Ray Alan
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Ray Alan (born September 18, 1930) was a British ventriloquist and television entertainer in the 1950s through to the 1980s. He is associated with the puppet Lord Charles.
Career
Born in Greenwich, London, Ray was introduced to the world of entertainment at a young age, entering a talent contest at the age of 5. He often performed at the Lewisham Hippodrome Theatre as a teenager, and then started to entertain private functions. By this stage, Ray had included ventriloquism into his act, along with playing the ukulele.
Ray would tour in cabaret all over the world and he also joined Laurel and Hardy on several comedy shows. He appeared on the BBC programme The Good Old Days regulary, and created the character of 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's birthday show at London’s Lyric Theatre.
Later Life
Ray still performs tours and also undertakes conference and corporate events. In 1998/1999 he entertained guests on the QE2. He has also written for many shows, including a documentary entitled A Gottle of Geer for Channel 4, and the ITV show And There's More in 1985 which starred Jimmy Cricket.
TV Credits
- Ice Show (1969)
- Magic Circle (1977)
- Mike Reid's Mates and Music (1984)
- Bobby Davro's TV Weekly (1987)
He has also made many appearances on game shows such as Celebrity Squares, Give Us A Clue, Family Fortunes, 3-2-1, Bullseye and The Bob Monkhouse Show.