Russell Hunter

Adam Russell Hunter (18 February 1925 – 26 February 2004) was a Scottish television, stage and film actor. He played Lonely in the TV thriller series Callan, starring Edward Woodward, and shop steward Harry in the Yorkshire Television sitcom The Gaffer (1981–1983) with Bill Maynard. He made guest appearances in television series such as The Sweeney, Doctor Who, Taggart, A Touch of Frost, The Bill and The Return of Sherlock Holmes in The Adventure of Silver Blaze.

Life Born Russell Ellis in Glasgow, Hunter's childhood was spent with his maternal grandparents in Lanarkshire, until returning to his unemployed father and cleaner mother when he was 12. He went from school to an apprenticeship in a Clydebank shipyard. During this time, he did some amateur acting for the Young Communist League before turning professional in 1946. Reportedly, he said of his identification with Lonely that "I take more baths than I might have playing other parts. When Lonely was in the public eye I used only the very best toilet water and a hell of a lot of aftershave." Farrington of the F.O., The Bill, A Touch of Frost, Taggart, sitcoms Rule Britannia (1975) as the Scotsman Jock McGregor and shop steward in The Gaffer (1981–83), and his last ever TV appearance, in the BBC drama Born and Bred. In his last years he reprised his Doctor Who role for a series of audio plays released on CD, Kaldor City. He also appeared in an episode of Mind Your Language as a minor character in the episode "I Belong To Glasgow"; he played an opinionated chauffeur who kept clashing with the students. He also appeared in the TV sitcom Lovejoy as a Scottish submariner in the episode "Angel Trousers". In his native Scotland, he was the central character in a long-running series of TV commercials in the early 1990s sponsored by the Law Society of Scotland in which he declared "it's never too early to call your solicitor".

He also appeared as different characters in the pilot and series of the BBC sitcom Rab C. Nesbitt.

Theatre Year Title Role Company Director Notes 1971 Confessions of a Justified Sinner James Hogg Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh Richard Eyre Edinburgh International Festival

Filmography

Personal life In 1949, Hunter married Marjorie Thomson and had two daughters.

Death Russell Hunter died aged 79 at Edinburgh's Western General Hospital of lung cancer.