Clare Grogan

Clare Grogan would have earned a place in history even if her activities in the public eye ended with her music career, but she also went on to distinguish herself with a long career acting in films and TV shows. Actually, both her music and acting careers kicked into gear around the same time. Grogan, born March 17, 1962 in Glasgow, Scotland, became the singer for Scottish band Altered Images upon their inception in 1979, but it wasn't until 1981 that they released their first album, Happy Birthday. That same year, she ended up with the title role in Scottish director Bill Forsyth's acclaimed teen romance "Gregory's Girl." Initially, Grogan concentrated on music, as her band's blend of post-punk and giddy pop made waves on the U.K. charts, with the title track going all the way to No. 2. The 1982 follow-up album, Pinky Blue edged further into pure pop territory and produced another hit single in "See Those Eyes." The band's third album, 1983's Bite, brought the No. 7 single "Don't Talk to Me About Love," but the band split later that year. Grogan made a brief stab at a solo career, releasing a lone single, "Love Bomb," but little came of it. In the meantime, she had already restarted her acting career in 1984, with a part in another Forsyth film, "Comfort and Joy." From the mid-'80s on, Grogan built up a substantial acting CV, appearing in such series as "Red Dwarf" (BBC Two 1988-1999), "EastEnders" (BBC 1985- ), and "Legit" (BBC Scotland 2006-07) as well as films like "Jilting Joe" (1998), "The Penalty King" (2006), and "The Wee Man" (2013). In the 2000s, Grogan began making live appearances with a revamped version of Altered Images that didn't include any of the other original members, although she and former bandmate Stephen Lironi had been a couple since the early '80s, marrying in 1994 and adopting a daughter in 2005. Grogan began her career as an author in 2008 with the children's novel Tallulah and the Teenstars, a fictionalized retelling of the rise of Altered Images. A follow-up, Tallulah On Tour, was published in 2009.