Ted Ray (comedian)

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Ted Ray
Born	Charles Alden 21 November 1905 Wigan, Lancashire, England, UK
Died	8 November 1977 (aged 71) London, England, UK
Occupation	Comedian
Children	Robin Ray Andrew Ray

Ted Ray (born Charles Alden; 21 November 1905 – 8 November 1977) was an English comedian of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, on radio and television. His BBC radio show Ray's a Laugh ran for 12 years.

Contents

• 1 Biography
• 2 Ray's a Laugh (1949–61)
• 3 The Ted Ray Show (1955–59)
  • 3.1 Cast
  • 3.2 Crew
  • 3.3 Transmission details
• 4 Filmography
• 5 References
• 6 External links

Biography

Ray was born Charles Alden^[1] in Wigan, Lancashire, England. His parents moved to Liverpool within days of his birth, and Liverpudlians regard him as a local. While he was a boy his parents changed their name to Olden.^[1] As a comedian of the 1940s and 1950s he demonstrated his ad-libbing skills in his weekly radio show Ray's A Laugh from 1949 until 1961.^[2] A music hall comedian, Ray usually played violin badly as part of his act - first as Hugh Neek, then "Nedlo the Gypsy Violinist".^[1] He also played comedy roles in several British films—notably as the headmaster in Carry On Teacher. He is best remembered for the Sunday lunchtime radio show Ray's a Laugh, a domestic comedy in which Kitty Bluett played his wife. Other actors and actresses who featured on the show included Peter Sellers, Fred Yule, Patricia Hayes, Kenneth Connor, Pat Coombs and Graham Stark; Sellers' earliest appearances predated The Goon Show by a couple of years. In 1940 and 1950 Ray was King Rat of the Grand Order of Water Rats.
Ray was an accomplished golfer, frequently playing with professional sportsmen. Later in his career he appeared with Jimmy Edwards, Arthur Askey and Cyril Fletcher in the comedy radio panel game Does the Team Think?
Ted Ray appeared on television reading on Jackanory (a children's programme) in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1974, he presented a radio show on BBC Radio 2, The Betty Witherspoon Show, with Kenneth Williams, Miriam Margolyes and Nigel Rees. He was also involved in Jokers Wild, an ITV celebrity comedy game show (1971–74) which was chaired by Barry Cryer. Arthur Askey was another regular on the show.
He married showgirl Dorothy (née Sibil) and the couple had two sons: Robin Ray, a well-known television personality in the 1960s and 1970s, who initiated Call My Bluff and specialist classical music shows, and Andrew Ray, a child star of the 1950s who had a long career on stage, film and television.
He was the subject of This Is Your Life on two occasions, in October 1955 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre, and in February 1975, when Andrews surprised him on the doorstep of his Southgate home.
In 1975, returning home from a day of golfing and alcohol, two of his favourite passions, Ray was involved in a serious motor vehicle accident. The injuries sustained had a physically debilitating effect and left him dependent on crutches.^{[citation needed]}
In 1977 he recorded a half-hour interview, talking about his life. This was repeated on Radio 4 Extra's "It's a Funny Business" series on 3 November 2013. On 8 November 1977 he suffered a fatal heart attack.^{[citation needed]}