Actor and playwright. Born in Glasgow, Roper is best known as Jamesie Cotter in Rab C. Nesbitt (1990) alongside Gregor Fisher (b.1953). He was a friend of Rikki Fulton (1924 - 2004) and appeared in various roles in Scotch and Wry, for which he also wrote sketches. He also wrote The Steamie (1987), a humourous but moving cameo of Glasgow's social history, notably starring Dorothy Paul (b.1937).
Roper also took a minor role in The Wicker Man (1973) and has appeared in episodes of Sutherland's Law, Taggart and Monarch of the Glen.