Ray Alan
Encyclopedia
Ray Alan was an English
ventriloquist and television
entertainer from the 1950s until the 1980s. He was associated primarily with the puppet Lord Charles and later also with the puppets Tich and Quackers.
, London
, Alan was educated at Morden Terrace School, Lewisham
. Alan was introduced to the world of entertainment at a young age, entering a talent contest at the age of five at his local Gaumont
cinema.
Hippodrome Theatre, where he started to do magic sets on stage between acts. He then started to entertain private functions, introducing ventriloquism into his act, along with playing the ukulele
.
Alan toured in cabaret
all over the world and performed once with Laurel and Hardy
in 1954. Laurel had provided inspiration for the look of Alan's most famous creation, Lord Charles, who first appeared at a charity show in Wormwood Scrubs Prison, London.
Alan made his television debut with Lord Charles on the BBC
programme The Good Old Days
in the 1960s and the pair regularly re-appeared on the programme. He also created the puppet character Ali Cat for the HTV
series Magic Circle (1977). He was also the presenter for two years of the BBC show Ice Show. In 1985 he was a special guest for Bob Hope
's birthday show at London’s Lyric Theatre
. In 1986 he presented a show on Channel 4 on ventroloquism called A Gottle of Geer.
He also wrote for Tony Hancock
, Dave Allen
and for the shows Morecambe and Wise
, The Two Ronnies
and Bootsie and Snudge
, usually under the pseudonym Ray Whyberd.
. He also wrote for many shows, including a documentary entitled A Gottle of Geer for Channel 4
, and the ITV show And There's More in 1985 which starred Jimmy Cricket
. He wrote two novels 'Death and Deception' in 2007 and 'A Game of Murder' in 2008, both published by Robert Hale. From 2008, he took a break from stage work due to ill health but he did not rule out a return, if his health had permitted.
His last stage appearance was in November 2008 when he performed at a special charity concert in Bridlington
organised by his friend Greg Knight
who is MP
for the town. At the end of his performance he received a standing ovation.
, Surrey
. His agent Peter Prichard said: "He passed away very suddenly."
Alan was also the presenter of the panel game Where in the World and of the children's quiz show It's Your Word. He also hosted Cartoon Carnival and made many appearances on later game show
s such as Celebrity Squares, Give Us A Clue
, Family Fortunes
, 3-2-1
, Bullseye
and The Bob Monkhouse Show
. Alan also appeared on The Des O'Connor Show and on Blue Peter
.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
ventriloquist and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
entertainer from the 1950s until the 1980s. He was associated primarily with the puppet Lord Charles and later also with the puppets Tich and Quackers.
Biography
Born in GreenwichGreenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Alan was educated at Morden Terrace School, Lewisham
Lewisham
Lewisham is a district in South London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
. Alan was introduced to the world of entertainment at a young age, entering a talent contest at the age of five at his local Gaumont
Gaumont British
Gaumont-British Picture Corporation was the British arm of the French film company Gaumont. The company became independent of its French parent in 1922, when Isidore Ostrer acquired control of Gaumont-British....
cinema.
Career
Aged 13 he became a call-boy at the LewishamLewisham
Lewisham is a district in South London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
Hippodrome Theatre, where he started to do magic sets on stage between acts. He then started to entertain private functions, introducing ventriloquism into his act, along with playing the ukulele
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
.
Alan toured in cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
all over the world and performed once with Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...
in 1954. Laurel had provided inspiration for the look of Alan's most famous creation, Lord Charles, who first appeared at a charity show in Wormwood Scrubs Prison, London.
Alan made his television debut with Lord Charles on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
programme The Good Old Days
The Good Old Days
The Good Old Days is a popular BBC television light entertainment programme which ran from 1953 to 1983.It was performed at the Leeds City Varieties and recreated an authentic atmosphere of the Victorian–Edwardian music hall with songs and sketches of the era performed by present-day...
in the 1960s and the pair regularly re-appeared on the programme. He also created the puppet character Ali Cat for the HTV
HTV
HTV, now legally known as ITV Wales & West, is the ITV contractor for Wales and the West of England, which operated from studios in Cardiff and Bristol. The company provided commercial television for the dual-region 'Wales and West' franchise, which it won from TWW in 1968...
series Magic Circle (1977). He was also the presenter for two years of the BBC show Ice Show. In 1985 he was a special guest for Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
's birthday show at London’s Lyric Theatre
Lyric Theatre (London)
The Lyric Theatre is a West End theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster.Designed by architect C. J. Phipps, it was built by producer Henry Leslie with profits from the Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson hit, Dorothy, which he transferred from the Prince of Wales Theatre to open...
. In 1986 he presented a show on Channel 4 on ventroloquism called A Gottle of Geer.
He also wrote for Tony Hancock
Tony Hancock
Anthony John "Tony" Hancock was an English actor and comedian.-Early life and career:Hancock was born in Southam Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, England, but from the age of three was brought up in Bournemouth, where his father, John Hancock, who ran the Railway Hotel in...
, Dave Allen
Dave Allen (comedian)
David Tynan O'Mahoney , better known as Dave Allen, was an Irish comedian, very popular in Great Britain, Australia, and Canada in the 1960s and 1970s. He also became known in the United States through repeats of his shows on public television. His career had a major resurgence during the late...
and for the shows Morecambe and Wise
Morecambe and Wise
Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, usually referred to as Morecambe and Wise, or Eric and Ernie, were a British comic double act, working in variety, radio, film and most successfully in television. Their partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984...
, The Two Ronnies
The Two Ronnies
The Two Ronnies is a British sketch show that aired on BBC1 from 1971 to 1987. It featured the double act of Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, the "Two Ronnies" of the title.-Origins:...
and Bootsie and Snudge
Bootsie and Snudge
Bootsie and Snudge was a British television situation comedy series written, in the early days, by Barry Took and Marty Feldman, later writers were John Antrobus, Jack Rosenthal, ventriloquist Ray Alan and Harry Driver. The show featured Clive Dunn, more famous as Corporal Jones in Dad's Army, as...
, usually under the pseudonym Ray Whyberd.
Later life
Alan continued to perform well into his seventies, doing tours and also undertaking conference and corporate events. In 1998/1999 he entertained guests on the QE2RMS Queen Elizabeth 2
Queen Elizabeth 2, often referred to simply as the QE2, is an ocean liner that was operated by Cunard from 1969 to 2008. Following her retirement from cruising, she is now owned by Istithmar...
. He also wrote for many shows, including a documentary entitled A Gottle of Geer for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, and the ITV show And There's More in 1985 which starred Jimmy Cricket
Jimmy Cricket
Jimmy Cricket is a comedian. He currently lives with his family in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England.- Early life and career :...
. He wrote two novels 'Death and Deception' in 2007 and 'A Game of Murder' in 2008, both published by Robert Hale. From 2008, he took a break from stage work due to ill health but he did not rule out a return, if his health had permitted.
His last stage appearance was in November 2008 when he performed at a special charity concert in Bridlington
Bridlington
Bridlington is a seaside resort, minor sea fishing port and civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It has a static population of over 33,000, which rises considerably during the tourist season...
organised by his friend Greg Knight
Greg Knight
Gregory Knight is a British politician and author. He is Conservative Member of Parliament for East Yorkshire.-Education and professional life:...
who is MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for the town. At the end of his performance he received a standing ovation.
Death
Alan died aged 79 on the morning of 24 May 2010. It is thought he stopped breathing overnight after complaining of feeling unwell at his home in ReigateReigate
Reigate is a historic market town in Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs, and in the London commuter belt. It is one of the main constituents of the Borough of Reigate and Banstead...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. His agent Peter Prichard said: "He passed away very suddenly."
Television
- David Nixon's Comedy Bandbox (1966)
- The Tich and Quackers Show (1966)
- Ice Show (1969)
- Magic Circle (1977)
- Three Little Words (c.1980)
- Mike ReidMike Reid (entertainer)Michael Reid was an English comedian, actor, author and occasional television presenter from Hackney in east London, who is best remembered for playing the role of Frank Butcher in EastEnders and hosting the popular children's TV show Runaround...
's Mates and Music (1984) - Bobby DavroBobby DavroBobby Davro is a British actor and comedian. He is mainly known for his work as an impressionist...
's TV Weekly (1987)
Alan was also the presenter of the panel game Where in the World and of the children's quiz show It's Your Word. He also hosted Cartoon Carnival and made many appearances on later game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
s such as Celebrity Squares, Give Us A Clue
Give Us A Clue
Give Us a Clue is a British televised game show version of charades which was broadcast on ITV from 1979 to 1992. The original host was Michael Aspel from 1979 to 1983, followed by Michael Parkinson from 1984 to 1992. The show featured two teams, one captained by Lionel Blair and the other by Una...
, Family Fortunes
Family Fortunes
Family Fortunes is a British game show, based on the American game show Family Feud. The programme ran on ITV from 6 January 1980 to 6 December 2002 before being revived by the same channel in 2006 under the title of All Star Family Fortunes...
, 3-2-1
3-2-1
3–2–1 was a popular British game show that was made by Yorkshire Television for ITV. It ran for ten years, between 29 July 1978 and 24 December 1988. Throughout its run, the show was hosted by former Butlins Redcoat Ted Rogers. It was based on a Spanish gameshow called Un, dos, tres.....
, Bullseye
Bullseye (UK game show)
Bullseye was a popular British television programme. It was first made for the ITV network by ATV in 1981 and Central from 1982 until 1995, and hosted by Jim Bowen. The show originally aired on Monday nights from 1981, it was then moved to Sunday nights from 1982 to 1993 where it was watched by...
and The Bob Monkhouse Show
The Bob Monkhouse Show
The Bob Monkhouse Show was an entertainment show presented by Bob Monkhouse.The show celebrated the art of comedy and comedian guests were invited to perform a stand-up. The programme began in 1983 and ran for three series until 1986...
. Alan also appeared on The Des O'Connor Show and on Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
.
Radio
- The Impressionists, BBC Radio 2BBC Radio 2BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
(guest 1974–75; host 1980–88)
- Just A MinuteJust a MinuteJust a Minute is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game chaired by Nicholas Parsons. Its first transmission on Radio 4 was on 22 December 1967, three months after the station's launch. The Radio 4 programme won a Gold Sony Radio Academy Award in 2003....
, BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
(four appearances late 1970s)
External links
- Online memorial page Retrieved 24 May 2010.