Perth Theatre paid tribute to actor Ralph Riach who died recently.
A regular visitor to Perth Theatre, often to see new openings, Ralph famously played John James McIver in the BBC Scotland TV crime series Hamish Macbeth.
Riach, who died on March 20 aged 86, played the character known as ‘TV John’ in the whimsical drama, aired in the mid-1990s.
His role, dressed in the trademark black beret and buttoned-up shirt, as the eccentric clairvoyant colleague of Robert Carlyle’s rural police officer, was extremely memorable.
Perth Theatre marked Ralph’s passing with his photograph displayed on the outside screen at the building’s modern entrance.
“All our condolences go to the family and friends of Ralph Riach following his recent passing,” said a spokesperson for Horsecross Arts.
“He was a very familiar face to Perth Theatre audiences and a great supporter of the venue. He’ll be much missed.”
Perth Theatre’s artistic director Lu Kemp paid her own tribute saying: “Ralph was a great generous mischievous spirit, and I will miss him.
"I’ve worked with him in radio and I’ve rarely seen anyone have so much fun.
"Ralph attended every first night in Perth.
"We had an opening evening at the museum, where he gave a speech – a Scots adaptation written by Liz Lochhead (Bottom in A Midsummer’s Night Dream). And he said to me when doing the speech: 'Just know, if you would like me to play the stage at any point… (lengthy pause) I won’t do it.'
"He totally set me up, it was funny. He would definitely have been past wanting to be in theatre by the time we reopened.”
Ralph’s varied stage and screen career only began in his late 40s. He enrolled as a drama student at what is now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, where he became friendly with now Hollywood actor Alan Cumming, himself a native of Aberfeldy. Cumming called him ‘Grumpy Ralph’.
Ralph’s TV roles included Willy Stebbings in the ITV series Chancer (1990-91) and Dr Gilmore in Doctor Finlay (1993-94), while on film he played a priest in Braveheart (1995) and Ernie in Cloud Atlas (2012).
In Perth, where he became a theatrical landlord, his guests included the actors Richard Todd and Jimmy Logan.
Logan was said to have advised him against an acting career but went on to give him his first professional job in a 1984 staging of Ray Cooney’s Run for Your Wife.
Actor Simon Donald later branched out as a screenwriter and would write parts specifically with Riach in mind. He cast him as Billy Connolly’s best friend in the BBC drama Deacon Brodie (1997), a bureaucratic butcher in the Channel 4 miniseries Low Winter Sun (2006) and as Ralfi Sigurdson in the Sky Arctic Circle drama Fortitude (2015).
Riach is survived by his son Drew and grandchildren Jen and Tom.
