Andy Gray death: Nicola Sturgeon leads tributes to River City star as acting legend dies aged 61
People involved in the likes of politics and comedy all paid tribute to the actor after news of the River City star s passing earlier today.
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Comedy star contracted Covid on top of cancer
Tributes have been paid to Scottish comedy star Andy Gray, who has died at the age of 61.
The entertainer, a mainstay of the Edinburgh theatre scene and a regular pantomime performer, is reported to have contracted Covid.
He also had a rare type of blood cancer called myelodysplastic syndrome, which affects the bone marrow.
Gray, who trained in Drama at Edinburgh’s Queen Margaret University, started his career the BBC Radio Scotland sketch show Naked Radio, and its TV counterpart Naked Video, alongside the likes of Gregor Fisher, Elaine C. Smith, Tony Roper, Helen Lederer and Jonathan Watson.
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image captionJonathan Watson as Frank McAvennie, one of the shows most enduring football characters
Only An Excuse stars Jonathan Watson and creator Phil Differ say the show had a good kick of the ball but now is the right time for the final whistle.
The comedy sketch show, which has become a Scottish Hogmanay tradition, is coming to an end after 27 years on TV.
Differ, who also previously worked on New Year s Eve institution Scotch and Wry, says it is a big responsibility to be trusted with such a landmark comedy show.
He says: People are sitting down at Hogmanay and saying give us a laugh. It becomes a full-time obsession trying to make sure it works year after year.
âIf I was in Outlander, Iâd be âhag-up-a-hillsideâ - Elaine C Smith on playing real Glasgow women
âIf I was in Outlander, Iâd be âhag-up-a-hillsideâ Elaine C Smith on playing real Glasgow women SHE is famous for bringing no-nonsense, heart-of-gold Glasgow women, warts and all, to the stage and screen. Elaine C Smith, whose best-known characters over the decades have included long-suffering Mary Doll in Rab C Nesbitt, gullible Dolly in The Steamie and brutally honest Christine in Two Doors Down, admits it is unlikely we will ever see her po-faced and trussed up in period garb. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not averse to an Outlander or a Downtown Abbey,” she muses. “But I’d be the cook. Or the nurse. There was talk of an Outlander episode at one point, I think, but probably ‘hag-up-a-hillside’ or the like….”