Ross Davidson
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| Ross Davidson | |
 Davidson as Andy in EastEnders |
|
| Birth name | William Russell Davidson |
| Born | 29 August 1949 Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland |
| Died | 16 October 2006 Frinton-on-Sea, Essex |
| Notable roles | Andy O'Brien in EastEnders, Andy Morgan in Hollyoaks |
Ross Davidson (25 August 1949 – 16 October 2006), born William Russell Davidson in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, was a British actor best known for his role as Andy O'Brien in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.
[edit] Career
Davidson started his working life as a PE teacher in Scotland. He also played water polo at international level for Scotland and left teaching to run a pub and disco in Glasgow, but furthered his ambitions to act by attending night classes.
He made his screen acting début on television in A Degree of Uncertainty (1979), a BBC Play for Today set in a Scottish university, then appeared as a kilted dancer in Stanley Baxter on Television (1979). He also had small parts as a mime troupe member in The Comedy of Errors ("BBC Television Shakespeare", 1983) and a photographer in Widows II (1985), as well as appearing in the film The Pirates of Penzance (1983) and the Monty Python short The Crimson Permanent Assurance (1983). In Spain, Holland and Germany, he was seen in commercials for products ranging from chewing gum to beer.
In 1985 he became one of the original cast of BBC's flagship soap opera EastEnders. He played the altruistic nurse Andy O'Brien for 18 months, after which his screen alter-ego went down in history for being the first main character to be killed off.
In 1986 Davidson recorded a pop single, "Jigsaw Puzzle", that failed to chart. He then returned to acting in stage plays (he had previously appeared in Guys and Dolls at the National Theatre) and returned to the small-screen in 1987 as a television presenter. He presented the BBC lunchtime magazine show Daytime Live (1987-88) and the sports challenge series Run the Gauntlet (1989-90).
He later returned to acting and went on to star in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside; the Welsh soap Pobol Y Cwm and he also played the role of Peter O'Dell in the Scottish soap Take the High Road. More recently he starred as Andy Morgan in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks from 1999 - 2002.
[edit] Personal life
Ross' first marriage to a primary school teacher ended after less than 3 years, which Ross attributes to her dislike of his acting career and the fame that came with it. He took his ex-wife's maiden name, Ross, as his stage name.[1]
While working on EastEnders, Davidson famously dated his co-star Shirley Cheriton, who played his on-screen girlfriend Debbie Wilkins. She broke up with Davidson after five years. He married Barbara Black in 2005 and the couple had a young son together; Drew Davidson. They lived together in the Essex resort of Frinton-on-Sea. Barbara Black Davidson had three children from her previous marriage.
In February 2005 Davidson was diagnosed with brain cancer, for which he was treated surgically in early March. However the following month, Davidson was re-admitted to the Oldchurch Hospital in Romford, where he was told that he had a glioblastoma Grade 4 - the fastest growing, most virulent form of brain cancer.
In July 2005 Davidson went public with the news that his tumour was inoperable and that his life expectancy was 12-18 months [2]. Davidson had commented "I'm going to try everything to beat this".
He died at home, aged 57, 15 months after he went public with the news [3].
