Scotland At The Movies

20 March 2009, 17:01

Place Of Birth: Glasgow

Date Of Birth: 3rd June 1945

Lives: London

Status: Married to stage designer, Hildegard Bechtler, with whom he has a son, Jack, and daughter, Anna

For many Bill Paterson made his name in 1985 as the devious gangster Ally Fraser in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet alongside Gary Holton and Jimmy Nail. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Paterson spent three years as a quantity surveyor's apprentice, before attending the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. 

He made his professional acting debut in 1967, appearing alongside Leonard Rossiter in Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre. In 1970, Paterson joined the Citizen's Theatre for Youth. He remained there as an actor and assistant director until 1972, when he left to appear with Billy Connolly in The Great Northern Welly Boot Show at the Edinburgh Festival. 

Paterson spent much of the 1970s in John McGrath's theatre company, 7:84 touring the United Kingdom and Europe with plays such as The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black Black Oil, before he his career began to centre more on television. His first appearances included the 1978 BAFTA award winning drama Licking Hitler, and playing King James in the UK television serial Life of Shakespeare the same year.

The early 80s then saw Paterson starting to appear in films, including Comfort and Joy (1984) and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1987). Thus followed a fruitful film career that included Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990), Chaplin (1992), Sir Ian McKellen's Richard III (1995), Bright Young Things (2003) and Miss Potter (2006).

Much of his recent work has been for the BBC, starring as Dr. Douglas Monaghan in the supernatural drama series Sea of Souls, and providing the voice of the Storyteller in the children's serial Shoebox Zoo. 

Last updated: 20 March 2009, 17:12