Gordon Sholto McDougall (born 7 February 1916 – 18 May 1991) was a Scottish-born Australian actor. He trained at the Glasgow Athenaeum (now known as The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). After immigrating to Australia, he worked primarily in theatre in numerous productions as both an actor and director, but became best known in TV soap opera Number 96, firstly as amateur inventor Les Whittaker, who was a comedy character opposite Sheila Kennelly, his character perished in the infamous bomb blast storyline, after ratings of the series fell and it was decided to write out some of the long term older cast members, however producers realized that the decision was a mistake, and McDougall was subsequently brought back, albeit as the less successful character of Les's aristocratic brother Andrew Whittaker, the Lord McCraddenow.[1]

Gordon McDougall
McDougall as amateur inventor Les Whittaker in Number 96
Born
Gordon Sholto McDougall

(1916-02-07)7 February 1916
Glasgow, Scotland
Died18 May 1991(1991-05-18) (aged 75)
OccupationActor
Years activeStage/radio 1936– , screen 1969-1987
SpouseMargaret Mackie

Career

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Theatre and radio

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McDougall started acting professionally in 1936 working in various facets of the entertainment industry, including radio and stage. He emigrated to Australia and started his career on stage over all-in a long career he appeared in more than 50 theatre productions.

These theatre roles included Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, Cat Among the Pigeons, Habeas Corpus, musicals 1776 and Promises, Promises. He played in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and Much Ado About Nothing for the Nimrod Theatre.[2]

Television

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McDougall appeared in the ABC adaptation of Hesba Fay Brinsmead's Pastures of the Blue Crane in 1969.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s he had guest roles in Crawford Productions police procedurals Homicide and Division 4 and a regular role in 1972 comedy series A Nice Day at the Office which ran for seven episodes.

McDougall found his widest audience through his role of amateur inventor and hospital orderly Les Whittaker, husband to brassy barmaid Norma (Sheila Kennelly), in hit soap opera Number 96. Comedy characters Les and Norma joined the series early in its 1972–77 run and became very popular and along with most of the show's regular cast, McDougall reprised his role in the 1974 film version of the series.

After a fall in ratings in 1975 Les was killed off in a dramatic revamp of the series: the famous bomb storyline. It had been decided that Les's constant crazy inventions were becoming too silly, and that his death would open up the character of Norma to new romances and other storyline's. The Number 96 producers soon realized that killing Les off was a mistake, among protest from viewers and McDougall was returned to the series in late 1976 as Les's long-lost brother, the aristocratic Lord Andrew McCraddenow. The new character did not work as well as Les had, and six months later both Andrew and Norma were written out of the series during another cast revamp.

post-96 McDougall appeared in a small role in the film The Fourth Wish starring John Meillon and thriller The Killing of Angel Street and acted in other Australian television films and had guest roles in such drama television series as Chopper Squad, Prisoner and A Country Practice, and a guest part in sitcom Mother and Son.

Filmography (selected)

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Film

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Title Year Role Type
Ned Kelly 1970 Tarleton (uncredited) Feature film
Chaser 1973 TV movie
Is There Anybody There? 1976 Cookson TV movie
The Fourth Wish 1976 Policeman Film
Ride a Wild Pony (aka Born to Run) 1977 Horace Weaver TV movie
Number 96 1974 Les Whittaker TV movie
The Killing of Angel Street 1981 Sir Arthur Wadham Feature film

Television

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Title Year Role Type
Pastures of the Blue Crane 1969 TV miniseries
Riptide 1969 Sgt. Paul Stranes TV series, 1 episode
Homicide 1966-70 Max Baker / Rev. Horton / Senior Detective Vince Reilly TV series
The Rovers 1970 Ben Ashdown TV series
The Long Arm 1970 Stubby TV series
Mrs. Finnegan 1970 Supt Johnson TV series
Division 4 1969-71 Bruce Clarke / Suttle / Bill Jenkins TV series
The Group 1971 James McGregor TV series, 1 episode
A Nice Day at the Office 1972 Claude Fogarty TV series, 7 episodes
Number 96 1972-77 Les Whittaker / Andrew Whittaker (aka Lord McCradonow) TV series, 133 wpisodes
Rush 1976 Doctor Newton TV series
Solo One 1976 Jack Norton TV series
The Emigrants 1976 Hostel Manager TV miniseries
Murcheson Creek 1976 TV pilot
Chopper Squad 1978 Joe TV series
Golden Soak 1979 Petersen TV miniseries
The Magical World of Disney 1979 Horace Wever TV series, 2 episodes
Love Thy Neighbour in Australia 1979 Vicar TV series, 1 episode
The Best of Friends 1982 Doctor TV series, 1 episode
Prisoner 1982 Dr. Braithwaite TV series, 1 episode
Mother and Son 1983 Lionel TV series, 1 episode
Winners 1985 Confessor TV series
A Country Practice 1983 / 1986 Mr. Bradshaw / Shaun Barnes Snr. TV series
Relative Merits 1987 TV miniseries

Personal life and death

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McDougall retired from acting in 1987.

He was married to Margaret Mackie and died in Sydney, Australia on 18 May 1991, aged 75.

References

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  1. ^ Giles, Nigel. Number 96: Australia's Most Notorious Address. Melbourne Books.
  2. ^ Atterton, Margot. (Ed.) The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Australian Showbiz, Sunshine Books, 1984. ISBN 0-86777-057-0 p 143
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