Christopher John David Wray (8 March 1940 – 12 September 2014) was an English actor and businessman.
Early life and education
He was born in
Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Scarborough () is a seaside town and civil parish in North Yorkshire District, the district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. With a population of 61,749, Scarborough is the largest town on the Yorkshire Coast and the No ...
,
North Riding of Yorkshire
The North Riding of Yorkshire was a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point was at Mickle Fell at .
From the Restoration it was used as a lieutenancy area, having b ...
, and educated at
Abingdon School
Abingdon School is an independent day and boarding school in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. It is the List of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, twentieth oldest Independent School (UK), independent British school. In May 202 ...
in
Abingdon-on-Thames
Abingdon-on-Thames ( ), commonly known as Abingdon, is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Thames in the Vale of the White Horse district of Oxfordshire, England. The Historic counties of England, historic county town of Berksh ...
, Oxfordshire, from 1951 to 1957. He was a keen actor at the school appearing in the School Productions, which included playing
Bob Acres in
The Rivals
''The Rivals'' is a comedy of manners by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in five acts which was first performed at Covent Garden Theatre on 17 January 1775. The story has been updated frequently, including a 1935 musical and a 1958 List of Maverick ...
during 1956.
Career
In the late 1950s he trained as an actor at the
Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts
The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, also known simply as Italia Conti, is a drama school based in Woking, Woking, England. It was founded by the English actress Italia Conti in 1911. Italia Conti offers courses in acting, musical theatre, ...
in London and for the next few years found roles in British television productions such as Lowe in the episode "
I Dies from Love" in ''
Upstairs, Downstairs'', Seaman Lovell and PC Groom in ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'', PC Anderson in ''
Z-Cars
''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police and CID detectives in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by ...
'' and PC Ball in ''
Emmerdale
''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...
''.
During the actors’ strike in the early 1960s he started selling old lamps in the Chelsea Antiques Market, and this developed into a lighting business with a shop on the
King's Road
King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents) is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...
in London known as the Christopher Wray Lighting Emporium. This became the flagship store of a business with around 20 shops in other towns and cities, including the
Christopher Wray Lighting works in Birmingham.
The lighting business became so successful that he gave up on his acting career early in the 1970s following appearances in ''
Emmerdale
''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...
'' and ''
The Adventures of Black Beauty'' in 1973.
See also
*
List of Old Abingdonians
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wray, Christopher
English male soap opera actors
English male film actors
English male stage actors
1940 births
2014 deaths
Male actors from Scarborough, North Yorkshire
People educated at Abingdon School
Alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts