Let’s have a statue to remember Andy
Colin recalls his good pal and Fair City acting legend
Fellow actor Colin McCredie has shared his sadness at the loss of his one-time brother-in-law and lifetime pal Andy Gray - and suggested he get a memorial in the Fair City.
Andy had overcome blood cancer and had shielded all last year but he had a brief brush with COVID-19 and sadly died on Sunday, aged 61.
TV Taggart star Colin called for a memorial in their home city of Perth to comic writer and actor Andy, who played the River City character Pete Galloway.
Colin even suggested South Street as a location, where Andy loved to stop in at the baker’s shop.
“Andy was such a well-loved figure around Perth,” Colin said. “I hope he can have his name up in the Perth Theatre bar or have a statue in the centre - it would be very fitting.
“There should be a memorial, maybe we could rename a vennel, or get a statue. If I had to choose, I’d stick it up in South Street, right opposite Murrays Pies, Andy would like that, he was a big fan.”
Actor Andy grew up in Comely Bank, Perth with his two sisters Elaine and Michelle. He went to school at St John’s Primary, St Columba’s Secondary and Perth Academy for fifth and sixth year.
Also coming out to pay tribute to Andy was St Johnstone vice-chair Charlie Fraser.
An official Saints statement read:“St Johnstone FC is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Andy Gray, well known for his acting career on the stage and on Scottish television.
“Andy was a Saints fan and a close friend of St Johnstone vice chairman, Charlie Fraser.
Andy’s mum May and dad Dennis owned Calden Kilts, a shop on Kinnoull Street where he learned a lot of his goodnatured banter - the perfect material for his popular sketch shows later in life.
He regularly walked the boards of Perth Theatre and was well known for his loyalty to Perth.
Colin, now a well established actor himself, told the PA that he first got to see how drama worked when he went to Perth Theatre to see Andy acting in the ‘70s.
“We lived in Pitcullen Crescent and I was a child at school when my older sister Anne was working as a stage manager at Perth Theatre.
“She met Andy who was there acting professionally and they hit it off.
“Through their relationship - they were married for a time but remained great friends - I got my first taste of theatre.
“Andy was my hero, he was doing a musical one minute, an Agatha Christie
Left, Colin McCredie and Andy Gray enjoy a day out at Perth Races. Above, Andy gives the Fair City his support during the Perth is the Place events for the City of Culture bid, and right, the staff at Murrays Pies knew Andy well mystery the next and I was in seeing it all backstage.
“I joined Perth Youth Theatre and in 1987 when I was 15, I got my first chance to do it myself in a production at Perth Theatre called ‘French without Tears’, when I was cast as a schoolboy alongside Andy.
“It was wonderful, just fantastic. “Also in that show was Jonathan Watson. He and Andy were great fiends and they went on to do City Lights and Naked Video together for BBC Scotland in the 1980s.”
Colin recounted the time when Sean Connery came to have a coffee with the Gray family in Gannochy, having been in Perth to watch his son Jason act in a show with Andy.
“Andy’s dad Dennis started out trying to make light of the VIP visit, saying of Sir Sean, 007 himself, ‘calm down, he’s just a man’ but the next minute he was breaking open a 30-year-old malt.”
As a person, Colin said Andy “loved his music, especially Elvis. Andy was also Batman ‘daft’ and his shed in Scone was a shrine to the character, stuffed with Batman memorabilia.”
Colin last saw Andy in the lead up to Christmas: “After his time with River City he moved back to Perthshire and lived in Scone, so I could visit him.
“I stopped in Pitlochry after working on the Pitlochry Theatre Christmas show and bought him his favourite, a butcher’s pie for his dinner, and dropped in to say hi to him on my way back to Glasgow.
“We met out in his garden (because of the restrictions) and over a fried egg roll, he shared his excitement that he was off to do panto in Milton Keynes.
“At that point the pantos in England were still going ahead and he was full of mirth about it all, so full of life.
“He and Anne had a daughter, Clare, who Andy often described as ‘his greatest achievement.’ He was so happy to tell me about his little granddaughter Anna, she was clearly the new love of his life.
“Andy thanked me for the posh pie from Pitlochry, I knew I’d scored a hit with that. He was always talking about pies, he was a big fan of Murray’s Pies in Perth. Perhaps Linda Hill will name a pie after him?”
Linda said: “I was so upset to hear the news. He was a lovely funny guy and a loyal supporter of our business.
“He was here at the shop when we celebrated 115 years of the shop in August 2016. He and our local MSP John Swinney were great sports and they agreed to have a charity pie eating race, “Andy won, of course.
“He was a lovely guy who I was proud to call my friend. He will be sorely missed for sure.”
I hope he can have his name up in the theatre bar Colin McCredie
Actor Robert Carlyle and Perthshire comedian Fred McAulay shared tributes as did A-list star Richard E Grant.
On Wednesday he tweeted: “Worked with Andy Gray in Glasgow at the end of the last century and instantly became great friends. His death feels like an outrage, but his legacy of unstoppable laughter lives on. We love and miss you, Andy.”