Andrew Keir - Later Career

Later Career

Keir continued to appear on screen throughout the 1970s and 80s, in films such as Zeppelin (1971) and The Thirty Nine Steps (1978). He also continued to have success with television roles. His Australian series The Outsiders demonstrated another time the wide range of types he could convincingly play, but brought him less praise than the BBC series Workhorses for which he was being nominated for BAFTA Scotland's Best Actor award. He continued appearing in television series well into the 1990s, guest starring in an episode of Hamish Macbeth in a part that was written especially for him; the series was produced by his daughter Deidre.

His final major role on screen was as John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll (1678-1743) in the 1995 film Rob Roy, although he also played a prominent role as Fergus in The Princess Stallion in 1997, the year of his death. The Duke of Argyll was another role that became one of his particular favourites. His final professional engagement was resuming the role of Quatermass for the 1996 BBC radio serial The Quatermass Memoirs. This final performance was praised by The Independent's radio reviewer: "This series has so far been hugely enjoyable - thanks in large part to Andrew Keir, who recreates the role of Quatermass in dramatic interludes; lesser actors would treat Kneale's downbeat script with a certain detachment, but Keir is prepared to charge even the most banal lines with a terror that's both a treat and a lesson."

He died in hospital in London, aged seventy-one. From 1948 until 1977 he had been married to Julia Wallace, and they had two sons and three daughters. In 1977 he married Joyce Parker Scott who survived him, as did his five children from the previous marriage. One of his daughters is the actress Julie T. Wallace.