Francis Gallagher (born 8 July 1962) is a Scottish actor who has played many roles since 1989 on stage, film, and television.Primarily active on the theatre stage for the first twenty years of his career, he is most recently and popularly known for portraying the gangster, Leonard "Lenny" Murdoch, in BBC Scotland's award winning drama River City. 　　According to Gallagher, he performed well enough in his first and second years after primary school, but illness kept him out of school in his third year, and when he returned, "it wasn't really a revision...it was just like catch-up, so I caught up, right over the fence; just didn't bother going much. I got caught at that a few times, and then by the time I got intae 4th year, they just thought, "look if ya don't like comin', don't come," so I didn't." Gallagher's love of history, English and modern studies didn't seem to provide the kind of knowledge that would help with finding a career, which led to his dismissal of education at the time. 　　Coming of age in Coatbridge in the late 1970s was difficult from a socio-economic perspective, as the town had relied heavily on steel mills, which were all closing, leaving career options and futures uncertain. Gallagher had started drinking around age 13, and by his late-teens had got into some trouble requiring a court appearance, which ultimately directed him to working on-stage: it was Gallagher's self-admitted flippant response to his probation officer--who had asked Gallagher what he thought he'd like to do with his life--that he fancied becoming a performer of some sort, "actin' or singin' or whatever." This led to involvement in youth theatre groups, which eventually developed into a career path, via a successful audition at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.