Mr Douglas was born on 7th March 1933 in Falkirk, Scotland, attending Falkirk High School and Edinburgh College of Art before enrolling at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London . His earliest television parts were as the young hero in two adaptations of Walter Scott novels 'Redgauntlet' and 'Rob Roy' , the latter with a young Samantha Eggar, and has subsequently appeared in a vast array of roles, apart from the inevitable Scots 'go to' parts - 'Taggart', 'Monarch of the Glen' - but also in 'Middlemarch' as idealistic Dr Lydgate, 'Poldark' as the red coat captain anxious to trap Ross Poldark, a sinister charmer in 'Poirot: the ABC Murders' as well as continuing dramas like 'Kavanagh QC' and 'East Enders'. Having made his stage debut at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre and with wide experience in rep his stage roles include 'Absurd Person Singular' directed by its author Alan Ayckbourn at the Whitehall theatre, London and in 'Medea' with Dame Diana Rigg, both in London and on Broadway whilst he has played the key role of Colin Firth's father in all of the Bridget Jones films to date. Donald Douglas lives near Toulouse in France and one of his neighbours is Robin Ellis, who appeared with him in 'Poldark.'