Artial arts – an tched in Cowie
owie, where he was born in 1956. an interview with the Observer, ampbell said: “My mother Janet Campbell) McLaren was born nd raised in Cowie with her seven blings. She was the youngest of ur daughters. “Her father, Joe Campbell, was n injured World War One veteran ith a coal delivery company and e family lived in a miner’s council ouse. “My father Alan was from Bridge Allan and my parents met when e was a young flight lieutenant in e RAF. “Their first date was actually at irling’s Golden Lion.” Campbell’s father served abroad ith the RAF before being forced to tire due to injury. Campbell said: “When my family turned from the Gutersloh RAF ase in Germany, my dad had decided to leave the Air Force. He had been injured – he had a perforated ear drum and could no longer fly.
“We all moved in with my grandparents, Joe and Isabelle Campbell. It’s hard to imagine us all living in that little house on Bannockburn Road. But at one time in my mother’s youth it held a family of 10.
“I went to one year of primary school in Cowie before emigrating in 1962.
“We moved to Philadelphia because my mother’s sister lived there with her family.
“In the US the school wanted to hold me back because they thought my Scottish accent was a learning disability. My mother straightened them out.”
Campbell recalls his father giving his mother two possible destinations. He said: “My dad was so disappointed that he could no longer fly. He just wanted to make a big change. He loved the RAF and his two older brothers flew in World war Two, with the oldest, George, being shot down over Turkey.
“He offered my mum a choice: US or Australia. She picked the country with her sister in it.
“Many of my cousins are still nearby. In Tillicoultry are my dear cousin Joyce Watkinson, her husband Iain and their oldest son Murray.
“Joyce is a cousin on my father’s side – so not a Campbell. But I love the Tillicoultry Watkinsons and named my TV production company Tillicoultry Media. If you check IMDB you will see Tilli has many “official” TV credits.
“Also very nearby is my cousin Clark Campbell, who is the founder of Stirling’s CA Models. Cousin Sherrif is in Philadelphia, Elizabeth in Syndey and Maureen in Toronto.
“I love Scotland very much. Like most immigrants I have two homes – the old and the new, and it’s entirely possible to love both.
“I bring my family back to Scotland regularly. My three children Jacqueline (28), Campbell (25) and Iain (15) all think of themselves as Scottish too. Susan, my wife of 31 years, loves Scotland too but wishes it was warmer.
“Several years ago I brought my family to Cowie to once again visit my grandma’s house.
“A group of neighbourhood kids gathered to size us up. One finally blurted out in a thick Scottish accent “What are you doing here?”. I said I had lived in that house with my grandma. “You did not” was the quick response. “You’re a Yank”.