Introduction
Moira Anderson, OBE (born 5 June 1938, Kirkintilloch, Dunbartonshire, Scotland) is a Scottish singer.
Life and career
Following an education at Lenzie Academy, Anderson quickly established herself at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow before getting her big break in the media after a successful audition at the BBC.
She landed her first job in the media, presenting the radio programme Can't Help Singing where she sang with some prestigious names from the world of opera. She went on to make many appearances in the TV series The White Heather Club hosted by Andy Stewart.
She subsequently hosted her own television show, the popular Moira Anderson Sings on BBC1 in 1968. By 1970 she had signed up with the Decca Record Company, performed at the London Palladium and was hosting another show Stars On Sunday which ran for a decade from 1969. She is renowned for her charity work.
In her early career Anderson made frequent appearances alongside fellow Scottish music stars, Kenneth McKellar and other Scottish stars. The pairing was celebrated in the 1976 "Two Ronnies" spoof sketch featuring "Kenneth Anderson" and "Moira McKellar", in which Ronnie Corbett's Ken described Ronnie Barker's Moira as "that beautiful lump of Dundee cake". In the early 1980s she made a successful album of duets with Sir Harry Secombe. She recorded "A Perfect Day" by Carrie Jacobs-Bond. Her musical directors over the years have included Peter Knight, Peggy O'Keefe and Nick Ingman.
She received an OBE in July 1970. In 2010, she sang two songs at the funeral of Sir Norman Wisdom.
Anderson lives in retirement in the Isle of Man with her husband of nearly 50 years, Dr Stuart McDonald.