| Blythe Duff | |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 November 1962 East Kilbride, Scotland |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Spouse | Tom Forrest (1998–present) |
Blythe Duff (born 25 November 1962 in East Kilbride, Glasgow) is a Scottish actress, best known for her role as Jackie Reid in the ITV television series drama, Taggart.
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Duff was raised in East Kilbride.[1] Her love of acting started with a school production of The Wizard of Oz.She went to Hunter High School.
Duff's career began in the theatre,[2] starting with The Scottish Youth and Community Theatre in Glasgow.
She worked in theatre for seven years, and in 1989 appeared in Street Scene as Shirley Kaplan at the Coliseum Theatre in London with the English National Opera.[3] She also performed on the soundtrack album which was released on Decca Records in 1989.[3] She was working for Scottish Opera when she landed the role of Jackie Reid in the sixth series of Taggart in 1990,[4] a role she still plays. Her first appearance was a community police officer in the second episode of the sixth series, "Death Comes Softly" on 3 December 1990, in which she is credited as playing WPC Reid.[5] The third episode, which first aired on 31 December 1990, she was credited as playing Jackie Reid and her character was seconded to CID as DC Reid. By series eight in 1993 her character was promoted to Detective Sergeant.[6] She became the longest-serving member of the Taggart cast after James Macpherson left the show in 2002.
On 28 November 2003 she was a guest on the daytime talk show, Today with Des and Mel.[7] On 23 June 2004 she was a contestant on the celebrity comedy game show, Win, Lose or Draw Late.[8] She has also appeared twice as a guest on the daytime talk show, Loose Women on 24 September 2004 and 15 September 2005.[7]
On 26 April 2006 Duff appeared in the documentary There's Been a Murder: A Celebration of Taggart.[9]
In October 2008 she attended the Mipcom television festival in Cannes France, along with the other three main cast members, John Michie, Alex Norton and Colin McCredie to highlight the 25th anniversary of Taggart.[10]
Away from filming Taggart, Duff still acts in the theatre.[2] Of the two, Duff states that she prefers to work in theatre saying, "I love working on Taggart. I like my character and I like all the people I work with. I have been in Taggart since 1990 so I can't imagine my life without it, but I really like working on stage. That is where I feel very comfortable and I like the response of an audience good or bad."[11]
In 1995 she played Rhona Clay in Swing Hammer Swing at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow.[12]
She starred in the European premiere of Mum's the Word in Spring 2002, which toured around Europe and included a four-week run at the King's Theatre in Glasgow.[13]
At the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh Duff has appeared in Intolerance, King of the Fields and Sharp Shorts as well as Glasgow with the National Theatre of Scotland.[14]
In February 2006 she appeared in a Greater Easterhouse Arts Company production of Home with the National Theatre of Scotland in Cranhill, Glasgow.[15] In January 2009 she is due to appear in a National Theatre of Scotland tour of Scotland and England of the play Be Near Me adapted by Ian McDiarmid from the novel of the same name by Andrew O'Hagan.[16]
Blythe Duff regularly appears on television adverts screened in Scotland, and in display adverts in certain newspapers, promoting New Tomorrow,[17] a company that offers controversial debt consolidation services. These services have been criticised by the Citizen's Advice Bureau and other anti-poverty organisations because their services may lead vulnerable people with debt problems into further difficulties, such as the loss of their home. Newtomorrow is one of three for-profit debt consolidation firms which are linked with The Debt Standard, a scheme set up to promote firms that are affiliated to the mark, but which have no accreditation with government or genuinely independent advice bodies such as Money Advice Scotland.
Duff has also appeared on radio, including the BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game, Just a Minute on which she has appeared twice.[18]
Duff is married to former police officer Tom Forrest and stepmother to his two daughters. She met Forrest, a widower, when she bought her sister's house in South Glasgow in 1997. They were engaged in October and married on 22 March 1998.[19][20] He left the police force and they set up a property restoration business, Blue Door Property, of which she is the secretary and he is Director.
Duff was one of a number of Scottish women who, at an event to publicly recognise the outstanding work of women from across Scotland, received a personal "thank you" from the then Secretary of State for Scotland, Helen Liddell at Edinburgh Castle on 6 March 2003.[21]
In November 2005 she helped launch ScotsCare, a charity aimed helping Scottish people living in London who have money or health problems.[22]