Moira Anderson (born 5 June 1938) is a Scottish singer.

Life and career

Moira Anderson was born on 5 June 1938 in

Kirkintilloch Kirkintilloch (; ; ) is a town and a Burgh of Barony (The Baron of Kirkintilloch) in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal and on the south side of Strathkelvin, about northeast of central Glasgow. Historically ...

Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire () or the County of Dumbarton is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbar ...

, Scotland. She was educated at

Lenzie Academy Lenzie Academy is a Coeducation, co-educational Comprehensive school, comprehensive secondary school located in Lenzie, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The catchment area covers Lenzie, Auchinloch and the southern parts of Kirkintilloch. Senior ...

, She then attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, before getting her big break in the media after a successful audition at the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. She landed her first job in the media, presenting the

radio programme A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netw ...

'' Can't Help Singing'' where she sang with some prestigious names from the world of opera. She went on to make many appearances in the TV series '' The White Heather Club'' hosted by Andy Stewart. She subsequently hosted her own television show, the popular ''Moira Anderson Sings'' on BBC1 in 1968. In her early career Anderson made frequent appearances alongside fellow Scottish music stars, including Kenneth McKellar. The pairing of Anderson and McKellar was celebrated in the 1971 " Two Ronnies" spoof sketch (Programme 3, 1st Series) featuring "Kenneth Anderson" and "Moira McKellar", in which

Ronnie Corbett Ronald Balfour Corbett (4 December 1930 – 31 March 2016) was a Scottish actor, broadcaster, comedian and writer. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show ''The Two Ronnies''. He achieved promine ...

's Ken described

Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as ''Porridge (1974 TV series), Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', ...

's (rather hefty) Moira as "that beautiful lump of Dundee cake". In the early 1980s she made a successful album of duets with Sir Harry Secombe. She recorded " A Perfect Day" by Carrie Jacobs-Bond. Her musical directors over the years have included Peter Knight, Peggy O'Keefe, Nick Ingman and Gordon Cree. She has recorded many albums, including an

Ivor Novello Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. He was born into a musical ...

collection, conducted by Robin Stapleton, and made many appearances on the BBC TV's popular, long running series, '' The Good Old Days''. She received an OBE in July 1970. In 2010, she sang two songs at the funeral of Sir

Norman Wisdom Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, (4 February 1915 – 4 October 2010), was an English actor, comedian, musician, and singer, best known for his series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966, in which he portrayed the endearingly inept charact ...

. Anderson lives, as of 2016, in retirement on the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

with her husband of over 50 years, Stuart Macdonald.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Moira 1938 births Living people Officers of the Order of the British Empire Musicians from Kirkintilloch Alumni of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Scottish radio presenters Scottish women radio presenters Scottish sopranos Scottish television presenters Scottish women television presenters Butlins Redcoats People educated at Lenzie Academy People educated at Ayr Academy 20th-century Scottish women singers