Michael John Pratt (7 June 1931 – 10 July 1976) was an English actor, musician, songwriter and screenwriter. He was known for his work on British television in the 1960s and 1970s, which included co-starring as Randall in '' Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)''.

Early life and musical career

Early in his career, Mike Pratt worked in advertising, while also taking some part-time acting roles. He left his office job in the mid-1950s. With three friends (including

Lionel Bart Lionel Bart (1 August 1930 – 3 April 1999) was an English writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote Tommy Steele's "Rock with the Caveman" and was the sole creator of the musical ''Oliver!'' (1960). With ''Oliver!'' and his work ...

), he then drove around Europe in an old-style

London taxi A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common sight on t ...

. Upon returning to England, he earned a living as a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

skiffle Skiffle is a music genre, genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, Country music, country, Bluegrass music, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. ...

musician in London clubs. An accomplished guitarist and pianist, in the 1950s, he jammed with

the Vipers Skiffle Group The Vipers Skiffle Group – later known simply as The Vipers – were one of the leading British groups during the skiffle period of the mid to late 1950s, and were important in the careers of radio and television presenter Wally Whyton, coffe ...

at the 2 I's club in London with his friend

Tommy Steele Sir Thomas Hicks (born 17 December 1936), known professionally as Tommy Steele, is an English entertainer, regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star. After being discovered at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, London, Steele recor ...

. A successful songwriter, Pratt collaborated with Bart and Steele on many of Steele's early hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s. To enable Steele to start to film his life story, co-writers Steele, Bart and Pratt, wrote twelve songs in seven days. A Steele-Pratt collaboration, "A Handful of Songs", originally a hit for Tommy Steele in 1957, became the theme tune to a long-running

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

children's programme of the same name in the late 1970s. They also contributed to the writing of the song " Rock with the Caveman". Bart and Pratt won the Ivor Novello award for "A Handful of Songs" in 1958, and were nominated in 1959 for 'The Years Outstanding Novelty Item' for " Little White Bull". In 1961, he wrote the music and lyrics for ''The Big Client'', a play which was produced at the

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...

from 28 November 1961. Pratt also co wrote the title song to the 1961 film comedy '' Double Bunk''.

Acting career

Pratt appeared in numerous plays between 1965 and 1967. From 25 May 1966, he appeared at the Aldwych Theatre in ''Tango'', a play by Slawomir Mrozek, alongside Patience Collier, Peter Jeffrey, Ursula Mohan and Dudley Sutton, under director Trevor Nunn."Lively Choice of Plays for Aldwych." ''The Times'' (London, England) 22 April 1966: p.17. Retrieved 9 October 2014. He is best known for his role as Jeff Randall in the late 1960s ITC detective series '' Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'' alongside

Kenneth Cope Kenneth Charles Cope (14 April 1931 – 11 September 2024) was an English actor and scriptwriter. He was best known for his roles as Marty Hopkirk in '' Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'', Jed Stone in ''Coronation Street,'' Ray Hilton in '' ...

and Annette Andre. Pratt also wrote episode two of the series, titled " A Disturbing Case". He also appeared in TV series such as ''

No Hiding Place ''No Hiding Place'' is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV (TV network), ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967. It was the sequel to the series ''Murder Bag'' ...

'', '' The Saint'', '' Gideon's Way'', '' Z-Cars'', ''

Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again ...

'', '' Out of the Unknown'', '' Redcap'', '' The Baron'', '' Man in a Suitcase'', '' The Champions'', '' Callan'', '' UFO'' (episode " The Psychobombs"), '' The Expert'', '' Hadleigh'', '' Jason King'', '' Arthur of the Britons'', '' Softly, Softly: Task Force'', ''

Crown Court The Crown Court is the criminal trial court, court of first instance in England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals of the decisions of magistrates' courts. It is ...

'', '' Father Brown'', '' Oil Strike North'' and '' The Adventures of Black Beauty'', in which he had a semi-regular role. His last television role was in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

drama series '' The Brothers'' as airline pilot Don Stacy. His film career included roles in '' This Is My Street'' (1964), '' The Party's Over'' (1965),

Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański (; born 18 August 1933) is a Polish and French filmmaker and actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Roman Polanski, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Britis ...

's '' Repulsion'' (1965), ''

Robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...

'' (1967), ''

A Dandy in Aspic ''A Dandy in Aspic'' is a 1968 British spy film directed by Anthony Mann and starring Laurence Harvey, Tom Courtenay and Mia Farrow, with costumes by Pierre Cardin. It was written by Derek Marlowe based on his 1966 novel of the same title. It w ...

'' (1968), '' The Fixer'' (1968), '' Goodbye Gemini'' (1970), '' Sitting Target'' (1972), ''

Assassin Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

'' (1973), the horror anthology '' The Vault of Horror'' (1973), and '' Swallows and Amazons'' (1974). He joined the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

in 1966, appearing on stage throughout the rest of the 1960s and the early 1970s.

Personal life and death

His son is Guy Pratt, a session bass guitarist best known for his live performances with

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

(since 1987) and offshoot solo projects with

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink F ...

and as a member of the band Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets. Mike Pratt died from lung cancer in July 1976, aged 45. The following month, a show was staged at the Aldwych Theatre in London in his memory. The cast included Glenda Jackson, Kenneth Haigh and John Le Mesurier.Tibballs, Geoff (1994) ''Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)'', Boxtree Of his co-star in ''Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)'', Kenneth Cope said:

"Michael was a great loss, both to the industry and as a friend."

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Mike 1931 births 1976 deaths Deaths from lung cancer in England English male television actors English male screenwriters English male stage actors English male songwriters Male actors from London Royal Shakespeare Company members Ivor Novello Award winners English jazz pianists English jazz guitarists English male guitarists 20th-century English male actors 20th-century English guitarists English male jazz musicians 20th-century English screenwriters 20th-century English male musicians