Actress who was the 'Posh and Becks of her day' with Highland Games champion husband dies aged 97
Fay Lenore appeared in TV soaps including Take The High Road and had an extensive stage career
She was one of Scotland’s best-known stage and TV actresses throughout the 1950s and 1960s and with her late husband has been dubbed the “Posh and Becks of their day”.
Now the family of Fay Lenore - who starred in Take the High Road and Crossroads and was one of Susan Boyle’s first singing teachers - has announced her “final curtain call” after her death aged 97.
Ms Lenore, who also enjoyed an extensive career in variety theatre, pantomime, and stage performances, is said to have taken part in her first stage show as a toddler when she was given the role of Baby Bear in the story of Goldilocks and the three Bears, following in the footsteps of her great aunt, Beattie Evans, and her mother and aunt, Bunty and Bijou, known as the Gordon Sisters.
As a teenager, she toured India for six months - as well as a stint in North Africa - in a double act with her mother to entertain the troops during the Second World War.
She went on to become a regular face in theatres across Scotland, often performing as “principal boy” in pantomimes in Edinburgh and Glasgow. She later became well-known for the roles of Elaine MacIntyre in Crossroads in the 1960s and Mrs Russell in Take the High Road from 1985 to 1988.
She was married to Highland Games champion Jay Scott, who was behind the creation of the Duck Bay Marina on Loch Lomond and was the inspiration for the iconic image on the front of the Scott's Porage Oats box. The couple met while she was performing in a show at the Alhambra in Glasgow and married a year later at Kilmaronock Church, near Drymen.
Mr Scott held records for Highland Games events, including the high jump, until he suffered a serious head injury which stopped him competing. The family later moved to Edinburgh where they took over a guest house in Portobello and where Ms Lenore taught drama at Queen Margaret College - now Queen Margaret University.
Her daughter, Shona Hutton, said: “Mum and dad were the Posh and Becks of their day. They were high flyers in their early days. Mum had a very full life, she was a very interesting lady and we’re sorry that she’s gone. She had so many stories, she spoke about standing in the wings in New York with Frank Sinatra and performing with Stanley Baxter, as well as standing in for Vera Lynn when she lost her voice.
“She just loved theatre to bits, right up to her dying day.”
She added: “She wanted to live to 100, she really wanted to get that telegram. She had met the Queen three times at Royal Variety Performances.”
Ms Hutton said Ms Lenore had coached singer Ms Boyle before she shot to fame on Britain’s Got Talent.
She said: “She came to mum’s house in Peebles for some lessons. Mum thought she had a nice voice, but I’m not sure she rated her.”
A family announcement said: “It is with great sorrow that the family of Fay Lenore announce her sad passing on January 8, 2026, at Ythanvale Care Home, Ellon, at the grand age of 97. Dearly beloved wife of the late Jay Scott (Highland Games Champion), survived by her daughter Shona, son Robb, grandchildren and their families, together with her theatre family from across the world.”
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