Mark McManus

{{Use British English|date=May 2015}} {{Infobox person | name = Mark McManus | birth_date = {{birth date|1935|02|21|df=yes}} | birth_place = Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland | death_date = {{death date and age|1994|06|06|1935|02|21|df=yes}} | death_place = Glasgow, Scotland | years_active = 1967–1994 | occupation = Actor | spouse = | relatives = }}

'''Mark McManus''' (21 February 1935 – 6 June 1994) was a Scottish actor known for his roles in the British television series ''Sam,'' ''Bulman, The Brothers, Strangers,'' and ''Dramarama,'' and the feature film ''2000 Weeks''. He was best known for playing the tough Glaswegian Detective Chief Inspector Jim Taggart in the long-running STV television series ''Taggart'' from 1983 until his death in 1994.

==Career== McManus was born in Hamilton, Scotland, and moved to Hillingdon in London, England when he was three years old, until he moved again at the age of 16 to Australia, where he performed in amateur theatre groups that led him to becoming a professional actor. He appeared in the children's TV series ''Skippy the Bush Kangaroo'' and had a guest appearance in the long-running Australian police drama ''Homicide''. He also starred in Tim Burstall's feature film ''2000 Weeks'' (1969), which was the first full-length Australian-produced feature made in Australia since Charles Chauvel's ''Jedda'' in 1954.

McManus also appeared in the American-produced historical drama ''Adam's Woman'' and co-starred with Mick Jagger in the Tony Richardson film version of the Ned Kelly story, ''Ned Kelly'' (both 1970).

McManus returned to the UK in 1971, and was known to a wider audience when he played roles such as Harry Carter in ''The Brothers'' and Sam Wilson, a coal miner in the 1973 TV series ''Sam''. McManus appeared opposite Peter O'Toole in the 1976 TV movie ''Rogue Male'', and starred as a dour Scots police officer, Jack Lambie, in ''Strangers'', a role he reprised as a guest star in the spin-off, ''Bulman''.<ref>{{cite news |last=McIver |first=Brian |title=25 Years of Taggart: Mark McManus Story |url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/born-to-be-taggart-958349 |work=Daily Record |date=3 October 2007}}</ref> McManus also had roles in productions at the National Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre.<ref name="independent.co.uk">{{cite news |title=Obituary: Mark McManus |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-mark-mcmanus-1420944.html |work=The Independent |date=7 June 1994}}</ref>

McManus was also a boxer before he moved into acting.<ref name="independent.co.uk"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://backcatalog.list.co.uk.s3-website.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/the-list/1987-04-03/6/index.html |title=Crimewatch |work=The List |date=3 April 1987 |issue=38 |pages=6–7 |access-date=20 April 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/tvheroes/mark_mcmanus.php |title=Mark McManus |website=TV Heroes |publisher=Transdiffusion Broadcasting System |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091117224935/http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/tvheroes/mark_mcmanus.php |archivedate=17 November 2009}}</ref> He is not to be confused with the boxer of the same name (born 1974) from Basildon in England.

===''Taggart''=== McManus began playing the title character in the crime drama ''Taggart'' in September 1983, alongside Neil Duncan, Tom Watson and Robert Robertson. The pilot attracted an estimated 7.6 million viewers. When Duncan left the show in 1987, James MacPherson joined as new character Michael Jardine, immediately promoted to replace Duncan's character as detective sergeant. This was preceded by the arrival of a new superintendent, Jack McVitie, in the 1985 episode "Murder in Season". A new female detective constable, Jackie Reid (portrayed by Blythe Duff), was introduced in 1990 and, in "Secrets" (1994), Taggart promoted her to detective sergeant.

==Death== McManus drank heavily and, after several years of declining health, died from an alcohol-related illness.<ref>{{cite news |last=Quinn |first=Thomas |title=So much more than 'there's been a murder' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/28/comment.comment1 |work=The Guardian |date=27 October 2007}}</ref> He was hospitalised with severe jaundice in May 1994<ref>{{cite news |last=McIver |first=Brian |title=Born To Be Taggart |url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/born-to-be-taggart-958349 |work=Daily Record |date=2 October 2007}}</ref> and died in Glasgow of pneumonia brought on by liver failure<ref>{{cite news |title=Sweet star follows brother Taggart to grave |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Sweet+star+follows+brother+Taggart+to+grave.-a061046202 |work=Daily Record |date=11 February 1997}}</ref> on 6 June 1994, aged 59, eight months after the death of his second wife Marion. In the last two years of his life, McManus had also lost his mother, his brother and his two sisters.<ref name="independent.co.uk"/> The actor was the first person to be posthumously awarded the Lord Provost of Glasgow's Award for Performing Arts.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle-2-15039/mark-mcmanus-1-465003 |title=Mark McManus |work=The Scotsman |date=14 February 2005}}</ref>

McManus's final ''Taggart'' episode was "Hellfire" (series 11, episode 1). After his death, his character was given an on-air funeral in the final episode of the 11th series, "Black Orchid".

==Filmography==

===Film=== {| class="wikitable" ! Year ! Title ! Role |- |1969|| ''2000 Weeks'' || Will Gardiner |- |1970|| ''Adam's Woman'' || Nobby |- |1970|| ''Ned Kelly'' || Joe Byrne |}

===Television=== {| class="wikitable" ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- | rowspan="3" | 1963 || ''Prelude to Harvest'' || Seaman || rowspan="4" | TV movie |- | ''Ballad for One Gun'' || Dan Kelly |- | ''Concord of Sweet Sounds'' || Bill |- | 1964 || ''The One That Got Away'' || |- | 1966 || ''Homicide'' || Malcolm Wills || Episode: "Holiday Affair" |- | rowspan="2" | 1966 || ''Wednesday Theatre''|| Sebastian || Episode: ''Twelfth Night'' |- | ''The Man Who Saw It'' || Larry Mitchell |TV movie |- | 1966–1967 || ''Wandjina!'' || Donald MacPherson || 2 episodes |- | 1967 || ''Skippy the Bush Kangaroo'' || Ted || Episode: "The Rustlers" |- | 1968 || ''The Battlers'' || Tolly McCall || Season 1, 5 episodes |- | rowspan="2" | 1969 || ''Australian Plays'' || Peter Mason || Episode: "Dynasty" |- | ''The Rovers'' || Jack Webster || Episode: "U.F.O. Pacific" |- | rowspan="2" | 1970 || ''Shadows of Fear'' || Cox || Episode: "Did You Lock Up?" |- | ''Dr. Finlay's Casebook'' || Eric Calder || Episode: "A Good Prospect" |- | rowspan="2" | 1971 || ''Man at the Top'' || Dennis Rosslea || Series 1, 2 episodes |- | ''Thirty-Minute Theatre'' || || Episode: "Combing Down His Yellow Hair" |- | rowspan="4" | 1972 || ''Stage 2'' || || Episode: "Peer Gynt" |- | ''Colditz'' || Lt Cameron || Episode: "The Undefeated" |- | ''Pathfinders'' || Flight Sergeant Joe Carson || Episode: "Jonah Man" |- | ''Crown Court'' || Harry Bryant || Serial: "R v Bryant" |- | 1973 || ''The Brothers'' || Harry Carter || Season 2 |- | 1974 || ''The Stars Look Down'' || || Miniseries |- | 1975 || ''2nd House'' || Actor in Knots || Episode: "Toback's Gambler" |- | 1974–1975 || ''Sam'' || Sam Wilson || Series 2-3 |- | rowspan="3" | 1976 || ''Benny Lynch'' || Benny Lynch || rowspan="2" | TV movie |- | ''Rogue Male'' || Vaner |- | ''Jackanory'' || Storyteller || Episode: "The Nargun and the Stars" |- | rowspan="2" | 1978 || ''The Foundation'' || Bill Wood || Series 2 |- | ''Target'' || Wilson || Episode: "The Macramé Man" |- | 1979 || ''Brecht and Co'' || Member of Brecht's company / Galy Gay / Wang || TV movie |- | 1980 || ''Bull Week'' || Johnny Kowal || Miniseries |- | 1980–1982 || ''Strangers'' || Detective Chief Superintendent Jack Lambie || Series 3-5 |- | 1981 || ''The Long and the Short and the Tall'' || Sergeant Mitchem || TV movie |- | 1982 || ''Union Castle'' || Charles Winzer || Series 1, episode 3 |- | rowspan="2" | 1983 || ''Gunfight at the Joe Kaye Corral'' || Archie || TV movie |- | ''Killer'' || rowspan="2" | Detective Chief Inspector Jim Taggart || Miniseries |- | 1983–1995 || ''Taggart'' || Series 1-11, 28 episodes |- | 1985 || ''Bulman'' || Detective Chief Superintendent Jack Lambie || 3 episodes |- | 1986 || ''Four to One'' || David || TV movie |- | 1987 || ''Scotch and Wry'' || Detective Chief Inspector Jim Taggart || Guest appearance |- | 1988 || ''Dramarama'' || Bobby Soutar || Episode: "The Macramé Man" |- | 1988 || ''Minder'' || Dixon || Episode: "An Officer and a Car Salesman" |}

==References== {{reflist}}

==Sources== * ''No Matter What They Say - The Story of Sweet'' (HomeSweetHome Publishing, 2009).

==External links== * {{IMDb name|0573155|Mark McManus}} * [http://www.taggart-fanclub.co.uk/ Taggart Fan Club] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726221955/http://www.taggart-fanclub.co.uk/ |date=26 July 2011 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcmanus, Mark}} Category:1935 births Category:1994 deaths Category:Scottish people of Irish descent Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Scotland Category:Male actors from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire Category:Scottish male television actors Category:20th-century Scottish male actors