Andrew Ray

For the Italian actor sometimes credited as Andrew Ray, see Andrea Aureli.

Andrew Ray
Ray with Joan Plowright in "A Taste Of Honey" on Broadway in 1960
Born
Andrew Olden

(1939-05-31)31 May 1939
Southgate, London, England, United Kingdom
Died20 August 2003(2003-08-20) (aged 64)
OccupationActor
Years active1950−
SpouseSusan Burnet
ParentTed Ray (father)
FamilyRobin Ray (brother)

Andrew Ray (31 May 1939 – 20 August 2003) was an English actor who was best known as a child star.[1][2]

Biography

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He was born Andrew Olden (Ray was his father's stage name) in Southgate, Middlesex, the son of the radio comic Ted Ray and his wife, showgirl Dorothy Sybil (née Stevens).[3] Ray's life was transformed at the age of 10 when he was cast in the title part of The Mudlark, a 20th Century Fox film starring Alec Guinness and Irene Dunne. He played a street urchin who ends up meeting Queen Victoria. The film was chosen as the Royal Command Performance in 1950.[4]

He was featured in numerous films during the next few years, including The Yellow Balloon (1953), Escapade (1955), Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957), The Young and the Guilty (1958), Serious Charge (1959) with Cliff Richard, Twice Round the Daffodils (1962), and The System (1964). He also portrayed Herbert Pocket in the ITC remake of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations (1974) opposite Michael York. His later films included Rough Cut (1980), The Bunker (1981), Pope John Paul II (1984) and Paris by Night (1988).[5]

Theatre roles included Flowering Cherry (with Sir Ralph Richardson and Celia Johnson), and A Taste of Honey on Broadway (with Angela Lansbury and Joan Plowright).[6][7]

At the age of 19, he married the Rhodesian actress Susan Burnet and they later had two children.[8]

Ray appeared in numerous film, theatre and television roles over the years, including as nuclear scientist Klaus Fuchs for Anglia Television and as King George VI in Crown Matrimonial on stage and television. So successful was his depiction on stage of the stammering George VI that he was cast in the same role (though then Prince Albert, Duke of York) in the television series Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978).[9]

He starred in six episodes of television series Tales of the Unexpected, "The Wrong 'Un", "Royal Jelly", "Poison", "The Way To Do It", "The Best Chess Player in the World" and "Accidental Death". He also appeared in Upstairs, Downstairs, Inspector Morse, and Peak Practice.[1][4]

In later years, Ray was a committed member of Equity and served as a Councillor of the actors' union.[10]

Ray died at the age of 64 in 2003 from a heart attack.[4] His brother Robin Ray was a well-known television and radio personality who died in 1998, also at the age of 64.[11]

Filmography

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Andrew Ray". BFI. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012.
  2. ^ "Daily Express". andrewray.org.uk.
  3. ^ Ray, Ted (real name Charles Olden) entry, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography URL= http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-64577 Date accessed= 13 February 2019
  4. ^ a b c Barker, Dennis (26 August 2003). "Obituary: Andrew Ray". The Guardian.
  5. ^ "Andrew Ray - Movies and Filmography - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  6. ^ Olden, Mark (18 January 2010). "Susan Olden". The Guardian.
  7. ^ The Broadway League. "Andrew Ray - IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information". ibdb.com.
  8. ^ "Andrew Ray". Telegraph.co.uk. 23 August 2003.
  9. ^ Tom Vallance Obituary: Andrew Ray[dead link], The Independent, 26 August 2003
  10. ^ "Andrew Ray". Archived from the original on 6 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-24. Andrew Ray's obituary on the British Equity website. Accessed 1 January 2008.
  11. ^ "Obituary: Robin Ray". The Independent. 30 November 1998. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022.
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