Hollywood icon brands Scots city ‘a f*****g disgrace' in scathing blast
FALLEN BY THE TAYSIDE Hollywood icon brands Scots city 'a f*****g disgrace' in scathing blast
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Brian Cox said the Scottish city he grew up in has turned from a lively place to an "absolute f*****g disgrace".
The Succession star said Dundee was poor when growing up, but still had "character".
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Brian Cox slammed his hometown
Credit: Alamy
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He said his connection to the city had been "severed"
Credit: Alamy
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Cox said he was "bereft" when Dundee citizens were moved out of the city centre
Credit: PA
The 79 year old said that housing schemes which were introduced into the city in the 1950s is the root of the problem which exists today.
Cox also admitted his connection to the city has been "severed" following the loss of his older sister Betty, who died at the age of 92 in 2023.
The actor told the Big Issue magazine: "I'm 79 and I'm old enough to remember walking down the high street when [lightweight boxer] Dick McTaggart won gold at the 1956 Olympics in Australia.
"I have this memory of him riding through the streets on top of the tram with his cup.
"The town was lively then.
"It was poor, but it had character.
"Now the high street of Dundee is an absolute f*****g disgrace, just as it was in the '50s when they started sending people out into the schemes, which had no amenities and nothing to encourage community.
"I lost half my class in 1956 when they all went off to the schemes."
In the 1950s, Dundee built new council housing for working-class families, many of which were built on the outskirts of the city.
Cox said he was "bereft" when Dundee citizens were moved out of the city centre, adding: "This lack of thinking still irritates me and it's constant.
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"I met Dundee's Lord Provost recently and he told me he wanted to get people back into the city, I told him they should never have taken them out in the first place.
"The damage that was done is the problem for all these new towns now.
"You alienate people and effectively put them in open prisons."
Cox added: "My connection to the place has been severed.
"The reason I used to come back to Dundee was because of my oldest sister, Betty, and she passed away a few years ago.
"So coming back has been sad, because now I want to see her and she's not here."
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