Of Mice and Men'' in the ''Classic Serial'' strand.

Tennant appeared alongside former co-star Catherine Tate in the Shakespeare comedy ''Much Ado About Nothing'' at London's Wyndham's Theatre from 16 May 2011 to 3 September 2011. For his performance - as Benedick - he won the BroadwayWorld UK Award for Best Leading Actor in a Play.

In September 2011, it was announced that Tennant will voice a character in the movie adaptation of ''Postman Pat'' named ''You Know You’re the One'' next to Rupert Grint, Stephen Mangan and Jim Broadbent with a planned 3D theatrical release for spring 2013.

In October 2011, Tennant started shooting the semi-improvised comedy film ''Nativity 2: The Second Coming'' (the sequel to ''Nativity!'') in Coventry. Tennant doubles two roles, playing the main character, put-upon teacher Mr Peterson, as well as his 'golden boy' twin brother and rival.

Royal Shakespeare Company (2008–2009)

Despite his recent focus on television work, Tennant has described theatre work as his "default way of being". It was announced on 30 August 2007 that he would join the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), to play Hamlet (alongside Patrick Stewart) and Berowne (in ''Love's Labours Lost'') during 2008. From August to November 2008 he appeared at the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon as Hamlet, playing that role in repertory with Berowne that October and November. ''Hamlet'' transferred to the Novello Theatre in London's West End in December 2008, but Tennant suffered a prolapsed disc during previews and was unable to perform from 8 December 2008 until 2 January 2009, during which time the role was played by his understudy Edward Bennett. He returned to his role in the production on 3 January 2009, and appeared until the run ended on 10 January.

On 12 April 2011, a photograph of Tennant as Hamlet featured on a stamp issued by the Royal Mail to mark the RSC's fiftieth anniversary.

In January 2012, Tennant was appointed to the Royal Shakespeare Company board, to be on the selection committee interviewing and choosing the new artistic director.

Popularity

In December 2005, ''The Stage'' newspaper listed Tennant at No. 6 in its "Top Ten" listing of the most influential UK television artists of the year, citing his roles in ''Blackpool'', ''Casanova'', ''Secret Smile'' and ''Doctor Who''. In January 2006, readers of the British gay and lesbian newspaper ''The Pink Paper'' voted Tennant the "Sexiest Man in the Universe" over David Beckham and Brad Pitt. A poll of over 10,000 women for the March 2006 issue of ''New Woman'' magazine ranked him 20th in their list of the "Top 100 Men". In October 2006, Tennant was named as "Scotland's most stylish male" in the Scottish Style Awards. He was named "Coolest Man on TV" of 2007 in a Radio Times survey. He also won the National Television Awards award for Most Popular Actor in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010. He was voted 16th Sexiest Man In The World by a 2008 Cosmopolitan survey.

He was ranked the 24th most influential person in the British media, in the 9 July 2007 ''MediaGuardian'' supplement of ''The Guardian''. Tennant appeared in the paper's annual media rankings in 2006.

In December 2008 Tennant was named as one of the most influential people in show business by British theatre and entertainment magazine ''The Stage'', making him the fifth actor to achieve a ranking in the top 20 (in a list typically dominated by producers and directors). One of the editors for ''The Stage'' said that Tennant placed highly on the list because he was "the biggest box office draw in recent memory".

The popularity of Tennant has led to impersonations of him on various social networking sites, leading the BBC to issue a statement making it clear that Tennant does not use any of these sites and any account or message purporting to be or from him is fake.

Personal life

Tennant has a brother, Blair, and a sister, Karen. His mother Helen died on 15 July 2007 of cancer. His father, Sandy McDonald, appeared in a cameo non-speaking role as a footman in the ''Doctor Who'' episode "The Unicorn and the Wasp". Tennant traced his family tree in an episode of BBC One's popular genealogy series ''Who Do You Think You Are?'', broadcast on 27 September 2006. His episode explored both his Scottish ancestry and that from Northern Ireland, against the backdrop of the Troubles in the latter. Tennant's maternal great-great-grandfather, James Blair, was a prominent Ulster Unionist member of Londenderry county borough council after the partition of Ireland. Tennant displayed discomfort after learning of his great-great-grandfather's membership in the Orange Order. The programme revealed that Archie McLeod, the husband of Nellie Blair, who once played with Derry City, was Tennant's grandfather. Tennant is now a member of the club's Exiles Supporters Club.

In 2008 Tennant was voted "Greenest Star on the Planet" in an online vote held by Playhouse Disney as part of the Playing for the Planet Awards. Later that year he underwent surgery for a prolapsed disc.

Tennant is a supporter of the Labour Party and appeared in a party political broadcast for them in 2005. In 2010 he declared his support for then-UK prime minister, Gordon Brown and in April 2010 he lent his voice to a Labour Party election broadcast. He is a celebrity patron of the Association for International Cancer Research.

He believes that religion "must have" shaped his character, and he is an occasional churchgoer.

Tennant does not discuss his personal life and especially his relationships in interviews. "Relationships are hard enough with the people you're having them with, let alone talking about them in public," he said in December 2009. He dated Sophia Myles in 2006.

In January 2011, several newspapers in Britain reported that Tennant was engaged to actress Georgia Moffett. They have a daughter, born in March 2011. Tennant and Moffett married on 30 December 2011.

Filmography

Television

''Dramarama (TV series) ''Strathblair'' ''Rab C Nesbitt'' ''Takin' Over the Asylum'' ''The Bill'' ''A Mug's Game'' ''Bite'' ''Duck Patrol'' ''The Mrs Bradley Mysteries'' ''Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)'' ''Sweetnight Goodheart'' ''Boot's Christmas Advert'' ''Terri McIntyre '' ''The Deputy'' ''The Quatermass Experiment (2005) ''Doctor Who'' ''Secret Smile'' ''The Romantics'' ''Recovery (TV drama) ''Einstein and Eddington'' ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' ''Single Father (TV drama) ''United (TV drama)

style="background:#b0c4de; width:10%;"	Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	''Anti-Smoking film''	Jim
1988	Dramarama'' ||	Neil McDonald	Dramarama (TV series)#Episodes>The Secret of Croftmore"
rowspan="2"	1992	|	Hiker 2	Series 1
''Bunch of Five''	Policeman
rowspan="2"	1993	|	Davina	Rab C Nesbitt#Episodes>Touch"
''Spaces''	Vinny
1994	|	Campbell Bain
rowspan="2"	1995	|	Steve Clemens	List of The Bill episodes/11#Series 11 (1995)>Deadline"
''The Tales of Para Handy''	John MacBryde
1996	|	Gavin	Series 1, Episode 4
rowspan="3"	1997	|	Alastair Galbraith	short film
''Holding the Baby''	Nurse
''Conjuring Shakespeare''	Angelo
1998	|	Simon "Darwin" Brown
1999	|	Max Valentine	The Mrs Bradley Mysteries#1999 (4 episodes, approximately 60 minutes)>Death at the Opera". Appeared alongside Peter Davison, one of his predecessors in ''Doctor Who''. Both would feature in a ''Children in Need'' special episode, "Time Crash"
2000	|	Gordon Stylus	Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)#Series 1>Drop Dead"
rowspan="4"	2001	|	Peter	short film
''People Like Us''
''High Stakes (sitcom)	High Stakes''	Gaz Whitney
''Only Human''	Tyler
rowspan="3"	2002	|	Husband
''Foyle's War''
''Nine 1/2 Minutes''	Charlie
rowspan="4"	2003	|	Greig Millar	Series 2
''Trust''	Gavin MacEwan
''Posh Nosh''	Jose-Luis
''Spine Chillers''	Dr. Krull
rowspan="5"	2004	|	Christopher Williams
''He Knew He Was Right (TV serial)	He Knew He Was Right''	Rev Gibson
''Traffic Warden''	The Traffic Warden
''Old Street''	Mr. Watson
''Blackpool (TV serial)	Blackpool''	DI Carlisle
rowspan="2"	2005	The Quatermass Experiment'' ||	Dr Gordon Briscoe
''Casanova (2005 TV serial)	Casanova''	Giacomo Casanova
2005–2010	|	Tenth Doctor>The Doctor	Series 2–4 and several special episodes
2005	|	Brendan Block
rowspan="2"	2006	|	Jean-Jacques Rousseau
''The Chatterley Affair''	Richard Hoggart
rowspan="5"	2007	Recovery'' ||	Alan Hamilton
''Comic Relief (charity)#2007 event	Comic Relief Sketch''	Mr Logan/The Doctor
''Dead Ringers (comedy)	Dead Ringers''	Regeneration (Doctor Who)>Regenerated Tony Blair
''Learners''	Chris
''Extras (TV series)	Extras''
2008	|	Arthur Stanley Eddington>Sir Arthur Eddington
rowspan="4"	2009	|	The Doctor	Series 3, episodes 5 and 6, "The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith"
''Rex Is Not Your Lawyer''	Rex Alexander
''The Catherine Tate Show''	Ghost of Christmas Present
''Hamlet (2009 television film)	Hamlet''	Prince Hamlet
2010	Single Father'' ||	Dave Tiler
rowspan="3"	2011	United'' ||	Jimmy Murphy (footballer)>Jimmy Murphy
''This is Jinsy''	Mr Slightlyman
''Love Life (TV series)	Love Life''	Nick

Narration and personal appearances

''Who Do You Think You Are? (British TV series) ''The Friday Night Project'' ''The Human Footprint'' ''Everest ER'' ''Swarm: Nature's Incredible Invasions'' ''Masterpiece (TV series) ''Newsround#Newsround Specials ''The Father of Australia'' ''Wild About Pandas''

style="background:#b0c4de; width:10%;"	Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	''Doctor Who: A New Dimension''	Narrator
rowspan="2"	2006	Who Do You Think You Are?'' ||	Himself	Series 3, Episode 4
''What Makes Me Happy''
2007, 2008	|	Guest host	[[The Sunday Night Project#Series 4
2007	|	Narrator
rowspan="2"	2008	|	Narrator
''Trick or Treat (TV series)	Trick or Treat''	Himself
rowspan="6"	2009	|	Narrator
''Red Nose Day 2009	Comic Relief 2009''	Presenter
''Doctor Who: Tonight's the Night''	Himself
''Troubled Young Minds''	Narrator
''QI''
''Never Mind the Buzzcocks''
2009–	Masterpiece Contemporary'' ||	Host
rowspan="9"	2010	Caught in the Web – A Newsround Special'' ||	Narrator
''Eddie Izzard: Marathon Man''	Narrator
''My Life''	Narrator
''Diet or My Husband Dies''	Narrator
''Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide''	Himself
''Stealing Shakespeare''	Narrator
''Ask Rhod Gilbert''
''Chris Moyles' Quiz Night''	Himself
''BBC Wildlife Specials: Polar Bear: Spy on the Ice''	Narrator
rowspan="7"	2011	|	Narrator
''Twenty Twelve (TV series)	Twenty Twelve''	Narrator
''Starlight: For The Children''	Narrator
''The TA & The Taliban''	Narrator
''Gerry Rafferty: Right Down the Line''	Narrator
''Shrek: Once Upon a Time''	Narrator
''Earthflight''	Narrator
rowspan="2"	2012	|	Narrator
''Tree Fu Tom''	Twigs

Film

''L.A. Without a Map'' ''The Last September'' ''Being Considered'' ''Bright Young Things'' ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film) ''Free Jimmy'' ''Glorious 39'' ''How to Train Your Dragon (film) >''The Decoy Bride'' ''Pirates

style="background:#b0c4de; width:10%;"	Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Jude (film)>Jude''	Drunk Undergraduate
1998	|	Richard	Plays lead opposite Vinessa Shaw. Also features Johnny Depp
1999	|	Captain Gerald Colthurst
2000	|	Larry
2003	|	Ginger Littlejohn
2005	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' ||	Barty Crouch, Jr>Barty Crouch Jr.
2006	|	Hamish	voice only
rowspan="2"	2009	|	Hector
''St. Trinian's II: The Legend of Fritton's Gold''	Sir Piers Pomfrey
	2010	How to Train Your Dragon'' ||	Spitelout	voice only
rowspan="3"	2011	|	James Arbor
''Fright Night (2011 film)	Fright Night''	Peter Vincent
''The Itch of the Golden Nit''	News announcer / Stretchy McStretch
rowspan="2"	2012	(2012 film)	The Pirates! Band of Misfits''	Charles Darwin
''Nativity 2: The Second Coming''	Mr Peterson

Radio and CD audio drama

''Hemlock and After'' ''Fire In The Heart'' ''Henry VI, Part 1 '' ''Much Ado about Nothing'' ''Dr. Finlay's Casebook (TV & radio) ''Sympathy for the Devil (Doctor Who audio) ''The Exterminators (Doctor Who audio) ''UNIT: The Wasting'' ''The Virgin Radio Christmas Panto'' ''The Wooden Overcoat'' ''Pest Control (Doctor Who audio) ''The Day of the Troll ''Of Mice and Men'' ''My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece''

style="background:#b0c4de; width:10%;"	Year	Title	Role	Radio Station / Production Company
1996	''Paint Her Well''	The Son
rowspan="3"	1998	|	Eric Craddock	BBC Radio 4
''The Airmen Who Would Not Die''	Captain Raymond "Hinch" Hinchliffe
''The Golden Triangle: The Order of Release''	John Everett Millais
1999	|	Reader	BBC Radio 4
rowspan="4"	2000	|	Henry VI of England>Henry VI	Arkangel Shakespeare
''Henry VI, Part 2 ''	Henry VI
''Henry VI, Part 3 ''	Henry VI
''The Sea''	Willy Carson
rowspan="4"	2001	|	Benedick	BBC Radio 4
''Sunday Worship''	Himself (Presenter)
''Colditz (Doctor Who audio)	Doctor Who: Colditz''
''Dr. Finlay's Casebook (TV & radio)	Dr Finlay: Adventures of a Black Bag''	Jackson
rowspan="2"	2002	Dr Finlay: Further Adventures of a Black Bag'' ||	McKellor	BBC Radio 4
''Double Income, No Kids Yet''	Daniel
rowspan="8"	2003	Doctor Who: Sympathy For The Devil'' ||	Col. Brimmecombe-Wood	Big Finish Productions>Big Finish
''Exile (Doctor Who audio)	Doctor Who: Exile''	Time Lord # 2/Pub Landlord >
''Caesar! – Peeling Figs for Julius''	Caligula
''Scream of the Shalka	Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka''
''The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents''	Dangerous Beans
''Pompeii (novel)	Pompeii''	Narrator
''The Rotters' Club (novel)	The Rotters' Club''	Bill Trotter
''Strangers and Brothers''	Donald Howerd
rowspan="9"	2004	Dalek Empire III'' ||	Galanar	Big Finish Productions>Big Finish
''Medicinal Purposes	Doctor Who: Medicinal Purposes''
''Quite Ugly One Morning''	Narrator
''Starter for Ten (novel)	Starter for Ten''	Narrator
''Whiteout (novel)	Whiteout''	Narrator
''The Merchant of Venice''	Launcelot Gobbo
''Richard III (play)	Richard III''	The Archbishop/Ghost of Henry VI
''How to Train Your Dragon''	Narrator
''How to Be a Pirate''	Narrator
rowspan="8"	2005	|	Col. Brimmecombe-Wood	Big Finish Productions>Big Finish
''Dixon of Dock Green''	PC Andy Crawford
''The Adventures of Luther Arkwright''
''The Beasts of Clawstone Castle''	Narrator
''Macbeth ''	Porter
''King Lear ''	Edgar
''The Comedy of Errors ''	Antipholus of Syracuse
''Romeo and Juliet ''	Mercutio
rowspan="5"	2006	|	Buttons	Virgin Radio
''The Stone Rose	Doctor Who: The Stone Rose''	Narrator
''The Resurrection Casket	Doctor Who: The Resurrection Casket''	Narrator
''The Feast of the Drowned	Doctor Who: The Feast of the Drowned''	Narrator
''How to Speak Dragonese''	Narrator
rowspan="2"	2007	|	Peter	BBC Radio 4
''How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse''	Narrator
	2008	Doctor Who: Pest Control'' ||	Narrator	BBC Audio
rowspan="2"	2009	Doctor Who: The Day of the Troll'' ||	Narrator	BBC Audio
''How to Twist a Dragon's Tale''	Narrator
rowspan="9"	2010	|	George Milton	BBC Radio 4
''Murder in Samarkand''	Craig Murray
''How to Ride a Dragon's Storm''	Narrator
''The Last Voyage (Doctor Who)	Doctor Who: The Last Voyage''	Narrator
''Dead Air (Doctor Who)	Doctor Who: Dead Air''	Narrator
''Bear Snores On''	Narrator
''Dogfish''	Narrator
''How Roald Dahl Shaped Pop''	Narrator
''Book at Bedtime''	Narrator
rowspan="12"	2011	|	Narrator	Orion Books
''Kafka: The Musical''	Franz Kafka
''The Gobetweenies''	Joe
''Tales of Hans Christian Andersen''	Narrator
''The Purple Land''	Richard Lamb
''Life and Fate''	Nikolai Krymov
''How to Break a Dragon's Heart''	Narrator
''A Hero's Guide to Deadly Dragons''	Narrator
''Supermarket Zoo''	Narrator
''Book at Bedtime''	Narrator
''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (novel)	Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again''	Narrator
''The Pied Piper of Hamelin''	Narrator

Theatre

''Fools (play) ''Mozart from A to Z'' ''Shinda the Magic Ape'' ''Jump the Life to Come'' ''Merlin'' ''Antigone (Sophocles) ''Long Day's Journey Into Night'' ''What the Butler Saw (play) ''The Glass Menagerie'' ''Hurly Burly'' ''The Real Inspector Hound'' ''Maxim Gorky ''The Comedy of Errors'' ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' ''Push-Up'' ''The Pillowman'' ''The Fleer'' ''Look Back in Anger'' ''Look Back in Anger'' ''Hamlet'' ''Celebrity Autobiography'' ''Much Ado About Nothing''

style="background:#b0c4de; width:10%;"	Year	Title	Role	Theatre / Notes
1989	''The Ghost of Benjy O'Neil''	The Ghost
rowspan="2"	1990	Fools'' ||	Leon Steponovitch Tolchinsky	Made in Glasgow (RSAMD Student Company), Chandler Studio, RSAMD
''Twelve Angry Men (play)	Twelve Angry Men''
rowspan="2"	1991	|	Mozart	RSAMD
''The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui''
1991-2	|		Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
rowspan="4"	1992	|		rowspan="2"
''Scotland Matters''
''Hay Fever''	Simon
''Tartuffe''	Valere
1992-3	|	King Arthur>Arthur	UK tour
rowspan="2"	1993	Antigone'' ||	Haemon	7:84
''The Princess and the Goblin''	Curdie
rowspan="2"	1994	|	Edmund	Dundee Repertory Theatre.
''The Slab Boys Trilogy''	Alan
rowspan="2"	1995	What the Butler Saw'' ||	Nick	Royal National Theatre
''An Experienced Woman Gives Advice''	Kenny
rowspan="5"	1996	|	Tom	Dundee Repertory Theatre
''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf''	Nick
''As You Like It''
''The General From America''	Hamilton
''The Herbal Bed''	Jack Lane
rowspan="3"	1997	|	Mickey	Old Vic/Queen's Theatre
''Tamagotchi Heaven''	Boyfriend
''Blue'', a monologue written by Derek Jarman
rowspan="3"	1998	|	Moon	Comedy Theatre
''Black Comedy''	Brinsley Miller
''For One Night Only''
rowspan="3"	1999	Vassa – Scenes from Family Life'' ||	Pavel	Albery Theatre
''Edward III (play)	Edward III''	Edward, the Black Prince
''King Lear''	Edgar
rowspan="4"	2000	|	Antipholus of Syracuse	Royal Shakespeare Company
''The Rivals''	Jack
''Romeo and Juliet''	Romeo
''Laughter in the Dark''
rowspan="3"	2001	|	Lysander and Flute.	Royal Shakespeare Company at Barbican Centre>The Barbican
''Comedians (play)	Comedians''	Gethin Price
''Medea (play)	Medea''	Bodyguard
rowspan="2"	2002	|	Robert	Royal Court Theatre
''Lobby Hero''	Jeff
rowspan="2"	2003	|	Katurian	National Theatre
''London Concert for Peace''	Performer 'Nevertheless'
2004	|	Lord Piso	Shakespeare's Globe (staged reading 2004-06-20, at the Globe Education Centre)
2005	|	Jimmy Porter	Theatre Royal, Bath/ Royal Lyceum Theatre
2006	|	Jimmy Porter	Royal Court Theatre (rehearsed reading)
rowspan="2"	2008	|	Prince Hamlet>Hamlet	Royal Shakespeare Company/Novello Theatre London
''Love's Labour's Lost''	Berowne
2010	|	Various characters	Leicester Square Theatre (guest starred in two performances)
2011	|	Benedick	Wyndham's Theatre

Awards and nominations

;Awards 2005 Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland, Best Male Performance: Jimmy Porter in ''Look Back in Anger'' 2006 TV Quick and TV Choice Award, Best Actor: ''Doctor Who'' 2006 National Television Award, Best Actor: ''Doctor Who'' 2007 Welsh BAFTAs, Best Actor, ''Doctor Who'' 2007 The Constellation Awards, Best Male Performance in a 2006 Science Fiction Television Episode: ''Doctor Who: The Girl In The Fireplace'' 2007 TV Quick and TV Choice Award, Best Actor: ''Doctor Who'' 2007 National Television Awards, Most Popular Actor 2007 Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award, screen award 2008 The Constellation Awards, Best Male Performance in a 2007 Science Fiction Television Episode: ''Doctor Who: Human Nature/The Family Of Blood'' 2008 TV Quick and TV Choice Award, Best Actor: ''Doctor Who'' 2008 National Television Award, Outstanding Drama Performance: ''Doctor Who'' 2009 Critics' Circle Award for Best Shakespearean Performance for his role as Hamlet. He will share the award with Sir Derek Jacobi for his performance as Malvolio in ''Twelfth Night''. 2009 Theatregoers' Choice Awards, The AKA Theatre Event of the Year for his performance in ''Hamlet''

2010 National Television Award, Outstanding Drama Performance: ''Doctor Who''

2010 The Constellation Awards, Best Male Performance in a 2009 Science Fiction Television Episode: ''Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars'' 2011 TV Choice Award, Best Actor: ''Single Father''

;Nominations 1996 Theatre Management Association Best Actor Award: for ''The Glass Menagerie'' and ''An Experienced Woman Gives Advice''. 2000 Ian Charleson Award (Best classical actor under 30): ''The Comedy of Errors''. 2003 Olivier Award as Best Actor: ''Lobby Hero''. 2006 Broadcasting Press Guild Best Actor award for ''Casanova'', ''Secret Smile'' and ''Doctor Who''. 2008 Royal Television Society Programme Awards, Best Actor for ''Recovery'' and ''Doctor Who''. 2008 Best Actor in a Drama Series for the role of the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' at the Satellite Awards given by the International Press Academy. 2009 Broadcasting Press Guild Best Actor award for ''Einstein and Eddington'' and ''Doctor Who''. 2009 Scottish BAFTA Acting in TV Male for ''Doctor Who''. 2009 Standard Theatre awards, longlist, Best Actor for ''Hamlet''. 2009 Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television, ''Doctor Who: The End of Time'' 2010 Broadcasting Press Guild Best Actor award for ''Hamlet'' and ''Doctor Who''. 2011 Royal Television Society Programme Awards, Best Actor for ''Single Father''

See also

Andre Tchaikowsky#Skull

References

Further reading

Smallwood, Robert (editor) (2000). ''Players of Shakespeare 4: Further Essays in Shakespearean Performance by Players with the Royal Shakespeare Company'', David Tennant on playing Touchstone in As You Like It, pp. 30–44. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-79416-1

Smallwood, Robert (editor) (2005). ''Players of Shakespeare 5: Further Essays in Shakespearean Performance by Players with the Royal Shakespeare Company'', David Tennant on playing Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, pp. 113–130. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-67698-3

Mitchell, Molly (2009). ''David Tennant''. London: Orion Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-409-10469-8

External links

Hamlet, (3:05:52), Great Performances, PBS, 28 April 2008 (video-only link)

Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:People of Northern Ireland descent Category:Scottish Protestants Category:Audio book narrators Category:People educated at Paisley Grammar School Category:People from Crouch End Category:Royal National Theatre Company members Category:Alumni of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama Category:Royal Shakespeare Company members Category:Scottish film actors Category:Scottish stage actors Category:Scottish television actors Category:Scottish voice actors Category:Shakespearean actors Category:People from Bathgate Category:People from Paisley

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