Ross Davidson
| Ross Davidson | |
|---|---|
A publicity photo of Davidson as Andy in EastEnders, 1985
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| Born |
William Russell Davidson 25 August 1949 Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland |
| Died | 16 October 2006 (aged 57) Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, England |
| Spouse(s) | Barbara Black (2005-2006) |
William Russell "Ross" Davidson (25 August 1949 – 16 October 2006) was a British actor best known for his role as Andy O'Brien in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.
Davidson started his working life as a physical education teacher in Scotland in the early 1970s. He also played water polo at international level for Scotland and left teaching to run a pub and disco in Glasgow, but furthered his ambitions to act by attending night classes.
He made his screen acting début on television in A Degree of Uncertainty (1979), a BBC Play for Today set in a Scottish university, then appeared as a kilted dancer in Stanley Baxter on Television (1979). He also had small parts as a mime troupe member in The Comedy of Errors ("BBC Television Shakespeare", 1983) and a photographer in Widows II (1985), as well as appearing in the film The Pirates of Penzance (1983) and the Monty Python short The Crimson Permanent Assurance (1983), made to accompany the group's feature The Meaning of Life. In Spain, the Netherlands and Germany, he was seen in commercials for products ranging from chewing gum to beer.
In 1985, he became one of the original cast of BBC's flagship soap opera EastEnders. He played the altruistic nurse Andy O'Brien for 18 months, after which his screen alter-ego went down in history for being the first main character to be killed off, dying in a road accident in August 1986.
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