Anne Downie
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Anne Downie (born 1939) is a Scottish actress and writer. She was born in
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
to
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
and Irish parents. She has written and performed across a wide variety of media.


Acting career

Upon leaving drama college, her first professional stage role was playing opposite
Andrew Keir Andrew Keir (né Buggy, 3 April 19265 October 1997) was a Scottish actor who appeared in a number of films made by Hammer Film Productions in the 1960s. He was also active in television, and especially in the theatre, in a professional career ...
in ''The Bigot''. She has worked in many of the major Scottish theatres. Highlights from her theatre career include: ''Six Black Candles'' (
Royal Lyceum The Royal Lyceum Theatre is a 658-seat theatre in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, named after the Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House, the residence at the time of legendary Shakespearean actor Henry Irving. It was built in 1883 by a ...
, garnering the Critics Award for Best Ensemble), ''Tally's Blood'' (
Traverse Traverse may refer to: Places * Traverse, Michigan, an unincorporated community * Traverse City, Michigan * Traverse County, Minnesota, a county in Minnesota Other * Traverse (climbing), moving horizontally on a climbing or mountaineering route ...
), ''Just Frank'' (Traverse), '' Can't Pay Won't Pay!'' ( TAG), ''Marching On'' ( 7:84), and roles in
pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...
with comedy legends
Stanley Baxter Stanley Livingstone Baxter (born 24 May 1926) is a retired Scottish actor, comedian, impressionist and author. Baxter began his career as a child actor on BBC Scotland and later became known for his British television comedy shows '' The Stanley ...
and
Jimmy Logan James Allan Short, Officer of the Order of the British Empire, OBE, RSAMD, FRSAMD (4 April 1928 – 13 April 2001), known professionally as Jimmy Logan, was a Scotland, Scottish performer, theatrical producer, impresario and Theatre director, ...
. She appeared as Granny Morrison in
Josie Rourke Josie Rourke is an English theatre and film director. She is a vice-president of the London Library, and was the artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse theatre from 2012 to 2019. In 2018, she made her feature film debut with the Academy Award ...
's revival of
Ena Lamont Stewart Ena Lamont Stewart (10 February 1912, Glasgow – 9 February 2006, Dalmellington) was a Scottish playwright. Life and career Stewart was the daughter of a Church of Scotland minister whose family was originally from Canada and had settled in Gl ...
's ''
Men Should Weep ''Men Should Weep'' (originally called ''Quancos Should Dance'') is a play by Ena Lamont Stewart, first staged in 1947. It is set in Glasgow during the 1930s Depression, with all the action taking place in the household of the Morrison family. ...
'' at the
Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...
, London. Television credits include: ''Glasgow Kiss'' (BBC), ''
Taggart ''Taggart'' is a Scottish detective fiction television programme created by Glenn Chandler, who wrote many of the episodes, and made by STV Studios for the ITV network. It originally ran as the miniseries ''Killer'' from 6 until 20 Septe ...
'' ( STV), ''
River City ''River City'' is a Scottish television soap opera created by Stephen Greenhorn which has been broadcast on BBC One Scotland since September 2002. Since 2019, the show has aired episodes a day earlier on the new BBC Scotland channel. Set in ...
'' (BBC), ''
Still Game ''Still Game'' is a Scotland, Scottish sitcom produced by Effingee Productions, The Comedy Unit and BBC Scotland. It was created by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who played the lead characters, Jack Jarvis (Still Game character), Jack Jarvis, ...
'' (BBC), and a comic stand-up performance on two series of ''Halfway to Paradise'' (C4). Her film credits include: ''
16 Years of Alcohol ''16 Years of Alcohol'' is a 2003 drama film written and directed by Richard Jobson, based on his semi-autobiographical 1987 novel. Kevin McKidd stars as Frankie, a violent alcoholic who is partially based on Jobson and his brother. Plot The o ...
'', ''Solstice'', ''The Crews'', and ''
Running in Traffic Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion by which humans and other animals move quickly on foot. Running is a gait with an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is in contrast to walkin ...
'' (nominated for Michael Powell and
BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
awards, screened at the
Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially european classical music, classical music) and ...
and winner of the Apollo Prize).


Writing career

Her published works of fiction include the short stories "Walter" (Polygon), "Deadly Sin" (Polygon and Argyle Press), "Write Your Name Small" (Herald), and "Do You do Teas?" (
Edinburgh Review The ''Edinburgh Review'' is the title of four distinct intellectual and cultural magazines. The best known, longest-lasting, and most influential of the four was the third, which was published regularly from 1802 to 1929. ''Edinburgh Review'', ...
). Her novel ''The Witches of Pollok'' was published by Capercaillie Books on 6 October 2010. Her novel 'The Miami Disclosure' was published by SNB Publishing on 9 January 2021. She has also written non-fiction including: ''On Being an Actor'' (Chapman), ''China Diary'' (Herald) and ''On having Irish Roots'' (Argyle Press). Her works as a playwright include: ''Waiting on One'' (winner of
Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...
award), published by Fairplay Press, 2007; ''The White Bird Passes'' (adapted from the novel by
Jessie Kesson Jessie Kesson (28 October 1916 – 26 September 1994), born Jessie Grant McDonald, was a Scottish novelist, playwright and radio producer. Life She was born in a workhouse in Inverness, to a mother who had turned to prostitution after being d ...
). Published by Fairplay Press, 2007 and ''The Female of The Species'' Published by Fairplay Press, 2007. Her plays have been produced by companies such as
Theatre Workshop Theatre Workshop is a theatre group whose long-serving director was Joan Littlewood. Many actors of the 1950s and 1960s received their training and first exposure with the company, many of its productions were transferred to theatres in the West ...
,
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
and Borderline. She has written for television series: '' High Road'' ( STV), ''River City'' (BBC) and ''
The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...
'' (
Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...
/
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...
). Downie's works for radio include ''Side Sea View'' (
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
) and ''Race'' (series for
BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national 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 name from 23 N ...
), among others.


References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Downie, Anne 1939 births Living people Scottish women dramatists and playwrights Scottish people of Irish descent Actresses from Glasgow Scottish stand-up comedians Scottish stage actresses Scottish television actresses Scottish film actresses Scottish radio writers Women radio writers 21st-century Scottish women writers 21st-century Scottish dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Scottish writers 20th-century Scottish dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Scottish women writers 20th-century Scottish actresses 21st-century Scottish actresses Scottish women short story writers Scottish women television writers 21st-century Scottish short story writers