Andy Gray (actor)

Gray starred in the BBC Radio Scotland sketch show Naked Radio, and its later television counterpart Naked Video.[2] 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.[2][3] 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!”.[4] 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.[5] 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[6] directed by Ryan Dewar. He continued in his darker comedy as William Donaldson in 'Willie and Sebastian'[7] at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe when he won the coveted Stage Award for Acting Excellence for his performance.[8] Andy joined his pantomime co-stars, Allan Stewart and Grant Stott in Canned Laughter.[9] A tour about a 70's showbiz trio based on Stewarts career. His final Fringe performances were in Philip Differ's 'Double Feature' [10](2017 and 2018 tour) and Ruaraidh Murray's 'The Junkies' [11](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.[12] From 2016 until 2018 he played Pete Galloway in Scottish soap opera River City.

Other historic theatre performances include:[13] 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”.[13]

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 Myelodysplastic syndromes.[14] After a bone marrow transplant from one of his sisters[15] and successful cancer recovery in 2019, he contracted COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom in December 2020. Andy died in hospital intensive care on 18 January[16] 2021 following complications caused by Covid-19, aged 61.[17][18]