Scottish actor and comedian Johnny Beattie dies aged 93

Tributes are being paid to Scottish comedy legend Johnny Beattie who’s died at the age of 93.

The veteran entertainer was known for starring in Scotch and Wry, Rab C Nesbitt and Taggart in a career which spanned over 60 years.

He most recently played Malcolm Hamilton in Scottish soap River City - before retiring in 2015.

We spoke to his co-star Tom Urie - who described him as "one of the kindest, funniest, most gentle people I've worked with."

He added: "Johnny Beattie was one of the golden era of Scottish showbiz.

"If you look at Holywood, and you look at the golden era, you've Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Frank Sinatra - all these people. Johnny was part of Scotland's golden era."

"He worked with a lot of greats, he worked with Laurel and Hardy, wrote a speech for Ronald Reagan once and he had great stories.

"Every single person, Johnny knew about them and he would talk to them and he had the time of day for absolutely everybody that he met.

"It's such a loss. People say 93 is a good age, but he didn't seem anywhere near that age, he seemed like a youthful vibrant person to be around."

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's also tweeted her condolences saying "we've lost a national treasure."

More to follow...

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