Molly Weir
Born	Mary Weir (1910-03-17)17 March 1910 Glasgow, Scotland
Died	28 November 2004(2004-11-28) (aged 94) Pinner, London, England
Years active	1946–1999
Height	4 ft 10 in (147 cm)
Spouse	Sandy Hamilton ​ ​ ( m. 1939; died 1997)​
Family	Tom Weir Bill Weir(brother) [1]

Mary Weir (17 March 1910 – 28 November 2004), known as Molly Weir, was a Scottish actress. ^[2] She appeared as the character Hazel the McWitch in the BBC TV series Rentaghost. ^[3]

She was the sister of naturalist and broadcaster Tom Weir. ^[4]

Biography

Born in Glasgow and brought up in the Springburn area of the city, Weir began in amateur dramatics. In her early professional career, she was a well-known radio actress, featuring in many comedy shows, such as ITMA. ^[5] Her greatest theatrical success came in The Happiest Days of Your Life.

She made her film debut in 1949, and had a regular role as the housekeeper, Aggie McDonald, in the radio and television sitcom Life With The Lyons. ^[3] During the 1970s and early 1980s she became famous as a writer, with several volumes of best-selling memoirs, notably, Shoes Were For Sunday. She also appeared in a series of television advertisements for Flash the household cleaning agent. ^[6] In 1969, she appeared in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie starring Dame Maggie Smith. ^[7] She and Helena Gloag played the Kerr sisters, the sewing mistresses of Marcia Blaine School for Girls. ^[8] In 1970 Weir and Gloag reprised their collaboration in Scrooge, playing old sisters in debt to Ebenezer Scrooge, played by Albert Finney. ^[6]

In the 1970s she was one of the presenters of Teatime Tales, a television series broadcast by STV in which she recalled her childhood. The series also featured Lavinia Derwent and Cliff Hanley. ^[9] In the 1980s, she lampooned this homely image in the comedy series Victoria Wood As Seen On TV and appeared in a pop video for The Bluebells 1983 hit " Young At Heart". ^[10]

At the 1979 general election, Molly Weir was one of "a galaxy of stage and television stars" to appear at an election rally in support of the Conservative Party. ^[11]

She is also the subject of the 1988 song " Molly's Lips" by The Vaselines, and later covered by Nirvana.

Following her death, Molly Weir's ashes were scattered on the banks of Loch Lomond, a favourite holiday location; and almost all her estate (of nearly £1.9 million), was bequeathed to charities. ^[1]

Selected filmography

Books

• Shoes Were For Sunday. London: Hutchinson. 1970.
• Best Foot Forward. London: Hutchinson. 1972.
• A Toe On The Ladder. London: Hutchinson. 1973.
• Stepping into the Spotlight. London: Hutchinson. 1975.
• Walking into the Lyon's Den. London: Hutchinson. 1977.
• One Small Footprint. London: Hutchinson. 1980.
• Molly Weir's Recipes - New Ideas and Old Favourites. Gordon Wright Publishing. 1980.
• Spinning Like a Peerie. Edinburgh: Wright. 1983.

References

External links

• Molly Weir at IMDb