The Famous Faces of Clan MacFarlane

Best known as the creator of Family Guy, which has been running since 1999, Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American actor, writer, producer, animator, voice actor, filmmaker and singer. As well as Family Guy, MacFarlane is the creator of TV shows The Orville, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show. He was also the writer, director and star of the film Ted and sequel Ted 2. He was nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar for “Everybody Needs a Best Friend” from Ted.

Eve MacFarlane

Eve MacFarlane, a New Zealand rower, was born in 1992. She represented her country at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, making her the youngest New Zealand Olympian at those games. She became the women’s double sculls champion with teammate Zoe Stevenson in 2015 but came fourth in the semi-finals for the 2016 Rio Olympics, narrowly losing out on a place in the final. After returning to New Zealand and a battle with depression, she founded (along with friend and fellow rower Jonathan Nabbs) How We Found Happy, an online platform, book and podcast.

Colin McFarlane

Actor Colin Andrew Ignatius Peter McFarlane was born in 1961 to Jamaican parents. He’s been appearing in films and on TV screens since 1985 and is best known for his role as Gillian B. Loeb in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy, although Outlander fans will also know him as Ulysses, a regular character since season 4.

Canadian actor Luke Thomas Macfarlane was born in London, Ontario in 1980. He’s best known for his role as Scotty Wandell in the American drama series Brothers & Sisters, which aired on ABC for five seasons between 2006 and 2011. He became an American citizen in 2018.

Catharine Macfarlane

Born in 1877, Catharine Macfarlane was an American obstetrician and gynaecologist who founded one of the first screening centres for uterine cancer in the USA and was the first doctor in the Philadelphia area to use radium in the treatment of cancer. She was the first female president of the Obstetrical Society of Philadelphia and the first female fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. She was the first female recipient of the Strittmatter Award, which is awarded by the Philadelphia County Medical Society to the doctor in the society who’s made “the most valuable contributions to the healing arts”. In 1953, she was the first recipient of the annual Mary Silberman Award for her work on cancer prevention. She died in 1969 at the age of 92.

Donna MacFarlane

Donna Tyberek-MacFarlane, born in 1977 in Melbourne, is an Australian middle-distance and steeplechase runner. She won a bronze medal in the 3000m steeplechase at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and competed in the first-ever edition of the women’s 3000m steeplechase at an Olympic Games in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Ed Macfarlane

Edward David Macfarlane - often known as Ed Mac - is the lead vocalist of the electronic band Friendly Fires, and has written, produced or co-produced all of the band’s songs. The band has released three albums and were nominated for the 2009 Mercury Prize for their self-titled debut album which was also certified double gold in the UK.

Edith Mary Macfarlane

Born Edith Mary Durrieu in Torquay, Devon in 1871, the Durrieu family moved to Auckland, New Zealand when Edith was young. She married Scottish businessman James Buchanan Macfarlane in 1890, and the couple had six children. Edith was an active member of the British Red Cross Society during both World Wars. During World War I, she organised the New Zealand brand of the society as well as the Auckland Women’s Patriotic League. In 1918, she was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her services during the war.

Helen Macfarlane

Helen Macfarlane was born in Barrhead, Scotland, in 1818, the youngest of 11 siblings. She was the first translator of The Communist Manifesto from German into English. It was originally published in German in 1848 and two years later, she published her English version. She was living in Vienna in 1848 when revolutions broke out all over Europe, and although there’s speculation as to why she was in the Austrian capital, it may well have been to learn German. She lived a short life and died in 1860 in Nantwich, Cheshire.

Todd McFarlane

Canadian Todd McFarlane is well-known among comic book aficionados for his work as the artist on The Amazing Spider-Man. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was the first artist to draw the villain Venom. He’s also the creator of the horror/fantasy comic book series Spawn, which was both written and drawn by McFarlane. The first edition, upon its release in 1992, sold 1.7 million copies which, to this day, is still a record for an independent comic book release. He owns Todd McFarlane Productions and Todd McFarlane Entertainment, the latter of which produced the 1997 Spawn film and an animated series that won a 1998 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Animation.