Alexander Morton (born 24 March 1945) is a Scottish actor.

Acting career

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

-born Morton trained in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

at the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, commonly shortened to Central, is a drama school 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 ...

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 Septe ...

'', ''

Second Sight Extrasensory perception (ESP), also known as a sixth sense, or cryptaesthesia, 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 ado ...

'', '' 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" mean ...

and

London to Brighton ''London to Brighton'' is a 2006 British neo-noir crime film written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams released to generally mixed to average critic reviews but was a box office failure, grossing $449,700 on a budget of $639,200. Plot The fi ...

; and single dramas '' The One That Got Away'' (1996), '' Looking After Jo Jo'' (1998), and ''The Man-Eating Wolves of Gysinge'' (2005). He is best known for playing the

ghillie or is an ancient Gaelic term for a person who acts as a servant or attendant on a fishing, hunting, deer stalking or hawking expedition, primarily in the Scottish Highlands or on a river such as the River Spey. In origin it referred especial ...

Golly Mackenzie in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

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 (TV network), ITV daytime programme, and was broadcast until 2003. It was set in ...

''. From 2012 to 2015, Morton played Criminal Billy Kennedy in Scottish soap opera ''

River City ''River City'' is a Scottish television soap opera created by Stephen Greenhorn which has been broadcast on BBC One Scotland since September 2002. Since 2019, the show has aired episodes a day earlier on the new BBC Scotland channel. Set in ...

''. He appeared again as Billy Kennedy in the 20th anniversary episode of the show in 2022. Highlights of his stage career include his work with Raindog Theatre Company in the early 1990s. He was a founder member, along with Robert Carlyle, Caroline Paterson and Stuart Davis and others. Leading roles with Raindog included his Scots rendition of Shakespeare's ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'' and R.P. McMurphy in ''

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest may refer to: * ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (novel), a 1962 novel by Ken Kesey * ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (play), a 1963 stage adaptation of the novel starring Kirk Douglas * ''One Flew Over the ...

'', 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), '' Ravenous'' and ''The World Is Not Enough'' (both 1999), '' There's Only One Jimmy Grimble'' (2000), '' ...

. Morton also worked regularly with theatre companies 7:84 and Borderline, and has appeared at the Traverse, the Lyceum, the Bush, the Royal Court, as well as appearing in pantomime, notably two years running at the Eden Court Theatre in Inverness with Andy Gray, and 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 (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

adaptation of ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

'' (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 BBC Radio 4 adaptation of

Ian Rankin Sir Ian James Rankin (born 28 April 1960) is a Scottish crime writer and philanthropist, 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 ...

's ''Rebus'' series of books. He also provided voices for video games, including ''

Heavenly Sword ''Heavenly Sword'' is a 2007 action-adventure game developed by British company Ninja Theory and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. The game revolves around player-character Nariko and her eponymous sword, battling ag ...

'', '' Viking: Battle for Asgard'' and he played Zoltan Chivay in series 2 and 3 of ''

The Witcher ''The Witcher'' (, ) is a series of 9 fantasy novels and 15 short stories by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The series revolves around the eponymous witcher, Geralt of Rivia. Witchers are monster hunters given superhuman abilities for the ...

.'' He was the narrator on three albums by the Swiss Celtic / Melodic Death Metal band

Eluveitie Eluveitie ( ; )Chrigel Glanzmann: "Eluveitie is a name in Gaulish language, which is an ancient Celtic language. Since it's not a living language anymore, nobody really knows how it's pronounced like. All we have today of this language is scient ...

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 property such as a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate that is rented or leased to an individual or business, known as a tenant (also called a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). The term landlord appli ...

while he was doing television work in London."Times change, the struggle continues"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 9 April 2003

Film and television credits

*1971: ''

Get Carter ''Get Carter'' is a 1971 British gangster film, gangster thriller 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 (write ...

'' (film) Hubert - directed by Mike Hodges *1971: ''Manipulators'' (TV) written and directed by Mike Hodges *1979: ''Play for Today'' (TV): Ploughman's Share - Dave *1980-1994: ''

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

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

'' (TV): Dead Ringer - David Balfour *1986: Waiting for Elvis (TV) Ike Morrison - directed by Hal Duncan *1987: ''Extras'' (TV) - Frank Riley - directed by David Andrew *1987: ''Bookie'' (TV) - Ross *1989: ''Winners and Losers'' (TV) - Ross *1990: '' Silent Scream'' - Don Winters *1992: '' Rab C. Nesbitt'' (TV) - 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 sh ...

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

'' (TV): Death Benefits - John Fraser *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 (Hugh Foulis), Neil Munro. It starred Gregor Fisher as Captain Peter "Para Handy" MacFarla ...

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

'' (film) David Reynolds *1999-2000: ''

'' (TV) - DS Julian *1999: ''Life Support'' (TV) - Alan Carswell *2000-2005: '' Monarch of the Glen'' (TV) - Golly Mackenzie in all 64 episodes *2005: ''The Man-Eating Wolves of Gysinge'' (TV) - Malmberg Nilsson *2006: ''

'' (TV) *2006: ''

'' (film) - Duncan Allen *2007: ''Kitchen'' (TV) - Mr. Glasgow *2008: ''

'' (TV) *2009: '' Valhalla Rising'' (film) - Chieftain Barde *2010: ''

'': (TV) The Rapture - James Hardie *2010: '' Luther'' (TV) - Bill Winingham *2012-2015: ''

'' (TV) - Billy Kennedy *2013: ''

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

'' (TV) - Joseph Wilson *2022: ''

'' (TV) - Billy Kennedy

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