Obituary: Ronnie Coburn

With the death of Ronnie Coburn, Scotland has lost the last of a breed of theatrical impresarios. Ronnie was not only an irreplaceable showbiz personality, but was an ardent ambassador at home and abroad for the country he loved and his adopted city of Dundee.

Edinburgh-born Ronnie began in show business at the age of nine as a call-boy at the city's Theatre Royal. His job was to run errands for the manager and to knock on dressing room doors to call artistes to the stage. He continued in this role when he moved to the nearby Empire Theatre and among those whose doors the young Ronnie knocked were Laurel and Hardy. His eyes always lit up as he recalled how he chased them every night for a week. As part of a comedy routine and dressed as a policeman he chased Stan and Ollie round the stage in one of their sketches.

He progressed to working backstage on the flies, where he controlled lighting and manipulated ropes to change scenery and backdrops. He then began an apprenticeship as a stage carpenter and, in addition, took on tasks including acting as box office assistant, bar manager and even stoking the boilers - all the while learning what makes a theatre tick.

He was also learning what made audiences tick by appearing in concert parties organised by his father, who was involved in amateur dramatics. His professional debut came at the Naval Club in Rosyth when he was invited to act as feed to comedian Billy Paterson. A theatrical agent in the audience liked what he saw and offered young Ronnie a contract working solo in provincial theatres, and so began his career as a comedian. But he continued to work backstage at the Empire. Now, in addition to his scene-setting work, he was studying the comedians.

In the early 50s, Johnny Victory invited Ron to be his straight man for the summer season at Dundee's Palace Theatre. He loved the work, but initially missed the buzz of Edinburgh. However, as the season progressed, he and his dancer wife Middy grew fond of Dundee to the extent that they bought a house there and made their home in the city.

The following year, he appeared at a summer show at the Webster Theatre in Arbroath and so began his long association with the Webster, playing at the venue for 47 years. Next came pantomimes in Edinburgh and Dundee, with intervening months taken up with spring and autumn reviews in Aberdeen and Ayr and Sunday concerts in community theatres from Airdrie to the Queens Hall in Dunoon.

Soon he began promoting his own shows with singers, fellow comedians, musicians and dancers whose work he knew. With his selected group of artistes and acting as promoter, director and principal comedian, he staged variety shows in theatres and clubs around Scotland. Small hotels and working-men's clubs were eager to capture some of the entertainment market and used his first-hand knowledge of the showbiz scene.

It was around 1965 that he embarked on his first tour of Canada, accompanying Alec Finlay, and in the years that followed, the shows were extended to the United States. Ronnie loved what he saw and, as he travelled, he made contact with the local promoters.

Meantime, he was instrumental in forming The Royal Clansmen - a group of singers, comedians and instrumentalists that at one time included button-key accordionist Will Starr, whom Ronnie also managed. The group were immensely popular and for four years had their own show on Grampian TV.

In the mid-70s, Ronnie mounted his own overseas shows with the Clansmen and toured North America. So eager were emigrants for these shows, that often two overseas tours were undertaken in a year. The shows were now performing under the banner of Tartan on Tour.

It continued under that billing until one evening after a performance in Detroit, a member of the audience went backstage to say how much he enjoyed the show, adding that it was like a breath of Scotland. Ronnie liked the expression and Breath of Scotland was the name given to his shows ever since.

In total, he went on 44 overseas tours, visiting an extensive list of countries that included US, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Fiji and Gibraltar. The shows, whether performed in Scotland or around the world, became synonymous with tartan and heather and were recognised as good family entertainment.

Ronnie would delight in saying that "Essentially, my shows are about Scotland. There's never any smut, so kids attend with their parents and grandparents, and together they all laugh at the sketches and clap or sing along to old Scottish songs and dances."

At home, while putting on shows and continuing with his promotions, he remained a family man enjoying his time with Middy and their son Calum. His other love was vintage cars and he took pleasure in driving a pristine 1927 20hp Rolls-Royce, which had bought in 1953.

He was heavily committed to fund-raising and entertaining the citizens of his adopted home of Dundee; appearing at hospitals, hospices, retirement homes and civic functions. And in 2002, was invited to a civic reception where he entertained the Queen during her official visit to the city.

Ron's enthusiasm in giving freely of his time for the benefit of others did not go unnoticed. In 2005, he was awarded the honour of Dundee's Citizen of the Year for services and dedication to the community and in recognition of his role as an ambassador for the city. In the same year he was made an MBE. He joked that it stood for Mad Bugger frae Edinburgh, but behind the smiling front, he was rightly pleased to gain that honour.

These awards and others are displayed in the home that he and Middy settled in, in Dundee. They appear alongside scores of photographs, newspaper cuttings and other items of memorabilia. On a wall, there is a framed letter. It's from Jimmy Logan and was written in 1996 and reads: "Dear Ronnie, I have done my best, but if anybody has managed to keep the business going - employ many people at difficult times, and give to the business - it is you. Sincerely, Jimmy L."

It was his ability to give the audience what they want and to know what lay at the heart of good entertainment that placed "bums on seats" - an expression I first learned from Ronnie in the 70s.

With his many talents - as comedian, promoter, manager and director - I once asked him how he categorised himself. "Most of all, I think of myself as an entertainer," mused Ronnie. There are few who would disagree with that view.

He died peacefully at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee on 8 July, 2010, and is survived by his wife Middy, their son Calum and his grand-daughter Laura.