Karen Koren cherishes the memories of a much-loved Andy Gray

We lost the wonderful Andy Gray to Covid-19 during the night last Sunday. It was tragic news as Andy had fought so hard over the last few years against the leukemia he had been diagnosed with in August 2018.

It was at the beginning of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and he managed to do the very first night of ”The Junkies” with Grant Stott and Rhuairdh Murray, which he was due to perform for the duration of the Fringe before going back to his tv role in BBC Scotland’s “River City”. The doctor’s told him he must not work. He did as he was told and followed all the doctor’s advise, he faced the next eighteen months or so with good humour and incredible strength. He conquered his cancer and was back at the King’s Panto in 2019. It’s therefore even more tragic that he was infected by CoVid and lost his battle.

There’s been many tributes made about Andy Gray in these past few days. Each and every one of these tributes say what a warm, funny and amazing person he was. He affected everyone he met, he lit up a room when he entered, whether on stage or in the pub. He was all these things and more.

Andy and Grant contacted me back in 2012 when they were performing Panto at the King’s. They asked if I would meet them before the show for tea at Hendrick’s their regular haunt. They asked if I could find a play they could perform for the Fringe, I was honoured, but a little scared. I know how brilliant they both were together, how could I find a play good enough. I’m happy to say that the playwright Philip Meeks, came up with a great romp called “Kiss Me Honey Honey”. I thought the play was great for Andy, though I said to him at the time that it would never win a Fringe First, due to the bad language. Andy thought this hilarious. I was wrong, the first time Andy and Grant worked together outside of Panto they won the prestigious Scotsman Fringe First Award and were a huge hit. Andy and Grant were hungry to perform together and I kept on looking for work every year going forward.

Andy had already started work on a new show with Grant for the 2019 Fringe entitled ‘Chemo Savvy’ written with Panto writer Alan McHugh. It couldn’t go ahead, but we were all very excited about the prospect of it coming to a near normal Fringe this year. Unfortunately, not to be.

So very sad, Andy Gray had so much more to give. I will cherish the memories and will miss him.