William Tulloch Paterson was born in Glasgow on 3 June 1945.[1] Paterson was raised in Dennistoun by his father, a plumber, and his mother, a hairdresser.[2] He states that his interest in acting began with a school trip to the Citizens Theatre in the Gorbals in 1961.[2] However, after school he chose to initially pursue a career based on an interest in architecture and spent three years as a quantity surveyor's apprentice before deciding to attend the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.[3][2][4][5]
Career
1967–1977: Theatre debut and early roles
Paterson made his professional acting debut in 1967,[4] appearing alongside Leonard Rossiter in Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre.[2] In 1970, Paterson joined the Citizens' Theatre for Youth. He remained there as an actor and assistant director until 1972, when he left to appear with Billy Connolly in the musical comedy The Great Northern Welly Boot Show at the Edinburgh Festival in 1972.[6][2] Paterson would work with Connolly again, some years later, when he performed in Connolly's play An Me Wi' a Bad Leg Tae. After having seen Paterson perform at the Festival, John McGrath invited him to join his theatre company, 7:84, touring the United Kingdom and Europe with plays such as The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black Black Oil.[2][4] He was a founding member of 7:84, and made his London debut in 1976 with the company. He appeared in the Edinburgh Festival and London with John Byrne's first play, Writer's Cramp.
Paterson has also narrated for various television and radio programmes. In 2005, he would take a role as Rob McKenna, a lorry driver and unknowing Rain God, in Fits the 19th, 20th, and 22nd of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Quandary Phase. In 2003, Paterson began broadcasting radio stories about his childhood in Glasgow, Tales From the Back Green on BBC Scotland, which led to them being published by Hodder in 2008 and appearances at many book festivals throughout the UK. He narrated the 2009 BBC TV programme 1929 – The Great Crash which recalled the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and compared it to the recent financial turmoil of 2008. From 2009 to 2010, he appeared as George Castle, the head of the CPS in Law & Order: UK.[12] He also played the key role of SIS Chief Percy Alleline in the 2009 BBC Radio 4 version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.[13]
Paterson played lawyer Ned Gowan in the 2014 Starz period TV series, Outlander.[17] In 2014, Paterson landed a part as Douglas Henshall's father in TV series Shetland.[18]
In 2016, he narrated The Farmers' Country Showdown, a series for the BBC following the agricultural show season and broadcast early in 2017.[20] In 2016, Paterson performed with his friend Simon Callow in The Rebel.[21] He also appeared as the Scottish character Private Frazer in the remake film Dad's Army.[22][23]
Beginning with the first season in 2016 and ending with the second season in 2019, Paterson played the father of the main character and her sister in the British TV show Fleabag.[2][4] In 2019, Paterson also performed in the four-part BBC drama Guilt.[4]
In 2022, Paterson performed in the fantasy drama House of the Dragon as the character Lord Lyman Beesbury.[24] He is the narrator of the British TV show The Repair Shop.[25]
Personal life
In 1980, while filming The Lost Tribe, Paterson purchased a holiday home in Fordyce with fellow actor Miriam Margolyes.[a][26]
In 1984, Paterson married German stage designer Hildegard Bechtler. They have a son and daughter.[27][2] Since leaving Glasgow he has spent much of his life living in London and currently resides in North London near Tufnell Park.[2][27][9]
Paterson has published a series of book stories based on his childhood in Glasgow entitled Tales From The Back Green.[9]
^The purchase of the house was revealed in Miriam & Alan: Lost in Scotland and Beyond, when Margolyes and Alan Cumming visit Fordyce and are joined by Paterson.
References
^"Paterson, William Tulloch". Who's Who. London: A. & C. Black. 2008.
^Lawrence, Bill (9 August 2021). "Tweet from Ted Lasso show creator Bill Lawrence". Twitter. Retrieved 18 December 2021. ['if the voice of Richard Cole was the wonderful Bill Paterson'] Yes. We messed up and he wasn't in the credits.