Ray Alan (born 18 September 1930) is an English ventriloquist and television entertainer in the 1950s through to the 1980s. He is associated with the puppets Lord Charles, and Tich and Quackers.
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Career
Born in Greenwich, London, educated at Morden Terrace School, Lewisham[1], Ray Alan was introduced to the world of entertainment at a young age, entering a talent contest at the age of five. He often performed at the Lewisham Hippodrome Theatre as a teenager, and then started to entertain private functions. By this stage, Alan had introduced ventriloquism into his act, along with playing the ukulele.
Alan would tour in cabaret all over the world and he also joined Laurel and Hardy[citation needed]on several comedy shows, (the former of whom provided inspiration for the appearance of Alan's most famous creation, Lord Charles,[2] who first appeared at a charity show in Wormwood Scrubs Prison, London).[3] He appeared on the BBC programme The Good Old Days regularly, and created the puppet character Ali Cat for the HTV series Magic Circle (1977). He was also the presenter for two years of the BBC show Ice Show. In 1985 he was a special guest for Bob Hope's birthday show at London’s Lyric Theatre.
Later life
Alan still performs tours and also undertakes conference and corporate events. In 1998/1999 he entertained guests on the QE2. He has also written for many shows, including a documentary entitled A Gottle of Geer for Channel 4, and the ITV show And There's More in 1985 which starred Jimmy Cricket. He has written two novels 'Death and Deception' in 2007 and 'A Game of Murder' in 2008, both published by Robert Hale. Since 2008 he has taken a break from stage work due to ill health but he does not rule out a return, should his health permit.
TV credits
- Ice Show (1969)
- Magic Circle (1977)
- Three Little Words (Circa 1980)
- Mike Reid's Mates and Music (1984)
- Bobby Davro's TV Weekly (1987)
Alan has also made many appearances on game shows such as Celebrity Squares, Give Us A Clue, Family Fortunes, 3-2-1, Bullseye and The Bob Monkhouse Show.
References
- ^ Who's Who on Television, page 6, pub 1982, ITV Books in association with Michael Joseph
- ^ Lewis, Katy (2006-10-09). "Read his lips! There's no place like "A" home!". Entertainment (BBC Beds, Herts and Bucks). http://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/content/articles/2006/10/09/ray_alan_interview_feature.shtml. Retrieved 2007-10-11.
- ^ Who's Who on Television, page 6, pub 1982, ITV Books in association with Michael Joseph
External links
- Ray Alan at the Internet Movie Database
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