Raymond Michael Brooks (born 20 April 1939) is an English television and film actor.

Career

Early work

Raymond Michael Brooks was born in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

, and began as a television actor. He appeared in the long-running ITV soap ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'' in 1964 as Norman Phillips. He played Terry Mills in the series '' Taxi!'' with Sid James (1963). He played small roles in British films such as '' H.M.S. Defiant'', '' Play It Cool'' and '' Some People''. Brooks rose to prominence in the UK after starring alongside

Michael Crawford Michael Patrick Smith (born 19 January 1942), known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English actor, comedian and singer. Crawford is best known for playing the hapless Frank Spencer in the sitcom '' Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'', Cornel ...

and Rita Tushingham in the 1965 film '' The Knack …and How to Get It''. The film, directed by

Richard Lester Richard Lester Liebman (born January 19, 1932) is an American retired film director, who spent the majority of his professional life in the United Kingdom. He is known for the fast-paced, flamboyant directing he brought to his comedy films, mo ...

, won the ''

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

'' at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

in 1965. Brooks followed up this success starring in the ground-breaking 1966 television drama ''

Cathy Come Home "Cathy Come Home" is a 1966 BBC television play about homelessness. It was written by Jeremy Sandford, produced by Tony Garnett and directed by Ken Loach. A 1998 ''Radio Times'' readers' poll voted it the "best single television drama" and a 200 ...

''. In an interview with ''Sussex Life'', Brooks recalled: Through the 1960s, Brooks also had small roles in a number of other cult television series, including '' The Avengers'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) ''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'' is a British private detective television series, starring Mike Pratt (actor), Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope respectively as the private detectives Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk. The series was created by Denn ...

'' and '' Doomwatch''. In 1965 he starred as a prominent, slick character in '' Gideon's Way'' episode "Gang War". He played the major role of David Campbell in the ''

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 ...

'' film '' Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.'' (1966). Brooks' major film roles in the 1970s were less numerous. These included roles in '' The Last Grenade'' (1970), ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'' (1972), and in '' Carry On Abroad'' (1972) as oversexed waiter Giorgio. He also appeared in a number of Pete Walker films including '' The Flesh and Blood Show'' (1972), '' Tiffany Jones'' (1973) and '' House of Whipcord'' (1974). In this decade Brooks released an album of his own songs and built a successful career performing voiceovers for television advertisements and the children's television series '' Mr Benn''.

1980s and 1990s

Brooks returned to prominence with 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 ...

comedy drama '' Big Deal'' (1984–1986), in which he co-starred with Sharon Duce. After ''Big Deal'' ended, Duce and Brooks starred together, as different characters, in the popular ''

Growing Pains ''Growing Pains'' is an American television sitcom created by Neal Marlens that ran on ABC for seven seasons from September 24, 1985, to April 25, 1992. The series follows the misadventures of the Seaver family, including psychiatrist and fathe ...

'' (1992) about a pair of middle-aged

foster parent Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community or treatment centre), or private home of a state- certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent", or with a family memb ...

s. Brooks was also the

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

of the well known children's animations by David McKee: '' Mr Benn'' and '' King Rollo''. From 1980 to 1985, he played Detective Sergeant Dave Brook on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

(later on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

) in four series of ''Detective'' written by Robert Barr, and subsequently repeated on

BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It mostly broadcasts archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes, and is the sister station of Radio 4. It is the pri ...

from 2013. Brooks starred in the Edward Boyd thriller, ''Castles in Spain'', on BBC Radio 4 in 1987. In 1987, the BBC chose Brooks as one of the principal character voices for the acclaimed French animated science fiction film '' Les Maîtres du temps'', which the BBC had co-produced in 1982.

2000s and 2010s

Brooks was the original "next stop" announcement voice of the

Tramlink Tramlink, previously Croydon Tramlink and currently branded as London Trams, is a light rail tram system serving Croydon and surrounding areas in South London, England. It is the first operational tram system serving the London region since 195 ...

system, before being replaced by Nicholas Owen. In 2002, Brooks acted in BBC drama '' Two Thousand Acres of Sky''. He joined the cast of the long-running BBC

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' as Joe Macer in 2005. On 30 September 2006, it was announced that Brooks' ''EastEnders'' character would depart in January 2007 following the departure of Joe's wife, Pauline Fowler ( Wendy Richard), at Christmas. His final appearance was on 26 January when his character confessed to killing Pauline, before falling from a window to his death. Brooks starred as Detective Sergeant Brook in the BBC Radio 2 police series: ''Robert Barr - Detective''; series 1: 13 episodes, series 2: 10 episodes, series 3: 8 episodes and series 4:8 episodes (1980 to 1985). These have been re-broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra since 2013. The series is written by Robert Barr.

Filmography

*'' Captured'' (1959) *'' H.M.S. Defiant'' (1962) as Hayes *'' Play It Cool'' (1962) as Freddy *'' Some People'' (1962) as Johnnie *'' The Knack …and How to Get It'' (1965) as Tolen *'' Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.'' (1966) as David *''

'' (1966) as Reg Ward *'' The Last Grenade'' (1970) as Lt. David Coulson *'' The Flesh and Blood Show'' (1972) as Mike *''

'' (1972) as 5 of Spades *'' Carry On Abroad'' (1972) as Georgio *'' Tiffany Jones'' (1973) as Guy *''

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) as Edward Craig *'' House of Whipcord'' (1974) as Tony

References

External links

www.RayBrooksBooks.com
— Ray Brooks official website

— by

Chris Hunt Chris Hunt is a British journalist, magazine editor, and author. Hunt has worked in journalism for over thirty years, most often writing about football or rock music. He was editor of ''Match'' from 1993 to 2001, a period that saw the weekl ...

, 1986, discussing his films of the 1960s
Ray Brooks interview
— at Best British TV *

- episode guide for the ''Robert Barr - Detective'' radio series {{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Ray 1939 births Living people 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors English male film actors English male soap opera actors English male television actors English male voice actors Male actors from Brighton