Eileen McCallum,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(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 ''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 ...

'' from 1980 to 2003, and as Liz Hamilton from 2005 to 2018 in the

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...

soap ''

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 ...

''.

Career

McCallum appeared in Glasgow drama ''

Just Another Saturday "Just Another Saturday" is the 15th episode of fifth season of the British BBC anthology TV series '' Play for Today''. The episode was a television play that was originally broadcast on 13 March 1975.. "Just Another Saturday" was written by Pet ...

'' in 1975. She then gained her first major soap role in ''

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 ...

'' playing Jean Ross from 1976 to 1979. ''Garnock Way'' was axed to be replaced by ''

'', which was first aired on 19 February 1980 with McCallum taking one of the lead roles as village storekeeper Isabel Blair through the programme's full run from 1980 to 2003. Series creator

Don Houghton Donald Herbert Houghton (2 February 1930 – 2 July 1991) was a British television screenwriter and producer. Career Born in Paris to Scottish parents, Houghton started writing for radio in 1951 before moving into film and television in 1958. In ...

praised McCallum and her co-star Marjorie Thomson for their clarity as speakers of the

Scots dialect Scots dialect can refer to: *Scottish English, the varieties of the English language spoken in Scotland *The Scots language or one of the dialects therein ** Scots dialects ** Doric dialect (Scotland) Doric, the popular name for Mid Northern ...

, an essential attribute of their respective roles in the programme. McCallum was awarded the

for her services to drama in the 1992 New Year Honours. Other notable roles include playing Dolly in the television version of Tony Roper's ''

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 ...

'' and guest appearances in programmes such as ''

Rebus A rebus () is a puzzle device that combines the use of illustrated pictures with individual letters to depict words or phrases. For example: the word "been" might be depicted by a rebus showing an illustrated bumblebee next to a plus sign (+) ...

'', ''

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 ''

New Tricks ''New Tricks'' is a British television police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the ...

''. She has also worked on radio. In 2006, she joined the cast of the

soap opera ''

'' as Liz Buchanan, then later Hamilton. In 2015, she appeared as Mrs Gaffney in ''

The Legend of Barney Thomson ''The Legend of Barney Thomson'', known in the United States as ''Barney Thomson'', is a 2015 British comedy thriller film based on the 1999 novel ''The Long Midnight of Barney Thomson'' by Douglas Lindsay. It is the directorial debut of Robert ...

''. After 12 years in ''River City'', McCallum retired from the role in May 2018. She lives in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

and runs a trust about

Duchenne muscular dystrophy Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe type of muscular dystrophy that primarily affects boys. Muscle weakness usually begins around the age of four, and worsens quickly. Muscle loss typically occurs first in the thighs and pelvis fol ...

, due to having two grandsons with the disease.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

River City official site
*
River City, Liz Buchanan Character page
1936 births Actresses from Glasgow Living people Members of the Order of the British Empire Scottish soap opera actresses Scottish television actresses Take the High Road {{Scotland-actor-stub