Duncan Airlie James (born Duncan Campbell; 23 May 1961) is Scottish retired kickboxer and actor best known for his roles in Tomb Raider and ID2: Shadwell Army. He was the first Scottish fighter to win a world Muay Thai title and fight in K-1.

Duncan Airlie James
BornDuncan Campbell
(1961-05-23) 23 May 1961 (age 63)
Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK
Height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight15 st 6 lb (98 kg)
DivisionHeavyweight
StyleKickboxing, Muay Thai
Fighting out ofGlasgow, Scotland
TeamStrikeforce

Glasgow

Domino’s Kirkintilloch
Years active1993–2006
Kickboxing record
Total48
Wins32
Losses14
Draws2
No contests0
Other information
OccupationActor / Former Kickboxer
Websitehttp://www.duncanairliejames.com/

Early life

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James was born Duncan Campbell and was educated at the fee-paying Keil School where he was a competitive rugby player. His martial arts background began when he took up Shotokan karate. He was also a drummer and played with a number of bands including Nazareth. He moved to Boston, Massachusetts in the US to pursue new musical avenues.[1]

He is the older brother of Scottish composer Ross Campbell.

Kickboxing career

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When he returned to Scotland, he took up Muay Thai kickboxing in the late 1980s. In 1993, he won his first title, the World Kickboxing Association Commonwealth Light Heavyweight Championship. After successfully defending that title, he vacated it and moved up to the Cruiserweight division and later the Heavyweight division where he won a number of other titles. In February 1999, he made his K-1 debut against Japanese legend Musashi at K-1 Rising Sun '99 and lost via technical knockout after being knocked down three times in the third round. He went on to fight twice more in Japan that year, drawing with Yoji Anjo and losing to karate master Nobuaki Kakuda.

He retired in 2006 with a record of 32 wins, 14 losses and 2 draws.

Titles and honours

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Muay Thai:

  • WKA Commonwealth Super Light Heavyweight Champion (1993)
  • ISKA World Super Cruiserweight Champion (1998)
  • WKN World Heavyweight Champion (2001)
  • WAKO World Heavyweight Champion (2003)
  • WKF World Heavyweight Champion (2005)
  • WPKA World Heavyweight Champion

Kickboxing:

  • WKO World Cruiserweight Champion (1995)
  • WKA World Heavyweight Champion (2001)

Kickboxing record

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32 Wins, 14 Losses, 2 Draws
Date Result Opponent Event Method Round Time Location Notes
2006 Loss   Daniel Waciakowski TKO (shoulder injury) For WPKL and KL World Heavyweight Championships.
15 April 2006 Loss   Giuseppe DiNatale Colosseum 2 TKO (punches)   Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada For IKF World Heavyweight Muay Thai Championship.
May, 2005 Win   Tibor Nagy WPKA/WKF Decision (Unanimous) - -   Glasgow, Scotland Wins WPKA and WKF World Heavyweight Muay Thai Championships.
22 February 2004 Loss   Chris Batcheldor K-1 Battle of Britain 2004 Decision 3 3:00   Wolverhampton, England
November, 2003 Win   Angelo Grenata WAKO TKO 2 -   Palermo, Italy Wins WAKO World Heavyweight Muay Thai Championship.
13 April 2003 Loss   Phil Williams K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 Preliminary UK Decision 5 3:00   Birmingham, England
5 April 2002 Loss   Sergei Ivanovich Decision 3 1:53   Motherwell, Scotland For WAKO and ISKA World Heavyweight Muay Thai Championships.
30 June 2001 Win   Stephane Reveillon World Kickboxing Network KO 1 -   Belfast, Northern Ireland Wins World Kickboxing Network World Heavyweight Muay Thai Championship.
April, 2001 Win   KO 1   Worcester, England Wins WKA International Super Heavyweight Championship.
16 April 2000 Loss   John Wyatt K-1 UK Battle of Britain 2000 TKO 2 2:00   Birmingham, England
6 June 1999 Loss   Nobuaki Kakuda K-1 Survival '99 Decision (Unanimous) 5 3:00   Sapporo, Japan
15 May 1999 Loss   Jerome Turcan Strikeforce Decision 5 3:00   San Jose, California, United States
22 March 1999 Draw   Yoji Anjo K-1 The Challenge '99 Decision 5 3:00   Tokyo, Japan
3 February 1999 Loss   Musashi K-1 Rising Sun '99 TKO (3 Knockdowns) 2 2:52   Tokyo, Japan
16 August 1998 Loss   Chris Wright KO 2 2:04   St. Helens, England Loss I.K.F Pro Muay Thai Cruiserweight World Title.
June, 1998 Win   Christophe de Tholomaise Decision   Bangor, Northern Ireland Wins ISKA World Super Cruiserweight Muay Thai Championship.
1997 Win   Paul Senior WKA: Quest KO - -   Birmingham, England Wins WKA: Quest Cruiserweight tournament.
September, 1995 Win   Hassan Babchi KO 1 -   Glasgow, Scotland Wins WKO Cruiserweight World Championship.
9 October 1993 Win   Lee Hasdell WKA TKO (cut) - -   England Wins WKA Light Heavyweight Commonwealth Muay Thai Championship.

Acting

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Duncan Airlie James (centre) at the premiere of In Search of La Che

When he retired from the world of kickboxing, Duncan retrained as an actor. After appearing in a number of short films and a small cameo appearance in the film Perfect Sense, Duncan landed his first leading role when he was asked to play the lead character of John Tavish in the Scottish feature film In Search of La Che. Whilst the film itself received mixed reviews on both sides of the Atlantic, critics were quick to applaud Duncan's performance.[2]

2012 saw Duncan star in many and varied short films including The Priest With Two Guns directed by Rodney Reynolds. The film centres around Father O'Reilly who is troubled when he discovers his brother is in debt to a local money lender.[3] The film went on to pick up a grand jury prize at the 2014 Amsterdam Film Festival.[4] The end of 2012 saw Duncan lend his voice to one of his most recognised roles to date in the short comedy film The Greyness of Autumn.[5] Duncan voiced the character of Danny McGuire, an ostrich living in Glasgow whose life is suddenly turned upside down when he loses his job and his girlfriend in the same day. The film enjoyed great success in the United States,[6] Ireland[7] and the United Kingdom where it featured in the 2014 edition of the Portobello Film Festival.[8] Duncan's performance was widely praised with John McArthur of MovieScramble writing "The hook at the start of the film is the voice of Danny. A deep, resonant and very individual vocal draws you in immediately."[9] In 2013 he played the role of Officer White opposite Jack O'Connell in Starred Up,[10][11] a feature film directed by David Mackenzie. The film went on to win 3 awards at the 2014 British Academy Scotland Awards including Best Feature Film.[12]

In 2015, James starred in the leading role of Major Doug Bormann in Fanatic. He will be reunited with Luke Aherne who directed the web series Frank.

Filmography

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Year Title Director Role Notes
2009 Perfect Sense David Mackenzie Gym Fighter
2010 Civilisation Nicholas Vafio Harry
Wrath of a Suffragette Seth Ward / Kev Bagnall Gerry
Godforsaken Sarah Harlow Ed
2011 Lisa Deserves Better Paul Allison Daniel
The Juice Phil Thompson Frankie Boy
Brathair Eve Leonard Steven
In Search of La Che Mark D. Ferguson John Tavish First Leading Role
Fate Waits Ben Macgregor Mark Syllka
Got It Dean Howard Big Al
Snagged Mark Brown Ziggy
2012 Iustitia Dave Craig Iustitia Omnibus
Violation Peter Hardy / Charlie Parker Commander Grier
Dust Paul MacAdam Thommo
Loan Ruahdri Hunter Gerry
The Priest with Two Guns Rodney Reynolds Father O'Reilly
The Greyness of Autumn Chris Quick Danny McGuire Voice
2013 Starred Up David Mackenzie Officer White
Jab, Cross, Hook Shaun Sutton Tam McLean
Unsuitable Naomi Phillips Jimmy
Fleshmarket Close Eve Leonard Duncan
2014 Glory Hunter Craig Maclachlan Jerry Gallagher
Mitchum Jemma Sutherland Detective Inspector Mitchum TV pilot
K'Nibble Andrew Dobbie Gregg McLaren
Frank Luke Aherne Jim Web Series
Con Laura Briggs Tom
Tanner Park Ian Hendry Iggy
Two Smoking Barrels Asib Akram Frank Vincent
A Quiet Day Martin Heron Joe
2015 Prescription R Andrew Dobbie Robert "Boab" Baxter
Fanatic Luke Aherne Major Doug Bormann
2016 Directions Oliver Greenall Robert
ID2: Shadwell Army Joel Novoa Hunt
Flux Anthony Scott Boris
Essex Spacebin David Hollinshead Gangster
The Victorious Chris Anstey Captain Bernard Gregory
Ground Below Toby Saunders Mitch
2017 Locked In Pavel Shepan Brian
2018 Frank Luke Aherne Jim
Synced Devon Avery Skin Head Colin
Outlaw King David Mackenzie Beaumont
Tomb Raider Roar Uthaug Terry
Wild is the North Hayley McInline Wadard
2020 Autumn Never Dies Chris Quick Danny McGuire / The Chief
Jingle Jangle David E. Talbert Constable Carruthers
A Song Still Inside James Hall, Edward Lovelace Foreman Brown / Husband
2021 Web Crawler Paul J. Lane Alfie Trespass
Opal Kirsty Mclean Father
Wild is the North Hayley McInline Wadard
Go Home Razan Madhoon Guard
2022 Because We Are Too Many Eve Leonard Uncle John

Awards

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Year Nominated Work Awards Category Result
2019 The Victorious I Am Film Festival[13] Best Showreel Scene Actor Nominated
2020 Autumn Never Dies Top Indie Film Awards Best Actor Nominated
US Hollywood International Golden Film Awards [14] Best Outstanding Actor Nominated
2022 Scotland International Festival of Cinema [15] Best Actor in a Featurette Nominated
Best Ensemble Cast in a Featurette
(Shared with All Cast)
Nominated

References

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  1. ^ "Local Hero: From musician to kick boxer to . . . Hollywood actor? The fascinating journey of Duncan Airlie James". Heraldscotland.com. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Reviews". Filmthreat.com. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Cargo". Burninghorseshoe.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  4. ^ "Amsterdam Film Festival - Amsterdam Screenplay Contest - 2014 Winners". Amsterdamfilmfestival.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  5. ^ "British Council Film: The Greyness of Autumn". Film.britishcouncil.org. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  6. ^ "Puppet film's a festival hit". Evening Times. 13 September 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  7. ^ DISFMF Official Selection Archived 26 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "PORTOBELLO FREE FESTIVAL 2014" (PDF). Portobellofilmdfestival.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 September 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  9. ^ Noir, John McArthurEditor-in-Chief at Moviescramble A. Fan of all things cinematic with a love of Film; Sci-Fi; day, Julia Roberts in Notting Hill He hopes to grow up some (25 July 2013). "The Greyness of Autumn". Moviescramble. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  10. ^ "Nerdly » 'Starred Up' Review". nerdly.co.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  11. ^ MSN Starred Up Cast Archived 12 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ "British Academy Scotland Awards: Winners in 2014". Bafta.org. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  13. ^ "I Am Film Festival 2019 Results". Archived from the original on 19 July 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  14. ^ "US Hollywood International Golden Film Awards 2020 Nominations". Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  15. ^ 8 Nominations for Autumn Never Dies at final Scottish festival appearance
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