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Ray Brooks | |
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| Born | Raymond Michael Brooks 20 April 1939 Brighton, East Sussex, England |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1959–2007 |
| Spouse | Sadie Elcombe (m. 1963) |
| Children | 3 |
Raymond Michael Brooks (born 20 April 1939) [2] is an English television and film actor. [3]
Raymond Michael Brooks [4] [5] was born in Brighton, Sussex, and began as a television actor. He appeared in the long-running ITV soap Coronation Street in 1964 as Norman Phillips. He played Terry Mills in the series Taxi! with Sid James (1963). [6] He played small roles in British films such as H.M.S. Defiant , Play It Cool and Some People .
He rose to prominence in the UK after starring alongside Michael Crawford and Rita Tushingham in the 1965 film The Knack …and How to Get It . [3] The film, directed by Richard Lester, won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1965. [7] Brooks followed up this success starring in the ground-breaking 1966 television drama Cathy Come Home . [8]
In an interview with Sussex Life, Brooks recalled-
"I was naive,...I thought casting directors would come to me. But although people did offer me work, very often the films didn't materialise because they couldn't get the money together. And, actually, I don't think I was ever that good an actor. I was more an image of a young man. I was never as good looking as, say, my contemporary, David Hemmings. And don't forget this was the period of Terence Stamp. So there was a lot of competition." [9]
Through the 1960s, he also had small roles in a number of other cult television series: including The Avengers , Danger Man , "Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)" and Doomwatch . [10] In 1965 he starred as a prominent, slick character in Gideon's Way “Gang War”. He played the major role of David Campbell in the Doctor Who film Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. . [11]
Major film roles in the 1970s were less numerous. These included roles in The Last Grenade (1970), the all-star Alice's Adventures in Wonderland , and in Carry On Abroad (1972) as oversexed waiter Giorgio. [3] He also appeared in a number of Pete Walker films including The Flesh and Blood Show , Tiffany Jones and House of Whipcord . [12] In this decade Brooks released an album of his own songs, and built a successful career performing voiceovers for television advertisements, and children's television series Mr Benn . [13] [14] [15]
Brooks returned to prominence with the BBC comedy drama Big Deal (1984–1986), in which he co-starred with Sharon Duce. [16] After Big Deal ended, Duce and Brooks starred together, as different characters, in the popular Growing Pains (1992) about a pair of middle-aged foster parents. [17]
Brooks was also the narrator of the well known children's animations by David McKee: Mr Benn and King Rollo . [18] From 1980 to 1985, he played Detective Sergeant Dave Brook on BBC Radio 4 (later on BBC Radio 2) in four series of Detective written by Robert Barr, [19] and subsequently repeated on BBC Radio 4 Extra from 2013. [20] Brooks starred in the Edward Boyd thriller, Castles in Spain, on BBC Radio 4 in 1987. [21]
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. [22]
Brooks was the original 'next stop' announcement voice of the Tramlink system, before being replaced by Nicholas Owen.[ when? ] [23] [14]
In 2002, he acted in BBC drama Two Thousand Acres of Sky . [24] He joined the cast of the long-running BBC soap opera EastEnders as Joe Macer in 2005. [25] 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. [25]
He 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. [26] The series is written by Robert Barr. [27]
Bernard Joseph Cribbins was an English actor and singer whose career spanned more than seven decades.
Dr. Who and the Daleks is a 1965 British science fiction film directed by Gordon Flemyng and written by Milton Subotsky, and the first of two films based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. It stars Peter Cushing as Dr. Who, Roberta Tovey as Susan, Jennie Linden as Barbara, and Roy Castle as Ian. It was followed by Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966).
Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. is a 1966 British science fiction film directed by Gordon Flemyng and written by Milton Subotsky, and the second of two films based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. It stars Peter Cushing in a return to the role of the eccentric inventor and time traveller Dr. Who, Roberta Tovey as Susan, Jill Curzon as Louise and Bernard Cribbins as Tom Campbell. It is the sequel to Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965).
Mr Benn is a character created by David McKee who originally appeared in several children's books. The first, Mr Benn Red Knight, was published in 1967, followed by three more; these became the basis for an animated television series of the same name originally transmitted by the BBC in 1971 and 1972.
Andrew Keir was a Scottish actor who appeared in a number of films made by Hammer Film Productions in the 1960s. He was also active in television, and especially in the theatre, in a professional career that lasted from the 1940s to the 1990s.
Henry Wilfrid Brambell was an Irish television and film actor, best remembered for playing the grubby rag-and-bone man Albert Steptoe alongside Harry H. Corbett in the long-running BBC television sitcom Steptoe and Son. He achieved international recognition in 1964 for his appearance alongside the Beatles in A Hard Day's Night, playing the fictional grandfather of Paul McCartney.
The Power of the Daleks is the completely missing third serial of the fourth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 5 November to 10 December 1966. It is the first full story to feature Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor.
Nicholas Briggs is an English actor, writer, director, sound designer and composer. He is associated with the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-offs, particularly as the voice of the Daleks and the Cybermen in the 21st century series.
Philip Madoc was a Welsh actor. He performed many stage, television, radio and film roles, and was recognised for having a "rich, sonorous voice" and often playing villains and officers. On television, he starred as David Lloyd George in The Life and Times of David Lloyd George (1981) and DCI Noel Bain in the detective series A Mind to Kill (1994–2002). His guest roles included multiple appearances in the cult series The Avengers (1962–68) and Doctor Who (1968–1979), as well as playing the U-boat captain in the Dad's Army episode "The Deadly Attachment" (1973). He was also known to be an accomplished linguist.
Dr. Who is a character based on the Doctor, the protagonist featuring in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.
Michael Dundonald Cochrane is an English actor. Cochrane has played Oliver Sterling in the Radio 4 soap opera The Archers.
Rodney Bewes was an English television actor and writer who portrayed Bob Ferris in the BBC television sitcom The Likely Lads (1964–66) and its colour sequel Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (1973–74). Bewes' later career was of a much lower profile, but he continued to work as a stage actor.
Patrick David Barr was an English actor. In his career spanning over half a century, he appeared in about 144 films and television series.
Roberta Tovey is an English actress who has appeared in films and television programmes. One of her better-known roles was that of Susan, the granddaughter of Dr. Who, in the films Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) and Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966), which starred Peter Cushing as Dr. Who. She also appeared in the films Never Let Go (1960), Touch of Death (1961), A High Wind in Jamaica (1965), Runaway Railway (1965), Operation Third Form (1966) and The Beast in the Cellar (1970), and the TV series Not in Front of the Children (1967–68), Going Straight (1978) and My Husband and I (1987).
Sheila Frances Steafel was a British actress, who was born in Johannesburg, but lived all her adult life in the United Kingdom.
Roger Avon was an English stage, film and television actor born in Jarrow, County Durham.
David Freeman was a British film and television writer, working chiefly in comedy.
Kenneth Watson was a British television actor. He is best known for playing Brian Blair in Take the High Road in the 1980s, Ralph Lancaster in Coronation Street from 14 May 1975 to 13 February 1980 and DI Scott in Dixon of Dock Green from 1972-3, together with numerous minor roles in various sitcoms.
Gordon William Flemyng was a Scottish television and film director. He was also a writer and producer. He directed six theatrical features, several television films and numerous episodes of television series, some of which he also wrote and produced.
Mr Ray Brooks, actor, 73
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