Scottish actor (born 1945)
William Tulloch Paterson
(born 3 June 1945) is a Scottish actor with a career in theatre, film, television and radio. Throughout his career he has appeared regularly in radio drama and provided the narration for a large number of documentaries. He has appeared in films and TV series including
Comfort and Joy
(1984),
Traffik
(1989),
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
(1986),
Truly, Madly, Deeply
(1990),
Wives and Daughters
(1999),
Sea of Souls
(2004?2007),
Amazing Grace
(2006),
Miss Potter
(2006),
Little Dorrit
(2008),
Doctor Who
(2010),
Outlander
(2014),
Fleabag
(2016?2019),
Inside No. 9
(2018),
Good Omens
(2019), and
Brassic
(2020). He is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Scottish BAFTAs.
Early life
[
edit
]
William Tulloch Paterson was born in
Glasgow
on 3 June 1945.
[1]
Paterson was raised in
Dennistoun
by his father, a plumber, and his mother, a hairdresser.
[2]
He states that his interest in acting began with a school trip to the
Citizens Theatre
in the
Gorbals
in 1961.
[2]
However, after school he chose to initially pursue a career based on an interest in architecture and spent three years as a
quantity surveyor
's apprentice before deciding to attend the
Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
.
[3]
[2]
[4]
[5]
Career
[
edit
]
1967?1977: Theatre debut and early roles
[
edit
]
Paterson made his professional acting debut in 1967,
[4]
appearing alongside
Leonard Rossiter
in
Bertolt Brecht
's
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
at the Glasgow
Citizens Theatre
.
[2]
In 1970, Paterson joined the Citizens' Theatre for Youth. He remained there as an actor and assistant director until 1972, when he left to appear with
Billy Connolly
in the musical comedy
The Great Northern Welly Boot Show
at the
Edinburgh Festival
in 1972.
[6]
[2]
Paterson would work with Connolly again, some years later, when he performed in Connolly's play
An Me Wi' a Bad Leg Tae
. After having seen Paterson perform at the Festival,
John McGrath
invited him to join his theatre company,
7:84
, touring the
United Kingdom
and
Europe
with plays such as
The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black Black Oil
.
[2]
[4]
He was a founding member of 7:84, and made his
London
debut in 1976 with the company. He appeared in the Edinburgh Festival and London with
John Byrne
's first play,
Writer's Cramp
.
1978?1989: TV and film debuts
[
edit
]
He first appeared in the
West End
when he took over the lead role in
Whose Life Is It Anyway?
at the
Savoy Theatre
in 1979. Paterson's career began to centre as much on television than the theatre. His first appearances in 1978 were as a police Sergeant of
Scotland Yard
in
The Odd Job
[7]
and then in
BAFTA award
winning drama
Licking Hitler
. He then played
King James
in the UK television serial
Will Shakespeare
the same year. Paterson would later recall that the biggest regret of his career was during this period, when in 1978 he failed to attend an audition for a role in the film
Alien
.
[5]
He provided the voice of the Assistant Arcturan Pilot in Episode 7 of the original
BBC Radio 4
version of
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
in 1978.
[8]
He played Lopakhin in the BBC production of
The Cherry Orchard
in 1981. Paterson did not, however, entirely neglect the theatre, and in 1982, he was nominated for a
Laurence Olivier Award
for his performance as Schweyk in another Brecht play,
Schweik in the Second World War
at the
National Theatre
. He was in the original National Theatre production of
Guys and Dolls
(1982).
[4]
The early 1980s also saw Paterson beginning to appear in films, including
The Killing Fields
,
Comfort and Joy
and
A Private Function
(all 1984).
[4]
Other film credits include
Dutch Girls
(1985) and
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
(1987).
In television, his extensive and award-winning TV career includes a memorable portrayal of property villain
Ally Fraser
in series 2 of
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
(1986). He also appeared in
Smiley's People
(1982),
The Singing Detective
(1986),
Traffik
(1988).
1990?2009: Career actor
[
edit
]
Paterson performed in
Death and the Maiden
at the
Royal Court
and
Duke of York's
(1991?92). Other theatre roles in this period include
Ivanov
at the
Almeida
, London and
Maly Theatre, Moscow
(1997).
In 1990, he performed the role of Mr Jenkins, father to a child who gets turned into a mouse in,
The Witches
(1990). He went on to act in
Truly, Madly, Deeply
(1990),
Chaplin
(1992), Sir
Ian McKellen
's
Richard III
(1995).
[9]
In 1997, he appeared as Brian, a cafe owner who knows the
Spice Girls
, in
Spice World
.
[10]
He also performed in
The Crow Road
(1996), a miniseries from the novel by
Iain Banks
[2]
and
Doctor Zhivago
(2002).
He later performed in the films
Bright Young Things
(2003),
Miss Potter
(2006),
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
(2008) and
Creation
(2009).
[11]
In television, much of his later work has been for the
BBC
, starring as Dr Douglas Monaghan in three seasons of the supernatural drama series
Sea of Souls
(2004?2007).
[2]
He also played the role of Dr Gibson in the 1999 production of
Wives and Daughters
, and appeared in the 2008
BBC production
of the
Charles Dickens
novel
Little Dorrit
as Mr Meagles, as DS Box in the first series of
Criminal Justice
(2008), and as Dr
James Niven
in
Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen
.
Paterson has also narrated for various television and radio programmes. In 2005, he would take a role as Rob McKenna, a lorry driver and unknowing Rain God, in Fits the 19th, 20th, and 22nd of
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Quandary Phase
. In 2003, Paterson began broadcasting radio stories about his childhood in Glasgow,
Tales From the Back Green
on
BBC Scotland
, which led to them being published by Hodder in 2008 and appearances at many book festivals throughout the UK. He narrated the 2009 BBC TV programme
1929 ? The Great Crash
which recalled the
Wall Street Crash of 1929
and compared it to the recent financial turmoil of 2008. From 2009 to 2010, he appeared as
George Castle
, the head of the
CPS
in
Law & Order: UK
.
[12]
He also played the key role of SIS Chief Percy Alleline in the 2009
BBC Radio 4
version of
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
.
[13]
In 2010, Paterson starred in
Doctor Who
as Professor Edwin Bracewell, in the episode "
Victory of the Daleks
", with his character making a second appearance in the opening half of the season finale, "
The Pandorica Opens
".
[14]
[15]
Later in the year, Paterson narrated the
BBC Four
wildlife documentary
Birds Britannia
.
2011?2022: TV, film and radio
[
edit
]
In 2011, Paterson starred in
Fast Freddie, The Widow and Me
.
[16]
His most recent theatre is
Earthquakes in London
at the National Theatre in the summer of 2010. He also narrated the BBC's annual coverage of the
Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
and in 2013 appeared as
Adam Smith
in
The Low Road
at the Royal Court.
Paterson played lawyer Ned Gowan in the 2014
Starz
period TV series,
Outlander
.
[17]
In 2014, Paterson landed a part as Douglas Henshall's father in TV series
Shetland
.
[18]
In 2015, he starred alongside
Brian Cox
in a performance of
Waiting for Godot
at the
Royal Lyceum Theatre
.
[2]
In 2015, Paterson was presented with the lifetime achievement of the
Scottish BAFTAs
.
[6]
[19]
In 2016, he narrated
The Farmers' Country Showdown
, a series for the BBC following the
agricultural show
season and broadcast early in 2017.
[20]
In 2016, Paterson performed with his friend
Simon Callow
in
The Rebel
.
[21]
He also appeared as the Scottish character Private Frazer in the remake film
Dad's Army
.
[22]
[23]
Beginning with the first season in 2016 and ending with the second season in 2019, Paterson played the father of the main character and her sister in the British TV show
Fleabag
.
[2]
[4]
In 2019, Paterson also performed in the four-part BBC drama
Guilt
.
[4]
In 2022, Paterson performed in the fantasy drama
House of the Dragon
as the character Lord Lyman Beesbury.
[24]
He is the narrator of the British TV show
The Repair Shop
.
[25]
Personal life
[
edit
]
In 1980, while filming
The Lost Tribe
, Paterson purchased a holiday home in
Fordyce
with fellow actor
Miriam Margolyes
.
[a]
[26]
In 1984, Paterson married German stage designer
Hildegard Bechtler
. They have a son and daughter.
[27]
[2]
Since leaving Glasgow he has spent much of his life living in
London
and currently resides in North London near
Tufnell Park
.
[2]
[27]
[9]
Paterson has published a series of book stories based on his childhood in Glasgow entitled
Tales From The Back Green
.
[9]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
The purchase of the house was revealed in
Miriam & Alan: Lost in Scotland and Beyond
, when Margolyes and Alan Cumming visit Fordyce and are joined by Paterson.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Paterson, William Tulloch".
Who's Who
. London: A. & C. Black. 2008.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
"Bill Paterson interview - back as Dad in the new series of Fleabag"
.
The Scotsman
. 2 March 2019
. Retrieved
10 September
2022
.
- ^
"Royal Conservatoire of Scotland - Alumni"
. rcs.ac.uk. Archived from
the original
on 16 October 2012.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
"Fleabag star Bill Paterson on his new TV role"
. The Herald
. Retrieved
10 September
2022
.
- ^
a
b
"Portrait of the artist: Bill Paterson, actor"
.
The Guardian
. 7 February 2012
. Retrieved
10 September
2022
.
- ^
a
b
"Bafta winner Bill Paterson on acting with Billy Connolly"
.
The Telegraph
. 16 November 2015
. Retrieved
10 September
2022
.
- ^
"The Odd Job"
. TimeOut
. Retrieved
10 September
2022
.
- ^
"BBC Radio 4 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Secondary Phase, Fit The Seventh"
.
BBC
.
- ^
a
b
c
"The Scotsman Sessions #255: Bill Paterson"
. The Scotsman. 17 June 2021
. Retrieved
10 September
2022
.
- ^
Spice World (1997)
, retrieved
14 February
2019
- ^
"Bill Paterson"
.
BFI
. Archived from
the original
on 23 April 2017.
- ^
"Law & Order: UK"
.
TVGuide.com
.
- ^
"The Complete Smiley: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - Episode 2"
.
Radio Times
. Archived from
the original
on 15 February 2019
. Retrieved
14 February
2019
.
- ^
"BBC One - Doctor Who, Series 5, Victory of the Daleks"
.
BBC
.
- ^
"Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang ★★★★"
.
Radio Times
.
- ^
"Fast Freddie, the Widow and Me (2011)"
.
BFI
. Archived from
the original
on 30 October 2020.
- ^
Ferguson, Brian (10 June 2014).
"Bill Paterson lands key part in Outlander TV show"
.
The Scotsman
. Retrieved
26 April
2015
.
- ^
"BBC One - Shetland - Bill Paterson"
.
BBC
. Retrieved
14 February
2019
.
- ^
"Actor Bill Paterson: I love Scot Squad, I think it's just fantastic"
. Glasgow Times
. Retrieved
10 September
2022
.
- ^
"BBC One - The Farmers' Country Showdown, Series 1 30-Minute Versions, Pigs"
.
BBC
. Retrieved
14 February
2019
.
- ^
"The Rebel Series 2 Interview: Bill Paterson"
. UKTV
. Retrieved
10 September
2022
.
- ^
"Dad's Army review: who don't you think you are kidding?"
. Guardian. 26 January 2016
. Retrieved
10 September
2022
.
- ^
"Dad's Army Cast Then and Now: See Which Actors Played the Iconic Roles in the Film Adaptation"
. Hello Magazine. 6 June 2020
. Retrieved
10 September
2022
.
- ^
"House Of The Dragon Cast: Where Have You Seen The Stars Before?"
. Huffington Post. 25 August 2022
. Retrieved
10 September
2022
.
- ^
"Who narrates The Repair Shop?"
. Metro. 12 January 2022
. Retrieved
10 September
2022
.
- ^
"Miriam and Alan: Lost in Scotland review ? a large pile of anticlimaxes"
.
The Guardian
. 16 November 2021
. Retrieved
10 September
2022
.
- ^
a
b
"How We Met: Hildegard Bechtler and Billy Paterson"
.
The Independent
. 27 February 1994
. Retrieved
2 August
2019
.
- ^
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Artists
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|