Andy Gray (actor)
Andy Gray (13 September 1959 – 18 January 2021) was a Scottish actor and writer from Perth, Scotland. He trained in Drama at Edinburgh's Queen Margaret University from 1976–79. Career. Gray starred in the BBC Radio Scotland sketch show "Naked Radio", and its later television counterpart "Naked Video". He then became well known as the appropriately named "Chancer", best friend and source of problems to Willie Melvin (Gerard Kelly) in the 1987 sitcom "City Lights". He was well known for pantomiming, usually co-writing the script and often alongside other former "City Lights" cast members. He appeared  opposite Kelly in a touring production of "The Odd Couple". He took the starring role in a Channel 4 proposed comedy pilot show "Miles is Better" where he played a very enthusiastic burglar alarm salesman (Miles). Gray worked extensively in theatre and television since 1979 and was described as "a stalwart of Scottish Theatre". Gray appeared in the Edinburgh Fringe 2013 with panto colleague Grant Stott in Philip Meeks's play "Kiss Me Honey Honey", which won a Fringe First. The show returned at the 2014 Fringe. In 2014 he swapped comedy for villain, as Black Ruthven, in his home  city of Perth, in feature film "", with writer/actor Ian Grieve directed by Ryan Dewar. He continued in his darker comedy as William Donaldson in 'Willie and Sebastian' at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe when he won the coveted Stage Award for Acting Excellence for his performance. Gray joined his pantomime co-stars, Allan Stewart and Grant Stott in Canned Laughter, a tour about a 1970s showbiz trio based on Stewart's career. His final Fringe performances were in Philip Differ's 'Double Feature' (2017 and 2018 tour) and Ruaraidh Murray's 'The Junkies' (which played only one performance due to  Gray's cancer diagnosis). He appeared in Jason Connery's Scottish BAFTA award-winning 2016 film "Tommy's Honour". From 2016 until 2018 he played Pete Galloway in Scottish soap opera "River City." Other theatre performances include: Dario Fo's Trumpets and Raspberries (1985) with Elaine C Smith and Alan Cumming; Werewolf (1999); Guys and Dolls (2001) at Lyceum, Edinburgh; The Woman Who Cooked her Husband (2004); A Limited Run (2005); Stones in His Pockets (2005); The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (2008); Irma Vep (2009) at Perth Theatre with Steven McNicol. His pantomime catch phrase was, "I'm  no very well". Personal life. It was announced in early August 2018 that Gray would not be returning to post-summer filming of "River City" after discovering, whilst in rehearsals for his Edinburgh Fringe show, that he was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic syndromes. After a bone marrow transplant from one of his sisters and successful cancer recovery in 2019, he contracted COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2020. Gray died in hospital intensive care on 18 January 2021, following complications caused by COVID-19, aged 61.