[1] As a child, he spent time in America and was once rescued from a cruise ship torpedoed en route to Britain during the Second World War.
He studied classical music in America and spent time living with Navajo Native Americans before attending drama school in London.
Toye began his career in the theatre, spending ten years in jobs ranging from Shakespearean roles to building stage scenery.
[2] He moved to South Molton in Devon in 1990 to start a new life, but failed to relaunch his career and spent the next few years battling against alcoholism combined with depression and financial worries.
Shortly after his death the Scottish Daily Record ran the headline "John Toye may have fired the trigger but STV loaded the gun", a quote that was attributed to his one time co-presenter on Scotland Today, Bob Cuddihy.