Dorothy Paul (born 1937 as Dorothy Pollock) is a Scottish stage and screen actress, comedian, and entertainer. She performed onstage often at the Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow.

Acting career

Originating from the

Dennistoun Dennistoun is a mostly residential district in Glasgow, Scotland, located north of the River Clyde and in the city's east end, about east of the city centre. Since 2017 it has formed the core of a Dennistoun ward under Glasgow City Council, ...

area of

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 ...

, she started her main career in the late 1960s, with her first credited roles in television shows such as ''

The Revenue Men ''The Revenue Men'' is a British television series, produced and transmitted by the BBC between 1967 and 1968. The series dealt with cases handled by the Investigation Branch of Customs and Excise such as the illegal import of goods, illegal imm ...

'', '' Sutherland's Law'' and ''

Garnock Way ''Garnock Way'' was a short-lived Scottish soap opera, produced by Scottish Television for the ITV network, running from 1976 to 1979. It was replaced by ''Take the High Road'' which also featured actors Eileen McCallum, Bill Henderson, Paul ...

''. She also featured in the 2005 film ''

Festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

'', playing Micheline's Mother. After many successful years with various stage performances, including ''Dorothy Paul: Live'', she had made guest appearances in ''

Still Game ''Still Game'' is a Scottish sitcom, produced by The Comedy Unit with BBC Scotland. It was created by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who played the lead characters, Jack Jarvis, Esq and Victor McDade, two Glaswegian pensioners. The characte ...

'' and ''

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 ...

''.

''The Steamie''

In December 1988, Paul starred as Magrit in the television adaptation of the play ''

The Steamie ''The Steamie'' is a comedy-drama stage play, written by Tony Roper. It is set on Hogmanay 1950 and provides a window on the lives and aspirations of a group of Glasgow women washing their clothes in a public washhouse (steamie). It was commis ...

'', written by Tony Roper. In the show, she featured alongside fellow cast members

Eileen McCallum Eileen McCallum, MBE (born 2 December 1936) is a Scottish actress who is best known for playing the part of shopkeeper Isabel Blair through the complete run of soap opera '' Take the High Road'' from 1980 to 2003, and as Liz Hamilton from 2005 ...

Katy Murphy Katy Murphy (born 8 December 1962) is a Scottish actress and teacher who has appeared in many television programs, most of them for the BBC and ITV. While most associated with television drama, she has worked across a variety of genres, including ...

and

Peter Mullan Peter Mullan (; born 2 November 1959) is a Scottish actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his role in Ken Loach's ''My Name Is Joe'' (1998), for which he won Best Actor Award at 1998 Cannes Film Festival, 2000's '' The Claim'' and all thr ...

. Paul received a BAFTA nomination for her performance, and the adaptation is generally favoured as one of Scotland's most loved television broadcasts. Her role in ''The Steamie'' featured the famous "Isn't it wonderful to be a woman?" speech, in which Paul delivers an explanation about the life of a woman during that era.

Television presenting

Dorothy Paul was a regular on Scottish TV in the 1980s and 1990s and had her own new year programmes that featured her singing and telling stories of her childhood. Dorothy also took over presenting STVs daily magazine programme ''Housecall'' from Isabel Begg. In the summer of 2009, Dorothy was a guest presenter on STV's daily lifestyle show '' The Hour'', alongside main anchor

Stephen Jardine Stephen Jardine (born 1963) is a Scottish journalist, broadcaster and presenter. He has worked for the BBC, Scottish Television, GMTV and Radio Tay. Early years Born in Dumfries, Jardine is the son of the late Bill Jardine, a former chairman ...

. Comedienne and raconteur Dorothy Paul started in theatre after winning a talent competition. She joined Scottish Television's ''One O'Clock Gang'' in 1959. She appeared at the Butlin's Holiday Camp from 1974 and hosted ''Housecall''. She also starred in the soap opera ''Garnock Way'' and the successful stage dramas ''The Steamie'' and ''The Celtic Story''. From 1991 she became noted for her one-woman shows including ''Now That's Her'', ''Now That's Her Again'' and ''The Full Dorothy'', demonstrating her talent for humorous observations from her childhood and her impersonations of Glasgow characters.

Personal life

She currently lives in

, Scotland. She has expressed a keen interest in painting. She is also a patron of The Family Addiction Support Service (FASS), a charity in Glasgow offering support services to those affected by drug and alcohol addictions.

References

External links

*
The Full Dorothy
Pavilion Theatre

Gazetteer for Scotland 1937 births Living people People from Dennistoun Scottish stage actresses Scottish television actresses Scottish women comedians People educated at Whitehill Secondary School Scottish entertainers Comedians from Glasgow {{Scotland-actor-stub