Robert Carlyle to play Jack Ruby opposite John Travolta in JFK assassination film
The Maryhill-born actor takes on the role of the Dallas nightclub owner who shot Lee Harvey Oswald in November 1963, a film about the killing of President John F Kennedy.
Robert Carlyle, pictured in 2014, will play Jack Ruby in the film November 1963. · Photograph: vagueonthehow (CC BY 2.0)
Glasgow actor Robert Carlyle has teamed up with John Travolta in a film about one of the most controversial assassinations in American history.
The Maryhill-born star plays Jack Ruby in November 1963, a film about the assassination of US President John F Kennedy.
Who was Jack Ruby?
Ruby was a Dallas nightclub owner with alleged links to organised crime. He shot Lee Harvey Oswald two days after Oswald was arrested over the President's killing.
Oswald had told reporters he was being set up as a "patsy" to take the blame for the shooting. He was being moved through the basement of Dallas police headquarters, which was packed with police officers and journalists, when Ruby stepped forward and shot him – a moment broadcast live on television.
Ruby's motives, and the question of whether he acted alone, have fuelled conspiracy theories about the assassination for more than six decades.
A Glasgow great
Carlyle, who grew up in Maryhill, is one of Scotland's best-known actors. He rose to international fame with roles as Begbie in Trainspotting and Gaz in The Full Monty, and later starred in Hamish Macbeth, Stargate Universe and Once Upon a Time, as well as returning as Begbie in T2 Trainspotting.
He has previously played real-life figures on screen, and the role of Ruby gives him one of the most notorious characters in modern American history.
Starring with Travolta
Travolta, best known for Saturday Night Fever, Grease and Pulp Fiction, also stars in the film. Further details of the release have yet to be confirmed.