Andy Gray

Andy Gray (13 September 1959 – 18 January 2021) was a Scottish actor and comedy writer from Perth, Scotland. He trained in drama at Edinburgh’s Queen Margaret University 1976-79.

Career

Gray starred in the BBC Radio Scotland sketch show Naked Radio, and its later television counterpart Naked Video. He then became well known as the appropriately named "Chancer", best friend and source of problems to Willie Melvin (Gerard Kelly) in the 1987 sitcom City Lights. He is well known for pantomime, usually co-writing the script and often alongside other former City Lights cast members. He appeared opposite Kelly in a touring production of The Odd Couple. He took the starring role in a Channel 4 proposed comedy pilot show Miles is Better where he played a very enthusiastic burglar alarm salesman (Miles), who lived with his grandmother and made her life a living hell.

Gray has worked extensively in theatre and television since 1979 and has been described as “a stalwart of Scottish Theatre!”. Most recently Gray appeared in the Edinburgh Fringe 2013 with panto colleague Grant Stott in Philip Meeks's play Kiss Me Honey Honey, which won a Fringe First. The show returned at the 2014 Fringe. In 2014 he swapped comedy for villain, as Black Ruthven, in his home city of Perth, in feature film Time Teens:The Beginning, with writer/actor Ian Grieve directed by Ryan Dewar. He continued in his darker comedy as William Donaldson in 'Willie and Sebastian' at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe when he won the coveted Stage Award for Acting Excellence for his performance. Andy joined his pantomime co-stars, Allan Stewart and Grant Stott in Canned Laughter. A tour about a 70's showbiz trio based on Stewarts career. His final Fringe performances were in Philip Differ's 'Double Feature' (2017 and 2018 tour) and Ruaraidh Murray's 'The Junkies' (which played only 1 performance due to Andy's cancer diagnosis). He appeared in Jason Connery's Scottish Bafta award winning 2016 film Tommy's Honour. From 2016 until 2018 he played Pete Galloway in Scottish soap opera River City.

Other historic theatre performances include: Dario Fo’s Trumpets and Raspberries (1985) with Elaine C Smith and Alan Cumming; Werewolf (1999) “dark, grim, unforgiving and absolutely without redemption” performance; Guys and Dolls (2001) at Lyceum, Edinburgh; The Woman Who Cooked her Husband (2004); A Limited Run (2005); Stones in His Pockets (2005); The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (2008); Irma Vep (2009) at Perth Theatre with Steven McNicol.

His pantomime catch phrase was, “I’m no very well”. 

Personal

It was announced in early August 2018 that Gray would not be returning to post-summer filming of River City after discovering, whilst in rehearsals for his Edinburgh Fringe show, that he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia. After a bone marrow transplant from one of his sisters and successful cancer recovery in 2019, he contracted Covid-19 in December 2020. Andy died in hospital intensive care on 18 January 2021 following complications caused by Covid-19.