TORMENT Director
WITH ALCOHOL AND CRIPPLING ILLNESS IN NEW FILM He was such a nice guy. I had to get it right
As a child, awardwinning director and film-maker Margot McCuaig remembers family pilgrimages to Celtic Park and seeing Jinky’s genius on the pitch first-hand.
Decades later when she herself worked at Parkhead, she met her hero and interviewed him many times for the club’s own TV channel.
So when it came to making a film about his life, Margot felt an added responsibility.
Margot, 48, whose Purple TV company have produced Jimmy Johnstone, said: “That personal connection made me feel an added responsibility to Jimmy and his memory and to treat everything with the utmost respect.
“Knowing him made the filming process so much more emotional, looking back at archives and remembering him and the impact he had on everyone.”
Margot first met Jimmy when she joined Celtic in 1997 to set up an in-house museum.
She said: “It was a little bit daunting because of the symbol of who he was, but he was such a nice guy, a bit different than the others, a bit quieter and more intense.
“An absolute gentleman. I ended up as a producer for Celtic TV and got to know him in a different way.
“I wouldn’t say we were friends but I did get a sense of what his personality was.
“It was quite special to have that intimate insight.”
Margot, who has made award-winning films about Jim Baxter and Jock Stein, says even when Jimmy was diagnosed with MND, his fighting spirit was still evident.
She said: “When I interviewed him he was talking about stem cell research and MND.
“Spending that time with him when he was at that stage of his illness, seeing him go from the man that he was to that fragile person, but still so strong inside.
“He wasn’t allowing himself to be defeated by the illness but at that stage he knew he wasn’t going to be cured and there he was fighting for other people.
“It was extraordinary – he was never about himself but always about what he could give to other people. It’s a really sad story but I think it’s an inspirational one too. I hope people come away and think, ‘What a special guy’.”
Margot’s film also features another first – interviews with Jimmy’s two daughters, Marie and Eileen.
She said: “When I first asked them to be involved in the film they were taken aback because in all the years there had been media interest in their dad, nobody had ever asked to speak to them.
“They had always wanted to speak with their brother James.
“It’s their story, he was their dad and I think they tell it really well.”