This year has been remarkable in more than one way - and now it happens to be the year that Stanley Baxter turns 95!
If you don't know him - you need to brush up on your Glasgow comedy history.
Say “Izzat a marra on yer barra Clara?” to any Glaswegian over the age of 40 and they will crack up.
The joke, from Baxter’s note-perfect Parliamo Glasgow sketch is, much like his legendary performances as a pantomime dame, stitched into the fabric of the Scottish psyche.
And he seems to be a man who can turn his hand to anything - be it theatre, panto, comedy or singing. He's even written books based on Glasgow.
Famously, he was too expensive for the BBC (his contracts were denied several times because of the extravagance of those song and dance routines).
He later became known for his TV comedy shows The Stanley Baxter Show, The Stanley Baxter Picture Show, The Stanley Baxter Series and Mr Majeika.
The son of an insurance manager, Stanley was born in Glasgow and is alumni of Hillhead school. He grew up in a tenement on Fergus Drive in the west end.
He began his career as a child actor in the Scottish edition of the BBC's Children's Hour and was 'primed' for the stage by his mother after having a hard time at school.
After the war, Stanley worked on the stage of the Citizens' Theatre for three years.
He then starred in pantomime at the Theatre Royal followed by the Half Past Eight Shows, and their successors the Five Past Eight Shows at the Alhambra Theatre.
Stanley lived in the west end until he married actress Moira Robertson at 26, where he moved to London. Sadly, Moira died in 1997.
In August 2020, Stanley came out as gay. He still lives in London and is struggling with his retirement, based on the amount of work he still does!
