Andy Gray (13 September 1959 – 18 January 2021) was a Scottish actor and writer from Perth, Scotland. He appeared on stage and TV, including starring roles in the BBC series ''

Naked Video ''Naked Video'' is a BBC Scotland sketch show that was aired on BBC2 from 12 May 1986 to 18 November 1991. The show was created by Colin Gilbert who had previously created '' A Kick Up the Eighties'' and ''Naked Radio'' (the latter being a rad ...

'', ''

City Lights ''City Lights'' is a 1931 American silent romantic comedy film written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. The story follows the misadventures of Chaplin's Tramp as he falls in love with a blind girl ( Virginia Cherrill) an ...

'', and ''

River City ''River City'' is a Scottish television soap opera that was first broadcast on BBC One Scotland on 24 September 2002. ''River City'' follows the lives of the people who live and work in the fictional district of Shieldinch. In November 2017, a ...

''.

Education

He trained in Drama at Edinburgh's

Queen Margaret University Queen Margaret University is a university, founded in 1875 and located in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is named after the Scottish Queen Saint Margaret. History The university was founded in 1875, as ''The Edinburgh School of Cookery and Domestic ...

from 1976 to 1979.

Career

Gray starred in the

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scotland, Scottish radio station, radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same na ...

sketch show ''Naked Radio'', and its later television counterpart ''

''. He then became well known as the appropriately named "Chancer", best friend and source of problems to Willie Melvin ( Gerard Kelly) in the 1987 sitcom ''

''. He was well known for pantomiming, usually co-writing the script and often alongside other former ''City Lights'' cast members. He appeared opposite Kelly in a touring production of '' The Odd Couple''. He took the starring role in a

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

proposed comedy pilot show ''Miles is Better'' where he played a very enthusiastic burglar alarm salesman (Miles). Gray worked extensively in theatre and television since 1979 and was described as "a stalwart of Scottish Theatre". Gray appeared in the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe with panto colleague

Grant Stott Grant Stott (born 13 May 1967) is a Scottish broadcaster from Edinburgh. He formerly worked as a DJ on Edinburgh radio station Forth 1 until January 2017. He then joined BBC Radio Scotland and now appears on the television soap opera ''River Ci ...

in Philip Meeks's play ''Kiss Me Honey Honey'', which won a

Fringe First The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

. The show returned at the 2014 Fringe. In the feature film '' Time Teens'', he portrayed a villain (Black Ruthven) with writer/actor Ian Grieve directed by Ryan Dewar. He continued in his darker comedy as

William Donaldson Charles William Donaldson (4 January 1935 – 22 June 2005) was a British satirist, writer, playboy and, under the pseudonym of Henry Root, author of ''The Henry Root Letters''. Life and career Son of Charles Glen Donaldson (1904–1956) an ...

in 'Willie and Sebastian' at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe when he won the coveted Stage Award for Acting Excellence for his performance. Gray joined his pantomime co-stars, Allan Stewart and

in Canned Laughter, a tour about a 1970s showbiz trio based on Stewart's career. His final Fringe performances were in Philip Differ's 'Double Feature' (2017 and 2018 tour) and

Ruaraidh Murray Ruaraidh Murray (born on 18 September 1975) is a Scottish actor, writer, and comedian. Early life Murray was born in Edinburgh, Scotland to Fiona (née Grant) and Graeme Murray. Raised in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, he was educated at Stockbridge ...

's ''The Junkies'' (which played only one performance due to Gray's cancer diagnosis). He appeared in

Jason Connery Jason Joseph Connery (born 11 January 1963) is a British actor and director. He is the son of Sean Connery and Diane Cilento. On screen, he is best known for appearing in the third series of the ITV drama series '' Robin of Sherwood'' in 1986. ...

's Scottish BAFTA award-winning 2016 film ''

Tommy's Honour ''Tommy's Honour'' is a 2016 historical drama film depicting the lives and careers of, and the complex relationship between, the pioneering Scottish golfing champions Old Tom Morris and his son Young Tom Morris. The film is directed by Jason Conne ...

''. From 2016 until 2018 he played Pete Galloway in Scottish soap opera ''

''. Other theatre performances include:

Dario Fo Dario Luigi Angelo Fo (; 24 March 1926 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian playwright, actor, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, political campaigner for the Italian left wing and the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. ...

's '' Trumpets and Raspberries'' (1985) with Elaine C. Smith and Alan Cumming; ''Werewolf'' (1999); ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on " The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and als ...

'' (2001) at Lyceum, Edinburgh; ''The Woman Who Cooked her Husband'' (2004); ''A Limited Run'' (2005); '' Stones in His Pockets'' (2005); ''

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice ''The Rise and Fall of Little Voice'' is a 1992 play written by English dramatist Jim Cartwright. Production history Sam Mendes directed the first production at the Royal National Theatre that transferred to the Aldwych Theatre in London's ...

'' (2008); and ''

Irma Vep ''Irma Vep'' is a 1996 French comedy-drama film written and directed by Olivier Assayas. Hong Kong actress Maggie Cheung plays a fictionalised version of herself, as disasters result when an unstable French film director (played by Jean-Pierr ...

'' (2009) at

Perth Theatre Perth Theatre at 185 High Street (no longer its registered address) Perth, Scotland, opened in 1900 and was extended in the 1980s. The building is category B listed by Historic Scotland, and is operated by the charitable organisation Horsecros ...

with

Steven McNicoll Steven McNicoll is a Scottish actor, director, playwright and television presenter. He co-wrote and starred in seven series of the BBC sketch show ''Velvet Soup'' on radio and later television, which earned him a BAFTA nomination. He is also ...

. His pantomime catch phrase was, "I'm no very well".

Personal life

In August 2018 Gray, who was beginning a run of the play ''Junkies'' at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, felt unwell and withdrew from the show, and from the filming of ''River City'' that was to follow. He was diagnosed with

myelodysplastic syndrome A myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is one of a group of cancers in which immature blood cells in the bone marrow do not mature, and as a result, do not develop into healthy blood cells. Early on, no symptoms typically are seen. Later, symptoms may ...

s. Gray was treated with chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant from one of his sisters. He returned to work in 2019, saying he was "feeling great now". Gray contracted

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

in December 2020. He died in hospital intensive care on 18 January 2021, following complications caused by COVID-19, aged 61.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Andy 1959 births 2021 deaths Scottish comedy writers Scottish male radio actors Scottish male soap opera actors Scottish male television actors