Andrew Ray

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).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 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/aug/26/guardianobituaries.film|title=Obituary: Andrew Ray|first=Dennis|last=Barker|work=The Guardian|date=26 August 2003 }}

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).{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/artist/andrew-ray-p58963|title=Andrew Ray - Movies and Filmography - AllMovie|work=AllMovie}}

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).{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2010/jan/18/susan-olden-obituary|title=Susan Olden|work=The Guardian|date=18 January 2010 |last1=Olden |first1=Mark }}{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/person.php?id=95308|title=Andrew Ray - IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information|author=The Broadway League|work=ibdb.com}}

At the age of 19, he married the Rhodesian actress Susan Burnet and they later had two children.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1439552/Andrew-Ray.html|title=Andrew Ray|date=23 August 2003|work=Telegraph.co.uk}}

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).Tom Vallance [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/andrew-ray-548649.html Obituary: Andrew Ray]{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, The Independent, 26 August 2003

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.

In later years, Ray was a committed member of Equity and served as a Councillor of the actors' union.{{cite web|url=http://www.andrewray.org.uk/equity.html |title=Andrew Ray |accessdate=2009-05-24 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106014207/http://www.andrewray.org.uk/equity.html |archivedate=6 January 2009 |df=dmy }} Andrew Ray's obituary on the British Equity website. Accessed 1 January 2008.

Ray died at the age of 64 in 2003 from a heart attack. His brother Robin Ray was a well-known television and radio personality who died in 1998, also at the age of 64.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-robin-ray-1188259.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-robin-ray-1188259.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Obituary: Robin Ray|work=The Independent|date=30 November 1998 }}{{cbignore}}

• The Mudlark (1950) - Wheeler - the Mudlark
• The Yellow Balloon (1953) - Frankie
• Escape by Night (1953) - Joey Weston
• A Prize of Gold (1955) - Conrad
• Escapade (1955) - Max Hampden
• Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957) - Brian Preston
• Gideon's Day (1958) - P.C. Farnaby Green
• The Young and the Guilty (1958) - Eddie Marshall
• Serious Charge (1959) - Larry Thompson
• Twice Round the Daffodils (1962) - Chris Walker
• Der Schwur des Soldaten Pooley (1963) - Ginger
• The System (1964) - Willy
• Upstairs Downstairs (1974) - Lt. Jack Dyson RFC
• Rough Cut (1980) - Pilbrow
• Death of an Expert Witness (1983) - Clifford Bradley
• Paris by Night (1988) - Michael Swanton
• Inspector Morse (1992) - Alfred Rydale

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.andrewray.org.uk Andrew Ray], official memorial site.
• {{IMDb name|0712738}}

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Category:1939 births

Category:2003 deaths

Category:English male child actors

Category:English male film actors

Category:English male stage actors

Category:English male television actors

Category:Male actors from London

Category:20th-century English male actors

Category:English republicans

Category:Actors from the London Borough of Enfield

Category:People from Southgate, London