John Gerard Beattie

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 ...

(9 November 1926 – 9 July 2020) was a Scottish

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

whose career spanned over six decades. He appeared on shows including the

sketch show Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and i ...

'' Scotch & Wry'' and the

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

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 ...

'', and later appeared in more dramatic roles including Malcolm Hamilton in the

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

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 ...

''.

Early life and career

Beattie was born in

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...

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 ...

on 9 November 1926 into a

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

family. He grew up there with an older brother, Frank, and two younger sisters, Mary and Cathie. He attended St Gerard's Roman Catholic Secondary School,Johnny Beattie profile
acumfaegovan.com; accessed 20 August 2017. but left school at sixteen to start an apprenticeship and became involved with amateur dramatics, and by the mid-1950s he had become a

. Beattie starred in his own

, ''Johnny Beattie's Saturday Night Show'', which featured him playing many different colourful characters, including his

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

"Glaikit O'Toole". The show ran on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

from January 1964 to February 1970. In 1974, Beattie took part in STV's four-part series ''A Grand Tour'', along with

Rikki Fulton Robert Kerr "Rikki" Fulton, OBE (15 April 1924 – 27 January 2004) was a Scottish comedian and actor best remembered for writing and performing in the long-running BBC Scotland sketch show, ''Scotch and Wry''. He was also known for his appea ...

Jack Milroy Jack Milroy, MBE (born James Cruden; 28 December 1915 – 1 February 2001), was a Scottish comedian. Born in Govanhill, Glasgow and educated at Shawlands Academy, Milroy is noted for his partnership with comedy actor Rikki Fulton as Francie ...

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...

Mark McManus Mark McManus (21 February 1935 – 6 June 1994) was a Scottish actor. He has played roles in British television series '' Sam,'' '' Bulman, The Brothers, Strangers,'' and ''Dramarama'' and starred in the feature film '' 2000 Weeks''. He was ...

and Stanley Baxter, in which the six performers went on a grand tour of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and took part in useless tasks. Beattie recalled his most renowned moment on the show as when he was made to "Take a long drop off a short pier", in which each of the participants had to compete.Profile
imdb.com; accessed 20 August 2017. Beattie went on to appear on Rikki Fulton's sketch show '' Scotch & Wry'', at one point appearing as his alter ego Glaikit O'Toole, who encounters Fulton's character Supercop in one of the sketches. While on the set of ''Scotch & Wry'', he met actor

Gregor Fisher Gregor Fisher (born 22 December 1953) is a Scottish comedian and actor. He is best known for his portrayal of the title character in the comedy series ''Rab C. Nesbitt'', a role he has played since the show's first episode in 1988. He has also ...

, with whom he went on to appear in the 1990s

''. In 1990, Beattie starred in ''

The Big Man ''The Big Man'' (US title: ''Crossing the Line'') is a 1990 feature film. It stars Liam Neeson, Joanne Whalley and Billy Connolly. The film's score was composed by Ennio Morricone. It is based on the 1986 novel of the same name by William M ...

'' alongside Billy Connolly and

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...

. He also appeared in popular Scottish television shows including ''

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 Septembe ...

'', and he was also the original host of the

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...

gameshow A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

'' Now You See It'' for three years between 1981-84. He had a couple of local hit records with "Scotch on the Rocks" and "The Glasgow Rap". He was cast as Malcolm Hamilton in the Scottish

'', a role which he had retained since the show began in 2002. He filmed his last scenes for the show in April 2015 having announced his retirement after more than 60 years. He was the Honorary President of the Scottish Music Hall Society.

Personal life and death

Beattie married Kitty Lamont in 1950. They had two daughters (

Maureen Maureen is a female given name. In Gaelic, it is Máirín, a pet form of ''Máire'' (the Irish cognate of Mary), which is derived from the Hebrew Miriam. The name has sometimes been regarded as corresponding to the male given name Maurice. Some ...

, an actress, and Louise, a solicitor and former actress) and two sons (Paul and Mark). Beattie and Lamont separated in 1982, and she died in 1994. Beattie died on 9 July 2020 at the St. Margaret’s Hospice in

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

, aged 93.

Awards

Beattie was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the

2007 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2007 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hono ...

list. He received the 1981 Benno Schotz award as TV Personality of the Year. He received the Lord Provost's Performing Arts Award in 1993.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beattie, Johnny 1926 births 2020 deaths Scottish male television actors Scottish game show hosts Scottish male soap opera actors Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Govan Scottish male comedians Male actors from Glasgow Comedians from Glasgow 20th-century Scottish male actors 21st-century Scottish male actors 20th-century Scottish comedians 21st-century Scottish comedians