Talk:Ted Ray (comedian)

Untitled

After a vandal attack, the original article was lost. User:Algie replaced the nonsense with the unformatted text below. I've restored the article now, but there is good information below that needs to be merged in - anyone able to do this? -- sannse (talk) 00:08, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

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1905-1977) Entertainer-comedian Ted Ray was actually born Charlie Olden in Wigan in 1905 although his parents moved him to Liverpool within days of his birth, and Liverpudlians tend to regard him therefore as a local of their fair city. As a major radio personality and comedian of the 1940s and 50s he regularly demonstrated his extraordinary ad-libbing skills in his weekly radio show "Ray's A Laugh", which ran from 1949 until 1961. A much sought after music hall comedian, Ray usually played the violin (badly) as part of his act. He also played straight roles in several British films- notably as the lead as the headmaster in "Teacher". He also played in early "Carry On" films. He is, however, best remembered for "Ray's a Laugh", which was a domestic comedy in which he was accompanied by Australian, Kitty Bluett, who played his wife. Many later to become well known actors and actresses cut their teeth on this radio show, including Ted Yule, Patricia Hayes, Kenneth Connor, Peter Sellers, Pat Coombs and Graham Stark 1940 and 1950 saw Ray as King Rat of the Grand Order of Water Rats. He was a very keen and accomplished golfer who frequently appeared playing with professional sportsmen. Later in his career Ted Ray appeared together with Jimmy Edwards, Arthur Askey and Cyril Fletcher in the comedy radio panel game "Does the Team Think?".

He married showgirl Dorothy (Sybil) and had two sons Robin Ray, a well known televsion personality in the 1960s and 1970s, who initiated "Call My Bluff" and other specialist classical music shows, and Andrew Ray, a child star of the 1950s who had a long career on stage, film and television. Ted Ray died in 1977.

Most of this information comes from Official Manchester website.

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Date of Birth

The Dictionary of National Biography gives his date of birth as 21 November 1909 but I think the date in Wiki must be correct because there is a birth recorded of a Charles Olden in Q4 1905 Wigan 8c 64 in the GRO index but none in 1909. --jmb 09:02, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Ted Ray 2.jpg

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BetacommandBot 04:30, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

Bob and Alf Pearson

Amazed there is no article for these two, if only for their 1932 rendition of"The Seven Veils": [1] Quite a few other clips at YouTube. And their 1966 Desert Island Discs appearance is also available: [2]. Martinevans123 (talk) 23:46, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

Well, Martinevans123, you'll be pleased to know that there now is a Bob and Alf Pearson article, created by me a few years ago. I'm glad that someone actually wanted it in the first place!--TrottieTrue (talk) 02:29, 7 July 2021 (UTC)

Great work, TrottieTrue. A lovely article. Martinevans123 (talk) 07:46, 7 July 2021 (UTC)

Thank you, Martin, much appreciated. I’ve been doing a lot of research on them over the last few years, so if you’re interested, feel free to drop me a line. I didn’t see your original comment, by the way. I had been thinking of doing a Pearson article for a while. I met Alf once. Incidentally, that recording of "Seven Veils" (a classic, indeed!) comes from 1949. They did previously record the song in the early 30s, when I believe it was first popular. I think I have a transfer of the earlier version, which has slightly different lyrics. There are more videos on YouTube now, of course.--TrottieTrue (talk) 11:38, 7 July 2021 (UTC)

Yes, 1949. I've added it at Buddy DeSylva. Seems it was first copyrighted in 1927. Martinevans123 (talk) 17:50, 7 July 2021 (UTC)

Ah, thanks. I've added a mention of the Pearsons at a few song articles for titles they recorded. Maybe you can add their names to others (ie. in lists of recordings).--TrottieTrue (talk) 19:47, 7 July 2021 (UTC)

Surname at birth

"While he was a boy his parents changed their name to Olden." So how (and why) can he have been legally born as Charles Olden? Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 23:26, 22 January 2019 (UTC)

Memoirs

I remember his memoirs called 'My Turn Next'. Perhaps they could be referenced. Valetude (talk) 07:24, 14 December 2019 (UTC)

Ray's a Laugh Suggestion

I think the series Ray's a Laugh deserves its own article, rather than simply redirecting to this article about Ted Ray. It ran for twelve years, and was very successful in its day. It's still repeated now.--TrottieTrue (talk) 02:31, 7 July 2021 (UTC)