Alexander Morton (born 24 March 1945) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for his roles as Andy Semple 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 network daytime programme, and was broadcast until 2003. It was set in the ficti ...

'', Golly MacKenzie in '' Monarch of the Glen'' and Billy Kennedy in ''

River City ''River City'' is a Scottish television soap opera that was first broadcast on BBC One Scotland on 24 September 2002. ''River City'' follows the lives of the people who live and work in the fictional district of Shieldinch. In November 2017, a s ...

''.

Acting career

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

-born Morton trained in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

at the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

from 1965 to 1968 and is well known for his roles in several leading drama series, such as ''

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 September 19 ...

'', ''

Second Sight Extrasensory perception or ESP, also called sixth sense, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was adopted by Duke Universit ...

'', '' Between the Lines'', ''

Minder A minder is the person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who " minds". Government-appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are of ...

'', and ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

''; movies such as

Croupier A croupier or dealer is someone appointed at a gambling table to assist in the conduct of the game, especially in the distribution of bets and payouts. Croupiers are typically employed by casinos. Origin of the word Originally a "croupier" meant ...

and

London to Brighton ''London to Brighton'' is a 2006 British neo-noir crime film written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams. Plot The film opens with a woman and child, Kelly and Joanne, bursting into a London toilet. Joanne is crying and Kelly has a black eye. ...

; and single dramas '' The One That Got Away'' (1996), ''

Looking After Jo Jo ''Looking After Jo Jo'' is a 1998 BBC Scotland television drama starring Robert Carlyle. John Joe "Jo Jo" McCann is petty thief turned drug dealer in 1980's Edinburgh, surviving in a bleak housing estate and aspiring to the trappings of a succ ...

'' (1998), and ''The Man-Eating Wolves of Gysinge'' (2005). He is best known for playing the

ghillie ''Gillie'' or ''ghillie'' is an ancient Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic term for a person who acts as a servant or attendant on a fishing, hunting, deer stalking or falconry, hawking expedition, primarily in the Scottish Highlands or on a river such as ...

Golly Mackenzie ''Monarch of the Glen'' is a British drama television series produced by Ecosse Films for BBC Scotland and broadcast on BBC One for seven series between February 2000 and October 2005 with 64 episodes in total. The first five series of ''Mo ...

in the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

TV series '' Monarch of the Glen'' (2000–2005, appearing in all 64 episodes), and before that made regular appearances over the 1980s and 1990s as the evil Andy Semple in Scottish soap ''

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 network daytime programme, and was broadcast until 2003. It was set in the ficti ...

''. Highlights of his stage career include a Scots rendition of Shakespeare's ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' and R.P. McMurphy in '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'', both directed by

Robert Carlyle Robert Carlyle (born 14 April 1961) is a Scottish actor. His film work includes '' Trainspotting'' (1996), ''The Full Monty'' (1997), ''The World Is Not Enough'' (1999), ''Angela's Ashes'' (1999), '' The Beach'' (2000), ''28 Weeks Later'' (20 ...

, who was a founder member, with Morton, of the Raindog Theatre Company in the 1990s. Morton also worked regularly with theatre companies 7:84 and Borderline, and has appeared at the Traverse, the Lyceum, the Bush, the Royal Court, in repertory all over the UK, as well as regular appearances in pantomime, notably at Glasgow's King's Theatre. In 2006, Morton played the Prince of Darkness in the

BBC radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

adaptation of ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

'' (Voyage of the Demeter, 2006). He was also the first actor to play

Detective Inspector John Rebus Detective Inspector John Rebus is the protagonist in the Inspector Rebus series of detective novels by the Scottish writer Sir Ian Rankin, ten of which have so far been televised as ''Rebus''. The novels are mostly set in and around Edinburgh. ...

in the first adaptation of

Ian Rankin Sir Ian James Rankin (born 28 April 1960) is a Scottish crime writer, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels. Early life Rankin was born in Cardenden, Fife. His father, James, owned a grocery shop, and his mother, Isobel, worked in a schoo ...

's ''Rebus'' series of books. He regularly provides voices for video games, including ''

Heavenly Sword ''Heavenly Sword'' is a 2007 action-adventure hack and slash video game developed by Ninja Theory and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. Gameplay The game is an action-adventure title with heavy hack and slash game ...

'', ''

The Witcher ''The Witcher'' ( pl, Wiedźmin ) is a series of six fantasy novels and 15 short stories written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The series revolves around the eponymous "witcher", Geralt of Rivia. In Sapkowski's works, "witchers" are bea ...

'' series (as Zoltan Chivay) and '' Viking: Battle for Asgard''. From 2012 to 2015, Morton played Criminal Billy Kennedy in Scottish soap opera ''

''. The character of Billy Kennedy was briefly reprised in January 2016. Fellow Scottish actor Jon Morrison took over the role from Morton. He has been involved in numerous albums by the Swiss Celtic / Melodic Death Metal band

Eluveitie Eluveitie ( ; )Chrigel Glanzmann: "...According to current research, it is pronounced in Bernese German as, i.e. ''"Elvèyti"''. But I don't know if this is correct. The gods know that.:: Metalist Magazine :: Interviews :: Eluveitie is a Swiss f ...

Personal life

Morton has been married three times, and has two children – Kerry (b. 1970) and Jamie (b. 1980) – from each of his first two marriages. His first wife was Pam Scotcher; his second was Denise; and his third is Jane, whom he met before filming for ''Monarch of the Glen'' got underway. She was his

landlady A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the t ...

while he was doing television work in London, where they now live with her children."Times change, the struggle continues"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 9 April 2003

Film and television credits

*1971: ''

Get Carter ''Get Carter'' is a 1971 British crime film written and directed by Mike Hodges in his directorial debut and starring Michael Caine, Ian Hendry, John Osborne, Britt Ekland and Bryan Mosley. Based on Ted Lewis's 1970 novel ''Jack's Return Hom ...

'' - Hubert *1979: ''Play for Today'' (TV): Ploughman's Share - Dave *1980-1994: ''

'' (TV soap) - Andy Semple *1981: ''Play for Today'' (TV): The Good Time Girls - Alec Park *1984: ''

'' (TV series): Windows - Alex *1985: ''

'' (TV series): Dead Ringer - David Balfour *1986: ''Dramarama'' – Waiting for Elvis (1986) *1987: ''First Sight'' (TV series) - Frank Riley *1987: ''Bookie'' (TV series) - Ross *1989: ''Winners and Losers'' *1990: '' Silent Scream'' - Don Winters *1992: ''

Rab C. Nesbitt ''Rab C. Nesbitt'' is a Scottish comedy series which began in 1988. Produced by BBC Scotland, it stars Gregor Fisher as an alcoholic Glaswegian who seeks unemployment as a lifestyle choice. Rab C. Nesbitt was originally a recurring character ...

'' (TV series) - Police Inspector Mccrae *1992-1994: ''

Firm Friends ''Firm Friends'' is a British drama series written and created by Lou Wakefield which was broadcast on ITV from 16 June 1992 to 18 August 1994. The series stars Billie Whitelaw as Rose Gutteridge and Madhur Jaffrey as Jayshree Kapoor. The show w ...

'' (TV sitcom) - D.I. Hogg *1993: '' Between the Lines'' (TV series) - Superintendent Tyrell *1993: ''

'' (TV series): Death Benefits - John Fraser *1994: ''Screen Two: Men of the Month'' (TV play) - James *1994: ''Jolly a Man for All Seasons'' - Police Sergeant Watson *1994: ''Crime Story'' - John McVicar *1994: ''

The Tales of Para Handy ''The Tales of Para Handy'' is a Scottish television series set in the western isles of Scotland in the 1930s, based on the Para Handy books by Neil Munro. It starred Gregor Fisher as Captain Peter "Para Handy" MacFarlane, Sean Scanlan as first ...

'' - John Cruickshank *1996: ''Bad Boys'' - Dick *1996: ''The One that Got Away'' - Big Bob (credited as Sandy Morton) *1996: ''Nightlife'' (TV movie) - D.C.Dave *1997: ''

'' - DS Alistair Wright *1997: ''Bombay Blue'' - Jack Grey *1997: ''Love Me Tender'' (TV movie) - Tommy *1998: ''

'' - David Reynolds *1999-2000: ''

'' (TV series) - DS Julian *1999: ''Life Support'' - Alan Carswell *2000-2005: '' Monarch of the Glen'' -

(in every episode) *2003: ''Dead Simple'' - Victor *2005: ''The Man-Eating Wolves of Gysinge'' (TV movie) - Malmberg Nilsson *2006-2008: ''

'' (TV series) *2006: ''

'' - Duncan Allen *2007: ''Kitchen'' (TV movie) - Mr. Glasgow *2009: '' Valhalla Rising'' - Chieftain Barde *2010: ''

'': The Rapture - James Hardie *2010: ''

Luther Luther may refer to: People * Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation * Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement * Luther (give ...

'' (TV series) - Bill Winingham *2012-2015: ''

'' (Soap opera) - Billy Kennedy *2013: ''

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

'' (TV series) - Joseph Wilson

Selected theatre credits

Radio credits

References

External links

* *
Alexander Morton Radio appearances
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, Alexander Scottish male television actors Scottish male radio actors Scottish male soap opera actors Scottish male stage actors Scottish male film actors Scottish male video game actors 1945 births Living people Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama Male actors from Glasgow