This article was created alongside our January Heritage Talk to highlight some of the more personal memories from staff at the King's.
Characters from the King’s
Over the last few years, we have worked to acquire stories through the King’s Theatre Archive through donations of memorabilia. In some cases, we got more than we bargained for. Previous Stage Manager, Iain ‘Puggy’ Gillespie, has been a dedicated source of information for both The People’s Archive collection and as an Oral History participant. Interestingly, Iain has written a series of letters attached to headshots relating to his memories of certain actors, performances, and his experiences working alongside people at the theatre. While many of these letters are very personal and cannot be displayed publicly, we have decided to share some of our favourites here.
''Murdo was a VERY interesting character and I got to know him well over the years...Murdo used to say his rank varied from Petty Officer to Chief Petty Officer depending on how 'naughty' he had been. He even got promoted and demoted on D-Day.''Iain 'Puggy' Gillespie
Who is at stage door?
When you think of the theatre you often think of what happens on stage, in the audience, or even front of house. Behind the scenes, the real work starts at Stage Door. Today, we have a series of talented Stage Door Managers who perform critical work to support shows arriving, departing, cast and crew, and securing the safety of the building as a whole. Many of them are artists themselves. In a letter obtained in 2024, former Stage Manager Iain ‘Puggy’ Gillespie shared a letter about one Stage Door Manager whom he respected greatly. Featured in the cover image, his name was Murdo Cameron. From serviceman in the Army to the Royal Navy–even being stationed on Motor Torpedo Boats during World War II–Murdo would share stories with Iain during long days. However, the way Iain first found out about his history happened thanks to a very special visitor to the King’s.
The Queen’s Silver Jubilee
Here is the text from Iain’s letter about the experience:
”A lot of this history was only brought to light to us on the occasion of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. All major cities and towns throughout the country put on events. Glasgow put on a great show starring Francie and Josie, Aberdeen had Andy Stewart. Due to the fact that the Edinburgh Council gave the Lyceum Theatre the controle of our production as (”The Lyceum was a producing house”), our top of the bill was a couple reciting Rashicote (Cinderella spoken in old broad Scotch).
Stewart. O Murray, our manager…was determined that EVERYTHING that the Kings’ did would be PERFECTION. Murdo usually wore his ordinary clothes at Stage Door but Stewart, courtesy of one of his many contacts, got him a split new Police uniform (The buttons had to be changed it was illegal for anyone other than the Police to wear them). He asked Murdo if he had any medals he could wear. The reply was, ‘I’ve got some somewhere, I think I gave most of them to different members of the family.’ Stewart, using his contacts again, managed to ger him his medal ribbons to wear when The Queen and Prince Philip arrived backstage after the performance.
Medal ribbons–there were rows of them, some with a small stud denoting that particular medal had been won twice. From Murdo, ‘ Some of them are Campaign Medals–everybody got them.’ It transpired that one of his medals, which he had given to his son, was the Croix-De-Guerre, France’s equivalent to the Victoria Cross, for his service with the Maquie.”
''Murdo knows Uncle Dickie''Prince Phillip
What transpired?
Iain continued:
”When the Royal Party arrived at the Stage Door Office, Murdo was standing to attention at his door. He did not salute as he was not wearing any head gear, but gave a curt nod/bow. Prince Phillip stopped and saw Murdo’s medal ribbons and said, ‘Royal Navy…what is your name and where did you serve?’ Murdo told him his name and last rank, and then said, ‘ I served on board the H.M.S. Kelly with Lord Mountbatten when she was torpedoed just off Malta.”
Prince Phillip then said to the queen, ‘Murdo here knows Uncle Dickie.’ And both of them went into the office and told Murdo to sit down. He did so, sitting on his usual scabby old armchair. Prince Phillip sat on a bench and the Queen stood, resting her elbow on the high desk in the office. Murdo then told them that, after the sinking, Lord Mountbatten had gone to America to ‘Wave the Flag’, as Britain was hoping that the U.S.A. would join Britain. Murdo was taken as his chauffeur with the Royal Marine Sergeant as the escort.
He said that every evening Lord Mountbatten would go to meetings, dinners, etc., and then Murdo and the Sergeant would be free until the next day.”
The event ended with a nod from Prince Phillip to Murdo.
What brough Murdo to the King’s is unclear, but he served as a Stage Door man until 1984 when he suffered a heart attack and ended up in the hospital. Iain visited frequently and maintained a friendship with him with Murdo sharing that working at the King’s was, ”the best job I ever had.”
''What does anybody see when they look at this photograph? Is it a frail old main? Is it a war hero? He was, but he was no John Wayne or William Wallace. He was a man who spent his happiest working years at the Stage Door in the Kings'.''Iain 'Puggy' Gillespie
Staff stories: Heritage Talk
On the 28th of January, we hosted our first Heritage Talk of 2026 featuring the story of Murdo at Stage Door as well as other stories from current staff like Heather Rolland, reminiscences from Annette McCann (daughter of former Musical Director Patrick McCann), panto dancers, a wardrobe mistress, and more. To learn more behind the scenes stories or to attend our upcoming talks, check out our upcoming events below.
