Barbara Rafferty (born 15 January 1950 in

Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...

), is a Scottish actress. She was credited as Barbara Ann Brown in her early acting career. She is known for her roles as Ella Cotter in the long-running

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

sitcom ''

Rab C Nesbitt ''Rab C. Nesbitt'' is a Scottish television comedy, comedy television series that originally aired between 1988 and 1999. The show returned for a one–off special in 2008, before being re-commissioned in 2010. Its second run was broadcast from ...

'', then firstly as

Shirley Henderson Shirley Henderson (born 24 November 1965) is a Scottish actress. Her accolades include two Scottish BAFTAs, a VFCC Award and an Olivier Award, as well as BAFTA, BIFA, London Critics' Circle, Chlotrudis, Gotham, and Canadian Screen Award n ...

and then as Bernie O'Hara in

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

soap opera ''

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 ...

''. She played Agnes Meldon in mystery series ''

Hamish MacBeth Hamish Macbeth is the police constable of the fictional Scottish Highlands, Scottish Highland town of Lochdubh, in a series of murder mystery novels created by M. C. Beaton (Marion Chesney). Considered by many to be a useless, lazy moocher, M ...

'' and Grandma Mainland in the

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content targeted for children aged six year ...

comedy '' Katie Morag''.

Career

Rafferty is best known for playing Ella Cotter in ''

'' between 1990 and 1999, and then again from 2008 and 2011 when the show made a comeback (and again in 2014). Other notable television roles include playing pub landlady Agnes Meldrum in ''

Hamish Macbeth Hamish Macbeth is the police constable of the fictional Scottish Highlands, Scottish Highland town of Lochdubh, in a series of murder mystery novels created by M. C. Beaton (Marion Chesney). Considered by many to be a useless, lazy moocher, M ...

'' and Alice MacAllister in '' The Young Person's Guide To Becoming A Rock Star''. She took over the role of Alice Taylor from Muriel Romanes in

Take The High Road ''Take the High Road'' (renamed ''High Road'' from 1994 to 2003) was a Scottish soap opera produced by Scottish Television, which started in February 1980 as an ITV (TV network), ITV daytime programme, and was broadcast until 2003. It was set in ...

in 1988. Also, in the 2006 film ''

The Last King of Scotland ''The Last King of Scotland'' is a novel by journalist Giles Foden, published by Faber and Faber in 1998. Focusing on the rise of Ugandan President Idi Amin and his reign as dictator from 1971 to 1979, the novel, which interweaves fiction and ...

'', Barbara Rafferty starred as Mrs. Garrigan. Until 2009 she was appearing in the

soap ''

'' as

and 2018 as Bernie O'Hara from 2018 to 2024 when she was killed in a car crash.
Barbara's daughter, Amy Rafferty (born 1972), is a singer, songwriter, and musician with the cult Glasgow music collective The Recovery Club. Her son, Bob Rafferty, fronts the well known Glasgow alternative rock band El Dog. In 2013 it was announced that Rafferty would join the cast of His Majesty's Theatre in Aberdeen Pantomime Cinderella with her friend Elaine C. Smith. She portrayed Grandma Mainland in the

TV series, Katie Morag. It started airing on 3 November 2013.

Theatre

Filmography

Other appearances * ''California Sunshine'' as Jessica (2014; short film) * ''Missing'' as Rachel (2007; short film) * ''Autumn Leaves'' as Mrs. McBride (1997; short film)

References

External links

River City official site
*
River City, Shirley Henderson Character page
Living people Scottish television actresses Scottish soap opera actresses Scottish film actresses Actresses from Glasgow 1954 births Scottish voice actresses 20th-century Scottish actresses 21st-century Scottish actresses {{Scotland-actor-stub