Raymond Alan Whyberd (18 September 1930 – 24 May 2010) was an English

ventriloquist Ventriloquism or ventriloquy is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) speaks in such a way that it seems like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy". The act of ventrilo ...

, television entertainer, and writer. His career spanned over half a century, though he was most popular from the 1950s until the 1980s. He was associated primarily with the dummies Lord Charles and Ali Kat and later with the puppets Tich and Quackers.

Early life

Born Raymond Alan Whyberd in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

, London, Alan was educated at Morden Terrace School,

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

.''Who's Who on Television'' (1982), ITV Books, Michael Joseph, p.6, He was introduced to the world of entertainment at a young age, entering a talent contest at the age of five at his local Gaumont cinema.

Entertainment career

Aged 13, Alan became a call-boy at the Hippodrome Theatre in

, where he started to do magic sets on stage between acts. He then started to entertain private functions, introducing ventriloquism into his act, along with playing the

ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

. He soon left school to begin performing full-time. Alan toured in

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

all over the world and performed once with

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...

in 1954. Laurel had provided inspiration for the look of Alan's most famous creation, Lord Charles, who first appeared at a charity show in Wormwood Scrubs Prison, London. Alan made his television debut with Lord Charles on 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 ...

programme '' The Good Old Days'' in the 1960s and the pair regularly re-appeared on the programme. In the 1960s he also appeared on a children's programme ''Tich and Quackers'' with Tich, a small boy, and his pet duck Quackers. He 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 Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

's birthday show at London's Lyric Theatre. In 1986 he presented a show on Channel 4 on ventriloquism, called ''A Gottle of Geer'', which he later adapted into a book. Alan continued to perform into his seventies, doing tours, performing in plays, and undertaking conference and corporate events. In 1998/1999 he entertained guests on the '' QE2''. He took a break from stage work due to ill health but he did not rule out a return, if his health had permitted. His last stage appearance was in November 2008 when he performed at a special charity concert in

Bridlington Bridlington (previously known as Burlington) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is on the Holderness part (Flamborough Head to the Humber estuary) of the Yorkshire Coast by the North Sea. The town is ...

organised by his friend Greg Knight who was MP for the town. At the end of his performance he received a standing ovation.

Writing

Alan wrote four novels: ''Death and Deception'' in 2007 and ''A Game of Murder'' in 2008 (both published by Robert Hale), ''A Fear of Vengeance'' (2010, published by FA Thorpe) and ''Retribution'' (2011, published posthumously by Robert Hale). He also wrote for Tony Hancock, Dave Allen and for the shows '' Morecambe and Wise'', ''

The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from 10 April 1971 to 25 December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo se ...

'' and '' Bootsie and Snudge'', usually under the name Ray Whyberd.

Personal life

Alan married Greta Motherwell in 1956; they divorced in 1972. He was in a relationship with Barbie Hayes in the 1980s. He married Jane Laycock in 1991. Alan lived in

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'', and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The ea ...

, Surrey. He died from complications of pneumonia and pulmonary fibrosis at East Surrey Hospital in Redhill, on 24 May 2010, at the age of 79.

Media appearances

Television

* '' David Nixon's Comedy Bandbox'' (1966) * ''The Tich and Quackers Show'' (1966) * ''Ice Show'' (1969) * ''Tell Me Another'' (1976–1978, guest, comedic anecdotal series) * ''Magic Circle'' (1977) * ''Three Little Words'' (c. 1980) * '' Give Us a Clue'' (17 November 1980) * '' The Sooty Show'' – "Soo's Party Problem" (1983) * '' Mike Reid's Mates and Music'' (1984) * '' Bobby Davro's TV Weekly'' (1987) Alan was also the presenter of the panel game '' Where in the World'' and of the children's quiz show ''It's Your Word''. He also hosted ''Cartoon Carnival'' and made many appearances on later game shows such as '' Celebrity Squares'', '' Give Us A Clue'', '' Family Fortunes'', '' 3-2-1'', '' Bullseye'' and '' The Bob Monkhouse Show''. Alan also appeared on '' The Des O'Connor Show'' and on '' Blue Peter''.

Radio

* ''The Impressionists'',

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 ...

(guest 1974–75; host 1980–88) *''

Just a Minute ''Just a Minute'' is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game. For more than 50 years, with a few exceptions, it was hosted by Nicholas Parsons. Following Parsons' death in 2020, Sue Perkins became the permanent host, starting with the 87th ser ...

'',

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 ...

(four appearances late 1970s) * '' The News Huddlines'', BBC Radio 4 (presenter for one show, 29 October 1975)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alan, Ray 1930 births 2010 deaths 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers 21st-century English novelists Deaths from pneumonia in England Deaths from pulmonary fibrosis English mystery writers Television personalities from the Royal Borough of Greenwich People from Greenwich People from Reigate Ventriloquists Writers from the Royal Borough of Greenwich English male entertainers