Kenny Ireland
George Ian Kenneth "Kenny" Ireland (7 August 1945 – 31 July 2014) was a Scottish actor and theatre director. Ireland was best known to television viewers for his role in "" in the 1980s, and for playing Donald Stewart in "Benidorm" from 2007 until his death in 2014. Career. Born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Ireland was prominent in Scottish theatre and spent ten years as director of the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh. When he left the post in 2003 he controversially attacked the Scottish arts establishment for providing "theatre on the cheap" and the Scottish Executive for putting plans for  a National Theatre of Scotland on "the back burner". The National Theatre of Scotland was finally launched in 2006. He also appeared in an episode of "Auf Wiedersehen, Pet" as journalist Sid Payne. In some early TV appearances (e.g. the BBC's ""Five Red Herrings"") he was credited as "Ian Ireland". Ireland's directing credits include "Guys & Dolls, A View from the Bridge, Romeo and Juliet, Phaedra, Macbeth, Lovers, The Anatomist, Clay Bull, Mother Courage, Much Ado About Nothing, Of Mice and Men, Private Lives, Oleanna, The Gowk Storm, Waiting for Godot, Dancing at Lughnasa, Oedipus Tyrannos and A Midsummer  Night's Dream". He also appeared in "Acorn Antiques", the STV series "Taggart", the 1983 film "Local Hero", "Dempsey and Makepeace" episode "In the Dark", Series 2 of "Auf Wiedersehen Pet", the 1990 series "House of Cards" as media tycoon Benjamin Landless starring alongside Ian Richardson as Francis Urquhart, and the David Leland film "The Big Man" with Liam Neeson. He was also in "Heartbeat" and made a brief appearance in the promo video for Tracey Ullman's "Sunglasses". He appeared in the television series "Benidorm" as swinger Donald Stewart from 2007 until the end of series 6, that aired  in early 2014. In June 2014, it was announced that he had brain cancer. His character did not appear in the seventh series of "Benidorm" in person but the character's voice was heard on a telephone call, albeit provided by a sound-a-like. Death. Ireland died of cancer on 31 July 2014 aged 68.