John Gerard Beattie, MBE (9 November 1926 – 9 July 2020) was a Scottish actor and stand-up comedian whose career spanned over six decades. He appeared on shows including the sketch show '' Scotch & Wry'' and the sitcom ''

Rab C. Nesbitt ''Rab C. Nesbitt'' is a Scottish 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 2010 to 2014. The ...

'', and later appeared in more dramatic roles including Malcolm Hamilton in the 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 ...

''.

Early life and career

Beattie was born in

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...

, Glasgow, on 9 November 1926 into a

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

family. He grew up there with an older brother, Frank, and two younger sisters, Mary and Cathie. He attended St Gerard's Roman Catholic Secondary School,Johnny Beattie profile
acumfaegovan.com; accessed 20 August 2017. but left school at sixteen to start an apprenticeship and became involved with amateur dramatics, and by the mid-1950s he had become a

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

. Beattie starred in his own

sketch show Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

, ''Johnny Beattie's Saturday Night Show'', which featured him playing many different colourful characters, including his

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...

"Glaikit O'Toole". The show ran on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

from January 1964 to February 1970. In 1974, Beattie took part in STV's four-part series ''A Grand Tour'', along with

Rikki Fulton Robert Kerr "Rikki" Fulton (15 April 1924 – 27 January 2004) was a Scottish comedian and actor best remembered for writing and performing in the long-running BBC Scotland sketch show, ''Scotch and Wry''. He was also known for his appearances ...

Jack Milroy Jack Milroy, Order of the British Empire, MBE (born James Cruden; 28 December 1915 – 1 February 2001), was a Scottish comedian. Born in Govanhill, Glasgow and educated at Shawlands Academy, Milroy is noted for his partnership with comedy actor ...

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, musician, television presenter, artist and retired stand-up comedian. He is sometimes known by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his idiosyncratic and of ...

Mark McManus Mark McManus (21 February 1935 – 6 June 1994) was a Scottish actor known for his roles in the British television series '' Sam,'' '' Bulman, The Brothers, Strangers,'' and '' Dramarama'' and the feature film '' 2000 Weeks''. He was best know ...

and

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 ...

, in which the six performers went on a grand tour of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and took part in useless tasks. Beattie recalled his most renowned moment on the show as when he was made to "Take a long drop off a short pier", in which each of the participants had to compete.Profile
imdb.com; accessed 20 August 2017. Beattie went on to appear on Rikki Fulton's sketch show '' Scotch & Wry'', at one point appearing as his alter ego Glaikit O'Toole, who encounters Fulton's character Supercop in one of the sketches. While on the set of ''Scotch & Wry'', he met actor

Gregor Fisher Gregor Fisher (born 22 December 1953) is a Scottish comedian and actor. He is best known for his portrayal of the title character in the comedy series '' Rab C. Nesbitt'', a role he has played since the show's first episode in 1988. He has also ...

, with whom he went on to appear in the 1990s

sitcom 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 ...

''. In 1990, Beattie starred in ''

The Big Man ''The Big Man'' (US title: ''Crossing the Line'') is a 1990 British sports drama film directed by David Leland. It stars Liam Neeson, Joanne Whalley and Billy Connolly. The film's score was composed by Ennio Morricone. It is based on the ...

'' alongside Billy Connolly and

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Liam Neeson, several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, BAFT ...

. He also appeared in popular Scottish television shows including ''

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 ...

'', and he was also the original host of the

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now legally known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchisee for Central Belt, Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation si ...

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

Now You See It Now You See It may refer to: * ''Now You See It'' (American game show), a 1974–1975 game show, resurrected in 1989 * ''Now You See It'' (Australian game show), a 1985–1999 children's game show * ''Now You See It'' (British game show), a 1981 ...

'' for three years between 1981 and 1984. He had a couple of local hit records with "Scotch on the Rocks" and "The Glasgow Rap" and presented radio shows on

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 ...

and Clyde 2 before he was cast as Malcolm Hamilton in the Scottish

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

'', a role which he had retained since the show began in 2002. He filmed his last scenes for the show in April 2015 having announced his retirement after more than 60 years. He was the Honorary President of the Scottish Music Hall Society.

Personal life and death

Beattie married Kitty Lamont in 1950. They had two daughters (

Maureen Maureen is a female name, the female form of the male name Maurice. In Gaelic, it is Máirín, a pet form of ''Máire'' (the Irish cognate of Mary), which is derived from the Hebrew Miriam. Some notable bearers of the name are: People * Mauree ...

, an actress, and Louise, a solicitor and former actress) and two sons (Paul and Mark). Beattie and Lamont separated in 1982, and she died in 1994. Beattie died on 9 July 2020 at the St. Margaret's Hospice 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 ...

, aged 93.

Awards

Beattie was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

2007 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2007 were appointments made by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year cele ...

list. He received the 1981 Benno Schotz award as TV Personality of the Year. He received the Lord Provost's Performing Arts Award in 1993.

References

External links

* *
Johnny Beattie Archive (GB 247 ASC 005) Archives & Special Collections, University of Glasgow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beattie, Johnny 1926 births 2020 deaths Scottish male television actors Scottish game show hosts Scottish male soap opera actors Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Govan Scottish male comedians Male actors from Glasgow Comedians from Glasgow 20th-century Scottish male actors 21st-century Scottish male actors 20th-century Scottish comedians 21st-century Scottish comedians Scottish sketch comedians