Roddy McMillan
{{Short description|Scottish actor and playwright (1923–1979)}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Roddy McMillan
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1923|3|23|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Glasgow, Scotland
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1979|7|9|1923|3|23}}
| death_place = Glasgow, Scotland
| nationality = Scottish
| othername =
| occupation = Actor, Playwright
| yearsactive =
| spouse =
| domesticpartner =
| website =
}}
Roddy McMillan OBE (23 March 1923 – 9 July 1979) was a Scottish actor and playwright, possibly most famous for his comedy role as Para Handy for BBC Scotland's television series, The Vital Spark.{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f4345b8|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190208173016/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f4345b8|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 February 2019|title=Roddy McMillan|website=BFI}}{{cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news-2-15012/the-show-may-not-go-on-as-theatre-fails-to-track-down-writer-s-daughters-1-1416147|title=The show may not go on as theatre fails to track down writer's daughters|website=www.scotsman.com}} He also played the lead role in Edward Boyd's private eye series, The View from Daniel Pike.{{cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/63fc57f4b9a04df4ac2f78a7fd80c94a|title=The View from Daniel Pike|date=18 November 1971|issue=2506|pages=65|via=BBC Genome}}
Biography
The Glasgow-born McMillan worked for a time in a glassworks. His theatre work began in the mid-1940s with the Glasgow Unity Theatre.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mskt6NOT8_8C&q=roddy+mcmillan+glasgow+unity+theatre&pg=PA341|title=Twentieth Century Scottish Drama|first1=Cairns|last1=Craig|first2=Randall|last2=Stevens|date=1 July 2010|publisher=Canongate Books|isbn=9781847674746}} Later that decade, he began acting with the Glasgow Citizen's Company before moving on to Edinburgh's Gateway Theatre in the mid-1950s.{{cite web | url=http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/sta/search/detailp.cfm?NID=1390&EID=8&DID=&AID= | publisher=University of Glasgow Special Collections | title=STA Catalogue: Roddy McMillan | accessdate=14 June 2009 }}
His first play, All in Good Faith, about a Glasgow family which unexpectedly comes into possession of £15,000, was first staged in 1954.Hutchison, David (1980), Roddy McMillan and the Scottish Theatre, in Cencrastus No. 2, Spring 1980, pp. 5 - 8 He performed in his second play, The Bevellers, which premiered at the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh and achieved success at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow during 1973 and then as a televised Play for Today for the BBC.{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6f46990e|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522103156/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6f46990e|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 May 2022|title=The Bevellers (1974)|website=BFI}} McMillan also played Detective Inspector "Choc" Minty in the late 1970s private eye series, Hazell, starring Nicholas Ball.{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/975974/index.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Hazell (1978-80)|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}
McMillan was awarded the OBE in the 1978 Queen's Birthday honours.
Death
Roddy McMillan died following a heart attack, aged 56, not long after completing filming on the second series of Hazell.{{Cite news|title='Tough guy' TV actor dies at 56.|date=10 July 1979|work=The Guardian}}
Theatre
| class="wikitable" | |||||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Company ! Director ! Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estate | Poor Man | The Glasgow Citizens Theatre | Tyrone Guthrie, Moultrie Kelsall | play by Sir David Lyndsay, adapted by Robert Kemp |
| 1972 | Willie Rough | Jake Adams | Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh | Bill Bryden | play by Bill Bryden |
Filmography
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | The Gorbals Story | Hector | |
| 1950 | Morning Departure | Leading Seaman Andrews | |
| 1952 | You're Only Young Twice | Milligan | |
| 1953 | Laxdale Hall | Willie John Watt | |
| 1954 | The Maggie | Inverkerran Driver | |
| 1958 | Cat & Mouse | Mr. Pomeroy | |
| 1959 | The Bridal Path | Murdo | |
| 1960 | The Battle of the Sexes | Macleod | |
| 1960 | The Big Day | Bob | |
| 1960 | Snowball | Jack, 'bus conductor | |
| 1962 | A Prize of Arms | Sgt. McVie | |
| 1962 | The Amorous Prawn | Pvt. McTavish | |
| 1963 | The Mouse on the Moon | Benter | |
| 1969 | Ring of Bright Water | Busdriver | |
| 1972 | Chato's Land | Gavin Malechie | |
| 1978 | Sweeney 2 | Collie |
Reviews
- Findlay, Bill (1980), review of All in Good Faith in Bold, Christine (ed.), Cencrastus No. 3, Summer 1980, pp. 43 & 44, {{issn|0264-0856}}.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20190208173016/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f4345b8 Roddy McMillan] at the British Film Institute{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcmillan, Roddy}}
Category:People from Anderston
Category:Male actors from Glasgow
Category:20th-century Scottish male actors
Category:Scottish male stage actors
Category:Scottish male television actors
Category:20th-century Scottish dramatists and playwrights
{{Scotland-actor-stub}}