Ray Cordeiro
{{Short description|Hong Kong broadcaster and DJ (1924–2023)}}
{{Use Hong Kong English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ray Cordeiro
| post-nominals = {{postnom|country=HKG|MBE|SBS|size=100%}}
| image = China Coast Jazzmen with Ray Cordeiro 2008 (cropped).jpeg
| caption = Cordeiro in 2008
| birth_name = Reinaldo Maria Cordeiro
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1924|12|12|df=y}}
| birth_place = Wan Chai, Hong Kong
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|01|13|1924|12|12|df=y}}
| death_place = Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong
| other_names = Uncle Ray
| occupation = {{hlist|Broadcaster|disc jockey|actor}}
| website = {{Official URL}}
| module = {{Infobox Chinese|child=yes|order=ts
| c = 郭利民
| y = gwok leih màhn
| j = {{Jpingauto|Gwok3 Lei6 Man4}}
}}
}}
Reinaldo Maria Cordeiro {{Post-nominals|country=HKG|MBE|SBS}} ({{Lang-zh|c=|s=|t=郭利民|order=ts}};{{Cite news|url=http://hd.stheadline.com/news/columns/0/20180223/648231/|title=Executive日記——長壽DJ停播疑雲 Uncle Ray動人舊歌|work=頭條日報 Headline Daily|access-date=1 June 2018|language=zh-HK}} 12 December 1924 – 13 January 2023), known professionally as Uncle Ray, was a Hong Kong broadcaster, disc jockey and actor.{{Cite news|url=http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/1006141/record|title=For the record|date=8 July 2012|work=South China Morning Post|access-date=22 May 2018}} He was known for hosting All the Way with Ray on RTHK Radio 3 from 1970 to 2021, which was the longest-running radio programme in Hong Kong. He was named "The World's Most Durable DJ" in 2000 by the Guinness Book of World Records.{{Cite news|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/community/article/2123885/bittersweet-93rd-birthday-veteran-hong-kong-dj-uncle-ray-he|title=Bittersweet 93rd birthday for DJ 'Uncle Ray' as he mourns Mona Fong|work=South China Morning Post|access-date=22 May 2018|language=en}}
Early life and career
Born Reinaldo Maria Cordeiro in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, on 12 December 1924, Uncle Ray was one of six siblings.{{cite news |title=Uncle Ray Cordeiro, 1924–2023 |work=RTHK News |url=https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1683870-20230114.htm}} His family descended from Portuguese immigrants to China. Cordeiro's paternal grandfather was born in Shanghai and met his grandmother in the Portuguese colony of Macau, before moving to Hong Kong in 1868.{{Cite web |date=4 July 2021 |title='Uncle Ray' Cordeiro, 96, on a lifetime of DJing and how he got started |url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/3139594/dj-uncle-ray-cordeiro-96-how-he-got-music-interviewed |access-date=14 January 2023 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}} Cordeiro's father was born in Hong Kong while his mother immigrated from Macau to Hong Kong in the early 20th century. His father abandoned the family when Cordeiro was six, leaving his mother to take on extra work to raise the family, which lived in poverty. Cordeiro went to St Francis' Canossian School as a child. He recalled being mocked for his stuttering, which he eventually overcame with the help of his mother.
Cordeiro attended St Joseph's College shortly before World War II. During the war, his mother and sisters moved to Macau while Cordeiro stayed with his father, who worked with HSBC in Hong Kong. In 1943, Cordeiro joined the rest of the family living at a refugee camp in Macau. A big band performed at the camp on New Year's Eve in 1944, which developed Cordeiro's interest in the drums.
After the war, Cordeiro worked as a warden in Stanley Prison. He befriended a young prisoner, but left the job after he refused to help the prisoner escape. On the advice of his father, Cordeiro got a job at HSBC, while also moonlighting as a drummer. He described two jobs as a "pretty good life", though he was "bored to death working at the bank."
Radio career
In 1949, at the age of 25, he started his broadcasting career as a scriptwriter with Radio Rediffusion. He eventually became a DJ and hosted a programme called Progressive Jazz. He joined Radio Television Hong Kong (then known as Radio Hong Kong) in 1960 as a light music producer. In 1970, he started the series All the Way with Ray, the longest-running radio programme in Hong Kong which ran for 51 years until 15 May 2021.{{Cite web |title=SCED expresses sorrow over passing of Dr Reinaldo Maria Cordeiro |url=https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202301/14/P2023011400295.htm?fontSize=1 |access-date=14 January 2023 |publisher=Government of Hong Kong}} He had also cameoed in various Hong Kong films in the 1970s and 80s.{{Cite web|url=http://hkmdb.com/db/people/view.mhtml?id=19075|title=Ray Cordeiro|website=hkmdb.com|access-date=1 June 2018}}
Through the years, Cordeiro had interviewed many prominent musicians, including the Beatles. He was recognised by Elvis Presley Enterprises for his lifelong contribution to Presley. He was voted top DJ in Hong Kong for four consecutive years. He was awarded an MBE in 1987 by Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace.
Cordeiro received an honorary fellowship from the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts in 2012 and an honorary doctorate of Social Science from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2022.{{Cite news |title=RTHK's 'Uncle Ray' Cordeiro dies aged 98 |url=https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1683864-20230114.htm |access-date=14 January 2023 |work=RTHK News |language=en-gb}}
On 15 May 2021, Cordeiro retired at the age of 96 after hosting his final radio show, which had been running on public broadcaster RTHK since 1970.{{Cite news|date=15 May 2021|title=Hong Kong's Ray Cordeiro, 'world's most durable DJ', retires at 96|language=en-GB|publisher=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-57129010|access-date=15 May 2021}}{{Cite news|title=Uncle Ray brings curtain down on 70-year career – RTHK|url=https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1589570-20210506.htm?|access-date=17 May 2021|work=RTHK News|publisher=RTHK|language=en-gb}}
All the Way with Ray: My Autobiography, a career-focused memoir by Cordeiro, was published in 2021 by Hong Kong-based Blacksmith Books.{{cite web|year=2021|title=All The Way With Ray: My Autobiography|language=en-GB|url=https://www.blacksmithbooks.com/books/all-the-way-with-ray-my-autobiography/|website=Blacksmith Books}}
Death
Cordeiro died at the CUHK Medical Centre in Hong Kong on 13 January 2023, aged 98.{{Cite web |last=Frater |first=Patrick |date=14 January 2023 |title=Ray Cordeiro, 'Uncle Ray,' World's Most Durable DJ, Dies at 98 |url=https://variety.com/2023/music/news/ray-cordeiro-dead-dies-durable-hong-kong-dj-1235489637/ |access-date=14 January 2023 |website=Variety |language=en-US}} Government officials expressed their condolences with the news of his death.{{Cite web |title=SCST expresses deep sorrow over passing of Dr Reinaldo Maria Cordeiro |url=https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202301/14/P2023011400260.htm?fontSize=1 |access-date=14 January 2023 |publisher=Government of Hong Kong}}
Programmes hosted
= Radio Rediffusion =
- Progressive Jazz (1949–1960)
- Talent Time{{Cite web |date=14 January 2023 |title='World's most durable DJ', Hong Kong's 'Uncle' Ray Cordeiro, dies at 98 |url=https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3206817/worlds-most-durable-dj-uncle-ray-cordeiro-warm-voice-late-night-hours-generations-hong-kong-dies-98 |access-date=14 January 2023 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}
- The Beginners Please
- The Diamond Music Show
- Shriro Hit Parade
- Rumpus Time (1950s)
- Swing and Sway with Ray (–1960)
= RHTK =
- From Me To You
- Hit Parade
- Lucky Dip
- All the Way with Ray (1970 – 15 May 2021)
- Just Jazz with Uncle Ray{{Cite web |title=RTHK Radio 4 Just Jazz with Uncle Ray |url=https://www.rthk.hk/radio/radio4/programme/just_jazz_with_uncle_ray?lang=en |access-date=14 January 2023 |publisher=RTHK |language=en}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" |
| scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role !Notes |
|---|
| scope="row"| 1974
| |
| scope="row"| 1975
| Let's Rock | |
| scope="row"| 1975
| Assassin, policeman |
| scope="row"|1976
| |
| scope="row"|1981
|Horse race trickster |
| scope="row"|1981
|{{Ill|Job Hunter|zh|失業生}} | |{{Cite web |date=14 January 2023 |title= |script-title=zh:著名唱片騎師Uncle Ray 離世 享年98歲 |trans-title=Famous DJ Uncle Ray has passed away at the age of 98 |url=https://www.inmediahk.net/node/%E8%91%97%E5%90%8D%E5%94%B1%E7%89%87%E9%A8%8E%E5%B8%ABuncle-ray-%E9%9B%A2%E4%B8%96-%E4%BA%AB%E5%B9%B498%E6%AD%B2 |access-date=14 January 2023 |website=inmediahk.net}} |
| scope="row"|1983
|All the Wrong Spies |The Jew |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website}}
- [http://www.rthk.org.hk/channel/radio3/r3/r3_90_profile.htm Radio Television Hong Kong]
- {{HKMDB name}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cordeiro, Ray}}
Category:20th-century Hong Kong male actors
Category:Hong Kong people of Macanese descent
Category:Hong Kong people of Portuguese descent
Category:Hong Kong radio presenters
Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire