If you liked the home screen when drama from Scotland meant quality, when comedy had character, and the Hogmanay hour meant lilting music, colourful kilted dancers and Andy Stewart as host, then you must have known John Grieve, he of the sad and plaintive voice, who has died at 78.
He was distinctive. Few could put on so effective a vocal tone as did Johnnie (as his friends knew him).
Grieve was a man who nearly always, on screen or stage, seemed to be grieving or greeting. The twist is that, in private life, he was far from being the lugubrious Scot looking to doom and disaster. He loved the fun side of life with friends and family.
He was a natural for the traditional roles of old-style clerics, homely crofters, eccentric villagers, rural lads, and the type of Scot who was dreamed up by playwrights adding relish from past centuries to the modern-day stage.
But it was his role as the thrawn Dan MacPhail (''I'm an engineer, not a stoker, and I've the papers to prove it !'') joining actors Duncan Macrae and Roddy McMillan, in two separate Para Handy series, that made Grieve a household name and voice.
The fictional Clyde puffer Vital Spark, based on and using a vintage cargo boat, was to its motley crew ''the smartest ship in its trade'' as she clanked her way at five knots (or was it six?) to and from every point on the coastline from Ardrishaig and Ardlamont to Tarbert and Tobermory.
Still remembered and talked about is a scene filmed on the brae leading down to Brodick Pier, on Arran, when the hapless MacPhail whirled recklessly down on a runaway trolley and into the water. A stuntman did the final plunge, but actor Johnnie found the hilarious episode from the mid-1960s still a talking-point in this new century.
Apart from the ''seagoing'' comedies based on the Neil Munro West Highland tales, Grieve did much commendable work in theatre, ranging from The Thrie Estaites at the Edinburgh Festival to parts in The Bevellers, The Good Soldier Schweik, The Flowers o' Edinburgh, and Waiting for Godot.
He once teamed on television with the comedienne Gracie Clark, playing the browbeaten son of a domineering mother, in To Gracie A Son.
Popular in pantomime and Christmas shows in Glasgow, he became familiar to thousands in the Hogmanay programmes that once graced TV in Scotland. His traditional wry humour and characterisation were natural assets for programmes that welcomed New Year, even including one that was rashly televised live from an entirely inappropriate setting with well-heeled guests sampling a Scottish Hogmanay at the posh Gleneagles Hotel.
Grieve was a late entrant as a mature student at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, where he was a James Bridie gold medallist. From here it was straight into professional theatre and five full seasons at the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre, then in its early heyday as a nursery of both Scottish drama and upcoming Scottish actors of the 1950s.
The London theatre beckoned but he opted for the Scottish arena, his homes in Hillhead and Maryhill (where he had grown up) and the opportunities of the mid-twentieth century years to forge his way in drama at home.
In the Glasgow West End, where he lived, he was a popular figure and well-known to swimming and keep-fit enthusiasts at the Western Baths.
An ex-Royal Navy man, he had spent the last 18 months after a stroke as a resident in Flanders House, Glasgow, He died peacefully in hospital.
At his funeral today the tune of Oh the Crinan Canal for Me! will be played at the crematorium service in his beloved Maryhill. The memories will be both of Para Handy's thrawn engineer Dan MacPhail and of a popular all-round actor who loved his home city.
John Grieve, actor; born June 14, 1924, died January 21, 2003.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article