Francis Hewat Taylor (22 February 1921 – 28 July 2004) was a Scottish-born Australian actor and voice artist known for his long running portrayal of Sgt. Andrew "Scotty" Macleod in the television series ''

Division 4 ''Division 4'' is an Australian television police drama series broadcast by the Nine Network and created by Crawford Productions airing between 1969 and 1975 for 301 episodes. Synopsis The series was one of the first to follow up on the enor ...

''. He appeared in every one of the show's 301 episodes becoming a well known television personality.

Early life and military service

Taylor was born in Kirkhill, Berwickshire, Scotland in 1921 and was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and the Scottish School of Drama. His professional debut as an actor was as the Second Page in Richard of Bordeaux at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, in September 1938. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Taylor joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

and served for five years as a

Wireless operator A radio operator (also, formerly, a wireless operator in British and Commonwealth English) is a person who is responsible for the operations of a radio system and the technicalities in broadcasting. The profession of radio operator has become l ...

and

Air gunner An air gunner or aerial gunner is a member of a military aircrew who operates flexible-mount or turret-mounted machine guns or autocannons in an aircraft. Modern aircraft weapons are usually operated automatically without the need for a dedic ...

with Squadron 608 and Squadron 217. He was shot down and taken as a prisoner in February 1942 and was incarcerated in seven

Prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

camps, before being liberated on 2 May 1945 by the

British 2nd Army The British Second Army was a Field Army active during the First and Second World Wars. During the First World War the army was active on the Western Front throughout most of the war and later active in Italy. During the Second World War the army ...

11th Armoured Division The 11th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army which was created in March 1941 during the Second World War. The division was formed in response to the unanticipated success of the German panzer divisions. The 11th Armour ...

Australian acting career

Theatre

Taylor settled permanently in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in 1952. He appeared in productions of plays by

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

and

Brendan Behan Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican, an activist who wrote in both English and Irish. His widely ackno ...

and contemporary drama productions, including

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1216–1281 ...

, The Hostage and

Difference of Opinion ''Difference of Opinion'' was an Australian television program produced and broadcast by ABC1. It began at the start of 2007, hosted, jointly, by ex-''60 Minutes'' journalist Jeff McMullen Jeffrey John McMullen is an Australian journalist ...

and for the

Old Tote Theatre Company The Old Tote Theatre Company (1963–1978) was a New South Wales theatre company that began as the standing acting and theatre company of Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). It was the predecessor to the Sydney Theatre Company ...

Berthold Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

The Caucasian Chalk Circle ''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' () is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a better mother than the baby's wealthy b ...

and

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

Heartbreak House ''Heartbreak House: A Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes'' is a play written by Bernard Shaw during the First World War, published in 1919 and first performed in November 1920 at the Garrick Theatre, New York, followed by a West ...

. He appeared in

Under Milk Wood ''Under Milk Wood'' is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh people, Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. The BBC commissioned the play, which was later adapted for the stage. The first public reading was in New York City in 1953. A Under Milk Wood (1972 film), f ...

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...

at the

Independent Theatre Independent Theatre, formerly known as The Independent Theatre Ltd., was an Australian dramatic society founded in 1930 by Dame Doris Fitton in Sydney, Australia. It is also the name given to the building it occupied from 1939 (then known as t ...

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

Television and film

Taylor played Wilson in the 1960 film The Sundowners. Taylor appeared in the Australian television play ''

Seagulls Over Sorrento ''Seagulls Over Sorrento'' is a 1954 British war drama film made by the Boulting brothers based on the play of the same name by Hugh Hastings. The film stars Gene Kelly and was one of three made by Kelly in Europe over an 18-month period to ...

'' in 1960. It was based on the popular stage play ''

'' and was produced by

Crawford Productions Crawford Productions is an Australian Media (communication), media production company, focused on radio and television production. Founded in Melbourne by Hector Crawford and his sister, actress and voice artist Dorothy Crawford, the company, a ...

for Melbourne's

HSV-7 HSV is a television station in Melbourne, Australia. It is part of the Seven Network, one of the three main commercial television networks in Australia, its first and oldest station. It launched in time for the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbou ...

, airing as an episode of ''ACI Theatre'' and a televised production of The Affair in 1965. It screened on TCN-9 in Sydney on Sunday 12 June. In 1966 he appeared in the popular

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

situation comedy A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

series '' My Name's McGooley, What's Yours?'' on the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

(station

ATN7 ATN is the Sydney flagship television station of the Seven Network in Australia. The licence, issued to a company named Amalgamated Television Services, a subsidiary of John Fairfax & Sons, was one of the first four licences (two in Sydney, two ...

). Later he also appeared in many of the early landmark television series in Australia before being cast in

police series Division 4. Taylor read and recorded over 400 books for the Royal Blind Society of NSW audio book collection. He retired in the late 1980s.

Awards

In 1972 Taylor received the

Penguin Award The Penguin Award was an annual award given for excellence in broadcasting by the Television Society of Australia. It was founded in 1954. The award trophy depicts an ear listening to a television tube, but strongly resembles a penguin, hence the ...

for the Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series.

Autobiography and personal life

Taylor wrote an autobiography entitled ''Barbed Wire and Footlights – Seven Stalags to Freedom'', published in 1988. Taylor married the Sydney-born zoologist Pauline Gladys Larcombe in 1954. The couple had two daughters, Marjorie and Gillian, and lived in the substantial Victorian era home ''Hazelhurst'' at 15 Ethel Street,

Burwood, New South Wales Burwood is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the Local government in Australia, local government area of Mun ...

. Pauline Taylor was the daughter of Sydney accountant William Frederick Arthur Larcombe who was educated at

The King's School, Parramatta The King's School is an Education in Australia#Non-government schools, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, Pre-school education, early learning, primary school, primary and secondary school, secondary day and boarding school, bo ...

. His English-born wife Amy Gladys Larcombe (née Shawe) lived next door to the Taylor family in the heritage listed home ''Landsdowne'' and the two houses and tennis court, on multiple blocks of land, formed a family compound for over 50 years. Before going up to the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

Pauline Larcombe attended

Meriden School Meriden, An Anglican School for Girls is an independent Anglican single-sex early learning, primary, and secondary day school for girls, located in Strathfield, an inner-western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 189 ...

Strathfield Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A sma ...

. She was the niece of James Paul Larcombe who like her father was an accountant. He lived in Strathfield in the Georgian-revival style home ''Somerset'' on The Boulevarde. The house was designed for him by the acclaimed architect B. J. Waterhouse. As a widow his wife Dorothy Larcombe became Lady Joske when she married Sir

Percy Joske Sir Percy Ernest Joske, CMG QC (5 October 1895 – 25 April 1981) was an Australian lawyer, politician and judge. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1951 to 1960, representing the Liberal Party. He subsequently served on ...

who moved to Sydney and to her home in Strathfield. Frank Taylor died in 2004 survived by his wife and two daughters. His widow Pauline died in 2011.Ryerson Index
Retrieved 14 February 2023.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Frank 1921 births 2004 deaths 20th-century Scottish male actors Male actors from New South Wales Australian male stage actors Australian male television actors Australian male voice actors People educated at Edinburgh Academy