Johnny Beattie

Johnny Beattie
Johnny Beattie performing at a charity Ceilidh in Glasgow in 2009.
Born	(1926-11-09) 9 November 1926 (age 90) Govan, Glasgow, Scotland
Occupation	Actor, comedian
Years active	1956-2016 (retirement)
Spouse(s)	Kitty Lamont (m. 1950–82)

Johnny Beattie MBE, (born 9 November 1926) is a Scottish actor and stand-up comedian whose career has spanned for over five decades. He became known in the 1960s for Johnny Beattie's Saturday Night Show, which ran from 1964-1970. He appeared on other shows including the sketch show Scotch & Wry and the sitcom Rab C. Nesbitt, and more recently moved into playing more dramatic roles, most notable that of Malcolm Hamilton in the soap opera River City.

Beattie was born in Govan, Glasgow on 9 November 1926 into a working class family. He grew up in Govan alongside his older brother Frank and younger sisters Mary and Cathie. He also attended school there. Beattie left school at sixteen to start an apprenticeship and became involved with amateur dramatics, and by the mid-1950s he had become a stand-up comedian.

Beattie starred in his own sketch show Johnny Beattie's Saturday Night Show, which featured him playing many different colourful characters, including his alter ego "Glaikit O'Toole". The show ran on BBC One from January 1964 to February 1970, and received high critical acclaim from television critics. Beattie would often thereafter appear as Glaikit O'Toole in other sketches, including at New Year.

In 1974, Beattie took part in STV's four-part series A Grand Tour, along with others such as Rikki Fulton, Jack Milroy, Billy Connolly, Mark McManus and Stanley Baxter, in which the six performers went on a grand tour of Scotland and took part in useless tasks. Beattie recalls his most renowned moment on the show as when he was made to "Take a long drop off a short pier", which each of the participants had to compete in.