Molly Weir


1910 - 2004

Stage, screen, radio and television character actress and author. Born Mary Weir in Springburn (Glasgow), the sister of broadcaster and naturalist Tom Weir (1914 - 2006). She was brought up by her mother and grandmother after her father was killed during World War I. She began as a typist in a solicitor's office in Glasgow and was capable of 300 words-per-minute shorthand, becoming a British champion.

Characterised by her energy and small frame, Weir spent her spare time in amateur dramatics. Turning professional, she came to prominence during World War II, as Tattie Macintosh in the BBC Radio comedy It's that Man Again (1939-49), better known by its acronym ITMA, with Tommy Handley. In 1945, Weir settled in London.

She went on to play Ivy McTweed in the Scottish radio soap The McFlannels and Aggie in Life with the Lyons (1954). She contributed regularly to Woman's Hour and was a writer and performer on Children's Hour. Her television appearances included another children's programme, Rentaghost (1976) and Flowers of the Forest (1996). Film roles include relatively minor roles in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) based on Muriel Spark's book, Carry on Regardless (1961), Hands of the Ripper (1971) and One of our Dinosaurs is Missing (1976).

Weir was also a popular public speaker, newspaper columnist and her memoirs run to remarkable eight volumes, so numerous were the anecdotes she had collected. She was named Scotswoman of the Year in 2000. She spent her latter years in Pinner (Middlesex), where she died. Always fond of her native land, she requested her ashes be buried on the banks of Loch Lomond.


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