Iain Cuthbertson

Iain Cuthbertson (4 January 1930 – 4 September 2009) was a Scottish character actor. At 6' 4", he was known for his tall imposing build and also his distinctive "gravelly" heavily accented voice.

Early life

Born and brought up in Glasgow, he was educated at Glasgow Academy, Aberdeen Grammar and the University of Aberdeen(where he graduated with a MA Honours in French and Spanish). His first break as an actor was on radio while studying at Aberdeen University.

He spent two years' national service in the Black Watch. During that time he was ordered to act as prisoner's friend at the court martial of a soldier accused of appearing late on parade, and then assaulting his superior officer when he eventually did turn up. He managed to get the soldier cleared of the more serious charge. The soldier's comment afterwards was "Thanks awfully fur pretendin ah didnae dae it sur".

His original wish was for a job in the Foreign Office, but he became a radio journalist with the BBC in Glasgow.

Theatre career

Cuthbertson started acting at the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre in 1958 and became General Manager and Director of Productions in 1962. In that year the theatre hosted an exhibition of work by the artist Stewart Bowmn Johnson  Three years later he became Associate Director of London's Royal Court Theatre.

Television career

His most memorable television role was as the eponymous Procurator Fiscal in the long running Sutherland's Law. A rather different but more minor achievement was his portrayal of the criminal and businessman Charlie Endell in both Budgie (London Weekend Television/ITV) with Adam Faith (1971–72) and its sequel Charles Endell Esquire (Scottish Television/ITV) in 1979.

Sutherland's Law is a television series made by BBC Scotland between 1973 and 1976.

The series had originated as a stand-alone edition of the portmanteau programme Drama Playhouse in 1972 in which Derek Francis played Sutherland and was then commissioned as an ongoing series. The producer was Frank Cox.

Sutherland's Law dealt with the duties of the Procurator Fiscal in a small Scottish town. The major cast members included Iain Cuthbertson (as John Sutherland), Gareth Thomas, Moultrie Kelsall, Victor Carin, Martin Cochrane, Maev Alexander and Edith MacArthur.

Other roles include the lead in The Borderers (BBC, 1968–70), Tom Brown's Schooldays (BBC, 1971) (as Thomas Arnold), The Stone Tape (BBC, 1972), Children of the Stones (HTV/ITV, 1977), The Voyage of Charles Darwin, Danger UXB (Thames Television/ITV, 1979), The House With Green Shutters (BBC, 1980). He appeared in the pilot episode of Rab C Nesbitt (1988) as a magistrate.

He suffered a crippling stroke in January 1982, which forced him to give up theatre for fear of forgetting his lines. He resumed television and film work, though, as his lines could be written on crib boards. His first role following his stroke was as the villainous Scunner Campbell in Super Gran (Tyne Tees Television/ITV, 1985). In 1989 he played the villain Brett Savernake in the episode of Campion entitled "Sweet Danger".

Minor parts in ongoing series include appearances in Z-Cars (BBC), The Avengers (ABC/ITV), Inspector Morse (Central Television/ITV), Bulman (Granada Television/ITV), Ripping Yarns (BBC), The Duchess of Duke Street, Colonel Mannering in Adam Adamant Lives! story D For Destruction (1966) and Garron in the Doctor Who story The Ribos Operation. He also appeared in: Diamond Crack Diamond, The Onedin Line(BBC), Survivors (BBC), Scotch on the Rocks, Black Beauty (London Weekend/ITV), Minder (ITV), The Ghosts of Motley Hall (Granada/ITV), Juliet Bravo (BBC), Casualty (BBC), The Mourning Brooch, Casting the Runes and McPhee the Mother and Me.

On film, he appeared as Charles Waterbury in The Railway Children (1970).

Personal life

Cuthbertson's first marriage, to Anne Kristen in 1964, was dissolved in 1988. He is survived by his second wife, Janet Smith.

From 1975 to 1978, he served as Rector of the University of Aberdeen. He listed his hobbies as sailing and fishing, and, after retiring, he lived in Dalrymple, Ayrshire.

He suffered a severe stroke in 1982, which caused paralysis down one side of his body and speech loss. It took him almost two years to recover sufficiently to be able to act again. Although he avoided live theatre work thereafter, due to a fear of forgetting and/or stumbling on lines, he was still able to take parts in films and TV.

Filmography

• The Railway Children (1970) - Charles Waterbury
• Up the Chastity Belt (1972) - Teutonic Knight
• Scotch on the Rocks (1973) - Chief Con. Blair
• John Wycliffe: The Morning Star (1984) - Chancellor Rigg
• The Assam Garden (1985) - Arthur
• Gorillas in the Mist (1988) - Dr. Louis Leakey
• Scandal (1989) - Lord Hailsham
• Let Him Have It (1991) - Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe
• Chasing the Deer (1994) - Tullibardine
• The Tichborne Claimant (1998) - Dr. McKechnie
• Strictly Sinatra (2001) - Connolly

Radio

• 1981 Hatter's Castle as James Brodie; by A J Cronin; BBC R4 Classic Serial 5 parts 11/1/1981-8/11/1981.
• 1988 Our Roman Cousins by Bruce Stewart; BBC R4 Saturday Night Theatre 30/01/1988.
• 1993 Twelfth Night as Malvolio; BBC R3 3/1/1993.