- Ross Davidson
Infobox actor
name = Ross Davidson
imagesize =200px
caption =Davidson as Andy in "EastEnders"
birthdate = birth date|1949|8|29|df=y
location =Airdrie ,North Lanarkshire ,Scotland
height =
deathdate = death date|2006|10|16|df=y
deathplace =Frinton-on-Sea ,Essex ,England
birthname = William Russell Davidson
othername =
homepage =
notable role =Andy O'Brien in "EastEnders ", Andy Morgan in "Hollyoaks "William Russell "Ross" Davidson (b.
25 August 1949 ,Airdrie, North Lanarkshire – d.16 October 2006 ,Frinton-on-Sea ,Essex ) was a Britishactor best known for his role as Andy O'Brien in theBBC soap opera "EastEnders ".Career
Davidson started his working life as a
Physical Education teacher inScotland in the early 1970s. He also played water polo at international level for Scotland and left teaching to run a pub and disco inGlasgow , 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 theMonty Python short "The Crimson Permanent Assurance " (1983). InSpain ,Holland andGermany , 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.Just before leaving EastEnders, Davidson recorded a pop single, "Jigsaw Puzzle", that failed to chart. He then returned to acting in stage plays (he had previously appeared in "
Guys and Dolls " at theNational Theatre ) and returned to the small-screen in 1987 as a television presenter. He presented the BBC lunchtime magazine show "Daytime Live" (1987-88) and the sports challenge series "Run the Gauntlet" (1989-90).He later returned to acting and went on to star in the
Channel 4 soap opera "Brookside "; the Welsh soap "Pobol Y Cwm " and he also played the role of Peter O'Dell in the Scottish soap "Take the High Road " for three years. More recently he starred as Andy Morgan in theChannel 4 soap opera "Hollyoaks " from 1999 - 2002.Personal life
Davidson's first marriage was to a primary school teacher, but this ended within three years. He took his ex-wife's maiden name, Ross, as his stage name. [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article1886605.ece]
While working on "EastEnders", Davidson famously dated his co-star
Shirley Cheriton , who played his on-screen girlfriendDebbie Wilkins . She broke up with Davidson after five years. He married Barbara Black in 2005 and the couple already had a son together; Drew Davidson. They lived together in theEssex resort ofFrinton-on-Sea . Barbara Black Davidson had three children from her previous marriage.In February 2005, Davidson was diagnosed with
brain cancer , and swiftly underwent on operation for this. The surgery was unsuccessful, and a month later he was re-admitted to the Oldchurch Hospital inRomford , where he was told that he had a glioblastoma Grade 4 - the fastest growing, most virulent form of brain cancer.In July 2005, Davidson went public with the news that his tumour was inoperable and that his life expectancy was 12-18 months [http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/showbiz/tm_objectid=15703662&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=exclusive--courage-of-eastender-ross-as-cancer-returns-name_page.html] . Davidson had commented "I'm going to try everything to beat this".
He died 15 months later from the illness, aged 57. [http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz/article-23371076-details/EastEnders%27+Ross+Davidson+loses+cancer+battle/article.do] .
External links
*imdb|id=0203481|name=Ross Davidson
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/eastenders/eastenders/characters/character_content/character_andy_ob.shtml "EastEnders" characters - Andy O'Brien]
* [http://www.tv.com/hollyoaks/show/7580/cast.html "Hollyoaks" characters - Andy Morgan]
* [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article1886605.ece Obituary in The Independent]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6058350.stm BBC News report on death]
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