More bad news this week - First Secombe and now Jimmy Logan. The following is the report of his death, taken from the Irish News

Beloved entertainer mourned

Tributes were yesterday paid to veteran entertainer Jimmy Logan who died in hospital after losing his battle with cancer.

Contemporaries and political leaders alike praised Logan, real name James Short, one of Scotland's most popular and versatile performers.

The 73-year-old, whose range covered serious drama, comedy and song, had been suffering from cancer of the oesophagus and died at 1.30am yesterday at the HCI medical centre in Clydebank, near Glasgow.

Paying tribute, Scottish First Minister Henry McLeish said: "Jimmy Logan was a legend in Scottish theatre, not just in music hall where he was a giant of his day, but he was a very fine straight actor too.

"Jimmy Logan was loved by generations of Scots and by people with Scottish connections all over the world.

"He was a man of great courage and great talent and he will be sadly missed."

Scottish comic legend Stanley Baxter said: "We were contemporaries and worked together on the BBC's It's All Yours programme.

"We became instant friends and remained great friends ever since.He was a generous man, not only in life but professionally too."

Logan came from a family of entertainers. At the age of 21, he appeared in the film Floodtide, a gritty Clydeside drama, with Gordon Jackson and Rona Anderson. He went on to stardom in radio, film and theatre. The entertainer starred in two Carry On films, appeared at the London Palladium and produced his own shows.

Logan told his own story in his memoirs It's a Funny Life, published in 1998. His final public appearance was at Glasgow's Pavilion Theatre last month as part of a show to raise money for a cancer charity.