Lorraine Kelly and Ronnie Corbett among those to receive New Year Honours

By Tim Cornwell
Published on Saturday 31 December 2011 00:52

TELEVISION presenter Lorraine Kelly and veteran comedian and TV host Ronnie Corbett lead the list of Scots named in the New Year Honours List.

Rugby veteran Chris Paterson, who has only just announced his retirement from the international game, is also among the famous faces to be recognised.

Other well-known Scots to receive honours ranged from the hairdresser Charlie Miller to the veteran film-maker Murray Grigor, to wing commanders Brian James and Iain Lunan of RAF Lossiemouth, both recognised for their roles in the Libyan campaign.

Kelly, 52, from Dundee, said she was “so thrilled and deeply honoured” to learn she is to be appointed an OBE.

The TV presenter, who began her career as a trainee reporter on a local paper before joining BBC Scotland and later TVam, gets the gong for her services to charity and the armed forces. Kelly, who presents Lorraine on ITV, has long supported the armed forces and this year launched UK Armed Forces Day in Edinburgh.

In 2009, she was appointed to the role of Honorary Colonel of the Black Watch battalion’s Army Cadet Force (ACF).

The mother-of-one, who is a Dundee United fan, has been involved with many charities, including Poppyscotland, and this year took part in the 100km BT Red Nose Desert Trek in Kenya, which raised money for Comic Relief projects.

Edinburgh-born Corbett has already been made an OBE, but now receives a CBE for his services to entertainment and charity.

The diminutive entertainer is best known for his comedy double act The Two Ronnies with Ronnie Barker. He was one of a host of famous faces who featured in the video for comedian Peter Kay’s single (Is This The Way To) Amarillo, which raised money for Comic Relief.

In August he said that the secret to his success has been his happy family life. Corbett, who married actress and dancer Anne Hart in 1965, said then: “My extremely happy marriage is the spine of the whole thing.

“I have a contented life with two lovely daughters, so that makes it all rather special.”

The 81-year-old originally decided to get into performing after playing the wicked aunt in a youth club pantomime. While performing as part of Danny La Rue’s cabaret show in London he was spotted by David Frost, who asked Corbett to appear in the satirical TV show The Frost Report, in which he first worked with Barker.

Murray Grigor, the leading documentary film-maker and expert on artists and architects including Charles Rennie Mackintosh, was appointed an OBE for services to architecture and to the film industry.

The 72-year-old is also a writer, exhibition curator, and former director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival. He has directed more than 60 films during his career. He left the BBC in 1967 to direct an award-winnng documentary on Mackintosh that helped transform the architect and designer’s reputation.

He said: “It was quite a surprise, it came out of left field. It is a great privilege. My mother would have been quite surprised because she always said I should never have left the BBC.”

Another Scot who receives an honour is leading hairdresser Charlie Miller, who owns a string of salons in Edinburgh. He was made an OBE for his services to hairdressing, which he describes on his website as an “amazing industry” that he has “enjoyed every moment in” since he set up his company in 1965.

Mr Miller is also involved with the Teenage Cancer Trust and cuts wigs for young people.

Wing Commander Brian James was made an OBE, praised for “natural and inspiring leadership” in his work training aircrew and weapons instructors for the GR4 Tornado aircraft. But his XV squadron also provided crews and engineers to meet the surge necessary for the success of the Libyan campaign.

Also to be made an OBE is Wing Commander Iain Lunan, who has commanded Lossiemouth’s Engineering and Logistics Wing, with some 600 personnel, since 2009. His personal contribution to the work of preparing and maintaining airworthy aircraft was considered key to operational success in both Libya and Afghanistan.

James Holloway, director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, is another high-profile recipient of an honour.

He began his career as a research assistant at the National Gallery of Scotland in 1972, rising to become director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 1997. He is made an CBE for services to the arts, with the honour coming in the same month as the gallery reopened after a £17.6 million transformation.

Ron Hamilton, the chair of daily disposable contact lens manufacturer Daysoft, is also made a CBE. He built the first factory in the world dedicated to making them.

Robin Hodge, publisher of The List, is appointed an OBE for services to arts and culture. He founded the magazine in 1985 with the aim of publicising and promoting the wide range of arts, events and entertainment taking place across the country.

On its website it claims to have a readership of more than 60,000 people each month.

Mohammed Akram, president of Council of British Pakistanis (Scotland), is made an MBE for his work. He said: “I see this honour not only for the British Pakistani community in Scotland as a whole but recognition of the vibrant multiracial nature of Scotland.”

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GBTP

Sunday, January 1, 2012 at 01:20 PM

Our Awards model is mortally wounded by their appalling failure to sufficiently recognise Scotland's top sportsman: John Stein.

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The Harder They Come

Saturday, December 31, 2011 at 01:12 AM

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