Andrew Keir
| Andrew Keir | |
|---|---|
Keir in Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
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|
| Born |
Andrew Buggy 3 April 1926 Shotts, Lanarkshire, Scotland |
| Died | 5 October 1997 (aged 71) London, England |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1946–96 |
| Spouse(s) |
Julia Wallace (m. 1948–77) Joyce Parker Scott (m. 1977–97) (his death) |
| Children | 5, including Julie T. Wallace |
Andrew Keir (3 April 1926 – 5 October 1997) was a Scottish actor, who rose to prominence in a number of films made by Hammer Film Productions in the 1960s. He was also active in television, and especially in the theatre, in a professional career that lasted from the 1940s to the 1990s. He is best remembered for starring as Professor Bernard Quatermass in Hammer's film version of Quatermass and the Pit (1967). He also originated the role of Thomas Cromwell in Robert Bolt's play A Man for All Seasons (1960).
His obituary in The Times described him as possessing "considerable range and undeniable distinction."
Keir was born Andrew Buggy in Shotts, Lanarkshire,Scotland. He was the son of a coal miner, and had five brothers and one sister. At 14, he left school to work down the coal mine alongside his father. He started acting by chance, when he went to meet a friend at the Miners' Welfare Hall, and one member of the cast of an amateur dramatics production being performed at the Hall had failed to turn up. Keir was persuaded to take the minor role of a farmer in the play, and enjoyed the experience so much that he later became a regular in the group's performances.
The group entered a competition in Inverness, where Keir's talent was spotted and he was offered the chance to become a professional actor at the Unity Theatre in Glasgow. Since this was after the start of the Second World War, he could not easily leave his occupation as a miner; he was only able to accept the offer after he obtained a medical diagnosis of pneumoconiosis, which freed him from his work in the mine.
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