Eric Cullen on AllMovie

Fans of the BBC Scotland sitcom Rab C. Nesbitt (1990-), the story of life among the working poor set in a dreary Glasgow public housing estate, will recognize actor Eric Cullen for playing Wee Burney, one of the title character's two sons. Standing 4'4", the blonde, sweet-faced actor started performing on the BBC as a child. He spent the last three years embroiled in legal problems and scandal resulting from allegations of indecency with children. Cullen was arrested in 1993 and was convicted in 1995. Sentenced to nine months in prison, the distraught Cullen was placed under suicide watch for 15 days. It ended when he was granted a reduced sentence and given probation. Afterwards, Cullen filed charges against two men whom he claimed had been sexually abusing him since age 13. One of those men is serving 14 years for sexual misconduct. Throughout his ordeal, Cullen was surrounded with support from friends, journalists, and Scotland's two biggest newspapers, the Herald of Glasgow and the Scotsman of Edinburgh, who both published sympathetic obituaries following Cullen's death on August 16, 1996. Cullen died two days after he was hospitalized and operated on to relieve a restricted bowel. Earlier that year, Cullen was the subject of a televised documentary biography, Moment of Truth.