Joan Plowright Andrew Ray A Taste of Honey Broadway 1960

Andrew Ray (31 May 193920 August 2003) was an English actor who was best known as a child star.

Biography

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's life was transformed at the age of 10 when he was cast in the title part of ''

The Mudlark ''The Mudlark'' is a 1950 film made in Britain by 20th Century Fox. It is a fictional account of how Queen Victoria was eventually brought out of her mourning for her dead husband, Prince Albert. It was directed by Jean Negulesco, written and p ...

'', a

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

film starring

Alec Guinness Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including '' Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1 ...

and

Irene Dunne Irene Dunne (born Irene Marie Dunn; December 20, 1898 – September 4, 1990) was an American actress who appeared in films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She is best known for her comedic roles, though she performed in films of other genr ...

. He played a street urchin who ends up meeting

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

. The film was chosen as the

Royal Command Performance A Royal Command Performance is any performance by actors or musicians that occurs at the direction or request of a reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. Although English monarchs have long sponsored their own theatrical companies and commis ...

in 1950. He was featured in numerous films during the next few years, including '' The Yellow Balloon'' (1953), ''

Escapade Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE) is a planned spacecraft mission to Mars consisting of two spacecraft known as ''Blue'' and ''Gold''. The mission, expected to launch in August 2024, is part of NASA's SIMPLEx progr ...

'' (1955), ''

Woman in a Dressing Gown ''Woman in a Dressing Gown'' is a 1957 British drama film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Yvonne Mitchell, Anthony Quayle, Sylvia Syms, and Carole Lesley. The film won four awards at the 7th Berlin International Film Festival including ...

'' (1957), ''

The Young and the Guilty ''The Young and the Guilty'' is a 1958 British drama film directed by Peter Cotes and starring Phyllis Calvert, Andrew Ray and Edward Chapman. The film's art direction was by Terence Verity. Premise Parents misconstrue the innocent nature ...

'' (1958), ''

Serious Charge ''Serious Charge'' (also known in US release as ''A Touch of Hell'') is a 1959 British film, directed by Terence Young, produced and co-written by Mickey Delamar (with Guy Elmes). It was adapted from a stage play written by Philip King. The fil ...

'' (1959) with

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

, ''

Twice Round the Daffodils ''Twice Round the Daffodils'' is a 1962 British comedy film directed by Gerald Thomas and starring Juliet Mills, Donald Sinden, Donald Houston, Kenneth Williams, Ronald Lewis, Andrew Ray, Joan Sims and Jill Ireland. The film was adapted from the ...

'' (1962), and '' The System'' (1964). He also portrayed Herbert Pocket in the ITC

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sa ...

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

's ''

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (Great Expectations), Pip (the book is a ''bildungsroman''; a coming-of-age story). It ...

'' (1974) opposite

Michael York Michael York OBE (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television and stage actor. After performing on-stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''R ...

. His later films included ''

Rough Cut In filmmaking, the rough cut is the second of three stages of offline editing. The term originates from the early days of filmmaking when film stock was physically cut and reassembled, but is still used to describe projects that are recorded and ...

'' (1980), '' The Bunker'' (1981), ''

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

'' (1984) and '' Paris by Night'' (1988). Theatre roles included ''

Flowering Cherry A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of genus ''Prunus'' or ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especially in Japan. They generally ...

'' (with Sir

Ralph Richardson Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor who, with John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, was one of the trinity of male actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. He w ...

and

Celia Johnson Dame Celia Elizabeth Johnson, (18 December 1908 – 26 April 1982) was an English actress, whose career included stage, television and film. She is especially known for her roles in the films '' In Which We Serve'' (1942), '' This Happy Br ...

), and ''

A Taste of Honey ''A Taste of Honey'' is the first play by the British dramatist Shelagh Delaney, written when she was 19. It was intended as a novel, but she turned it into a play because she hoped to revitalise British theatre and address social issues that ...

'' on Broadway (with

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...

and

Joan Plowright Joan Ann Olivier, Baroness Olivier, (née Plowright; born 28 October 1929), professionally known as Dame Joan Plowright, is an English retired actress whose career has spanned over seven decades. She has won two Golden Globe Awards and a Ton ...

). At the age of 19, he married the Rhodesian actress

Susan Burnet Susan Burnet (25 November 1938 – 17 January 2010) was a British actress born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (which later became Harare, Zimbabwe). The granddaughter of one of Rhodesia's first pioneers, she later became an opponent of Ia ...

and they later had two children. Ray appeared in numerous film, theatre and television roles over the years, including as nuclear scientist

Klaus Fuchs Klaus Emil Julius Fuchs (29 December 1911 – 28 January 1988) was a German theoretical physicist and atomic spy who supplied information from the American, British and Canadian Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union during and shortly a ...

for Anglia Television and as

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...

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). 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 Upstairs Downstairs may refer to: Television *Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV series), ''Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1971 TV series), a British TV series broadcast on ITV from 1971 to 1975 *Upstairs Downstairs (2010 TV series), ''Upstairs Downstairs'' ...

'', ''

Inspector Morse Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, GM, is the eponymous fictional character in the series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter. On television, he appears in the 33-episode drama series '' Inspector Morse'' (1987–2000), ...

'', and ''

Peak Practice ''Peak Practice'' is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale—a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District—and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their m ...

''. In later years, Ray was a committed member of

Equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership * Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the diff ...

and served as a Councillor of the actors' union. Ray died at the age of 64 in 2003 from a heart attack. His brother

Robin Ray Robin Ray (17 September 1934 – 29 November 1998Roger T. Stearn, "Ray, Robin (1 ...

was a well-known television and radio personality who died in 1998, also at the age of 64.

Filmography

*''

'' (1950) - Wheeler - the Mudlark *'' The Yellow Balloon'' (1953) - Frankie *'' Escape by Night'' (1953) - Joey Weston *''

A Prize of Gold ''A Prize of Gold'' is a 1955 Technicolor film noir crime film directed by Mark Robson partly filmed in West Berlin. The film stars Richard Widmark as a United States Air Force Air Police Master Sergeant motivated by love and compassion t ...

'' (1955) - Conrad *''

'' (1955) - Max Hampden *''

'' (1957) - Brian Preston *''

Gideon's Day ''Gideon's Day'' is the first in a series of police procedural novels by John Creasey writing as J.J. Marric. Published in 1955, it features a day in the professional life of Detective Superintendent George Gideon of the C.I.D., Scotland Y ...

'' (1958) - P.C. Farnaby Green *''

'' (1958) - Eddie Marshall *''

'' (1959) - Larry Thompson *''

'' (1962) - Chris Walker *''

Der Schwur des Soldaten Pooley ''Der Schwur des Soldaten Pooley '' is an East German film. It was released in 1963. External links * 1963 films East German films 1960s German-language films 1960s German films {{1960s-Germany-film-stub ...

'' (1963) - Ginger *'' The System'' (1964) - Willy * ''Upstairs Downstairs'' (1974) - Lt. Jack Dyson RFC *''

'' (1980) - Pilbrow *''

Death of an Expert Witness ''Death of an Expert Witness'' is an Adam Dalgliesh novel by P. D. James, published in 1977. It begins with the discovery of a young girl who has been murdered and dumped in a quarry. However, this is not the focus of the novel, but rather is ...

'' (1983) - Clifford Bradley *'' Paris by Night'' (1988) - Michael Swanton *''

'' (1992) - Alfred Rydale

References

External links

Andrew Ray
official memorial site. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Andrew 1939 births 2003 deaths English male child actors English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors Male actors from London 20th-century English male actors English republicans