Roland James Hamilton, known as Steve Hamilton (24 February 1950 – 1 August 2009) was a Scottish broadcaster. He was best known for DJing and presenting on
Radio Forth and announcing on ''
Wheel of Fortune''.
Biography
Hamilton was born on 24 February 1950 in
Dumfries
Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...
but grew up in
Ayr
Ayr ( ; ; , meaning "confluence of the River Àir"), is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. A former royal burgh, today it is the administrative centre of South Ayrshire Council, and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With ...
owing to his father's operation of a motor car dealership there. He went to
Carrick Academy,
Ayr Academy
Ayr Academy (Scottish Gaelic: ''Acadamaidh Inbhir Àir'') is an 11–18 non-denominational secondary school situated within the Craigie Estate area at University Avenue in Ayr, South Ayrshire. It is the sixth largest secondary school in South Ayr ...
, and the Royal School of Music and Drama, where the diploma in speech and drama he graduated with failed to rescue him from a job at
Austin Reed in
Princes Street
Princes Street () is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three quar ...
. A later job as a props man at BBC TV in Glasgow brought his voice to the attention of the place's broadcasters who gave him his job at
Radio Forth, which he began on 22 January 1975; at this point he changed his name to Steve from Roland James on the grounds that Roland didn't suit a DJ. In 1977, he joined
STV as a newscaster and continuity announcer, remaining with both until 1988, the year in which he took a job narrating
Wheel of Fortune.
He kept this job for its initial 13-year run, being the only original cast member to stay with the show until the 14th series in 2001.
Until 1998 Hamilton was based in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
, at which point he relocated to
Newtongrange
Newtongrange () is a former mining village in Midlothian, Scotland. Known in local dialect as ''Nitten'', or ''Nitten by the Bing (mining), Bing'' (),
it became Scotland's largest mining village in the 1890s, with the sinking of the Lady Victor ...
,
Midlothian
Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...
"to see a bit of sky";
he would four years later launch the voice-coaching firm "Hamilton Agency" with his wife.
His final years were spent doing voice-overs for television and radio adverts – at the time of his death he was the voice advertising
King Robert II whisky in
Mauritius
Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
– as an occasional actor (including bit parts
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 ...
,
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 ...
, and
Monarch of the Glen), and training students for broadcasting jobs at a voice-coaching school.
Personal life and death
Hamilton died of a heart attack. Hamilton was married three times; first to Maggie, his second wife Joan died of breast cancer in 1985, then to Jilly from 1988 until his death on 1 August 2009. He has a brother, Campbell, and two children Debbie and Nick.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Steve
1950 births
People from Dumfries
2009 deaths
Scottish television presenters
Place of birth missing
Scottish radio presenters