# John Cairney

John Cairney (16 February 1930 – 6 September 2023) was a Scottish stage, film and television actor who found fame through his one-man shows on Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Service, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and William McGonagall.

## Biography

John Cairney was born on 16 February 1930 in the Baillieston area of Glasgow. He is the brother of footballer Jim Cairney. They were raised in the Parkhead area of Glasgow; the referee Tiny Wharton was a childhood acquaintance.
He briefly attended art college but dropped out to pursue the life of an actor.
Cairney worked as an actor, recitalist, lecturer, director and theatre consultant. He was also a published author and an exhibited painter. Trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, he was a notable Hamlet at the Citizens' Theatre in Glasgow and a successful Macbeth at the Edinburgh International Festival. In 1954, he appeared in the British debut for Arthur Miller's The Crucible. He played King Humanity in Tyrone Guthrie's Festival production of Sir David Lyndsey's Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis in 1959. In 1962, he joined the Edinburgh Gateway Company, playing James Boswell in Robert McLellan's Young Auchinleck. He was in This Man Craig on television, while his many films include Lucky Jim, A Night to Remember, Operation Bullshine, The Flesh and the Fiends, Victim, Cleopatra and Jason and the Argonauts.
Cairney would become associated with Scottish poet Robert Burns for the remainder of his career, when in 1965 he performed a three hour one-man show, where he recited Burns's works. The play, titled There Was A Man, was presented at the Traverse Theatre, running for over two months due to high demand. The show was also televised and recorded as a successful album. In 1968, he also wrote and starred in a television adaptation of The Robert Burns Story. In 1970s, Cairney played in a political drama by BBC Scotland, named Scotch on the Rocks. In 1987, he published his autobiography, called The Man Who Played Burns.
Cairney gained a PhD from Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand, and was much in demand internationally as a lecturer, writer and consultant on Robert Louis Stevenson, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Robert Burns.
Cairney wrote books on many famous Scots as well as other books on football (particularly Celtic), theatre and his native Glasgow, where he lived with his New Zealand–born wife, actress and scriptwriter Alannah O'Sullivan.
Cairney married Sheila Cowan in 1954, whom he met at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. He had five children with her. Cairney divorced her in 1979 and married actress and playwright Alannah O'Sullivan in 1980.
He died on 6 September 2023, at age 93. Cairney fell ill on the morning of September 6 and died around midday. He was buried on September 21.

## Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Company | Director | Notes |
| 1959 | Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis | King Humanity | | Tyrone Guthrie | play by Sir David Lyndsay, adapted by Robert Kemp |
| 1962 | Young Auchinleck | James Boswell | Gateway Theatre, Edinburgh | Kenneth Parrott | |
| 1965 | There Was A Man | Robert Burns | Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh | | |
| 1972 | Willie Rough | Charlie McGrath | Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh | Bill Bryden |

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1957 | Ill Met by Moonlight | Elias |
| 1957 | Miracle in Soho | Tom |
| 1957 | Lucky Jim | Roberts |
| 1957 | Windom's Way | Jan Vidal |
| 1958 | A Night to Remember | Murphy |
| 1959 | Shake Hands with the Devil | Mike O'Callaghan |
| 1959 | Operation Bullshine | Gunner Willie Ross |
| 1960 | The Flesh and the Fiends | Chris Jackson |
| 1960 | The Edgar Wallace Mysteries – Marriage of Convenience | Larry Wilson |
| 1961 | Victim | Bridie |
| 1963 | Cleopatra | Phoebus |
| 1963 | Jason and the Argonauts | Hylas |
| 1964 | The Devil-Ship Pirates | Harry |
| 1965 | Spaceflight IC-1 | Steven Thomas |
| 1965 | A Study in Terror | Michael Osborne |
| 1999 | Nightmare Man | Trapper |