Robin Ray

Robin Ray
Born	Robin Olden (1934-09-17)17 September 1934 London, England
Died	29 November 1998(1998-11-29) (aged 64) Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK
Occupation(s)	Broadcaster, actor, musician
Years active	1960-c.1997
Spouse	Susan Stranks
Parent	Ted Ray
Family	Andrew Ray (brother)

Robin Ray (17 September 1934 – 29 November 1998) was an English broadcaster, actor, and musician.

Early life

Born Robin Olden in Fulham, London on 17 September 1934, he was the eldest son of Charles Olden, later known as the comedian Ted Ray, and the dancer Dorothy Sybil Stevens. His younger brother, Andrew, also became an actor. At age 10, Ray received a record of Franz Schubert's Unfinished Symphony from his father and briefly harboured aspirations of becoming a classical conductor. He also wanted to become a concert pianist until he realised his lack of skill. Ray was taught at Highgate School in North London and decided to enroll at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) after his brother began working as a actor. He did his national service in the Royal Army Service Corps and rose to the rank of second lieutenant.

Career

In January 1956, Ray made his television debut as the youngest member of a gang in the ITV crime play The Guv'nor, and performed in a Bob and Alf Pearson summer show in Bournemouth. He first appeared as a professional actor in a West End production of The Changeling at the Royal Court Theatre in 1960, and played small roles in films such as I'm All Right Jack (1959) and A Hard Day's Night (1964). Ray was the chief technical instructor at RADA from 1961 until his resignation in 1965, in support of the resignation of the principal John Fernald due to internal politics at the school. The decision allowed Ray to return to broadcasting.

From 1965, he was the chairman of the new BBC show Call My Bluff, and he was a popular regular panel member on the BBC classical music series, Face the Music, which began in 1966. Ray was able to recognise pieces of piano music and name not only the piece and the composer but also the opus number, particularly the Köchel or "K" number of pieces by Mozart. His cheerful manner and boyish good looks made him a great favourite with viewers; he was asked to present other quiz programmes, including Movie Quiz and Film Buff of the Year, which ran from 1985 to 1992.

The children's television programme Sounds Exciting, broadcast in 1968, was a musical education series culminating in a final "whodunit" called Dead in Tune, with Robin Ray's original story set to the music of Herbert Chappell performed by a chamber group of players from the Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra. Two years later, Argo recorded the piece using an ensemble of 45 LSSO players conducted by Herbert Chappell. This LP also included a new commission, George and the Dragonfly, with John Kershaw's words set to the music of Herbert Chappell and narrated by Robin Ray, John Kershaw and Susan Stranks (Robin Ray's wife).

At the age of 45, he wrote the musical Cafe Puccini, which opened at the Wyndham's Theatre in 1986 with musical director William Blezard. In the early 1980s he presented a programme called Robin Ray's Record Review on Capital Radio.

In the early 1990s, Ray was one of the first executives hired by the start-up commercial classical music radio station, Classic FM, with which he remained associated from 1991 to 1997. He drew up a list of 50,000 pieces of classical music and rated them for popular appeal, which was the basis for the Classic FM playlist. This list proved to be extremely attractive to similar popular classical music radio stations in other countries, and there was a legal dispute between Ray and Classic FM, which Ray won in 1998, as to who was entitled to the copyright in the playlist and ratings.

Personal life and death

He became engaged to the actress and children's television presenter Susan Stranks in August 1958 and they married at St. Gabriel's Church in Warwick Street, Westminister on 25 January 1960. They did not want to have children early in their careers but they changed their minds and had a son. In 1998, Ray died of lung cancer in Hove, Sussex on 29 November 1998.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1956	Big City	Market customer	Episode: London – Nobby Clark & Showgirl
1958	The Young and the Guilty	Boy in cafe	Uncredited role
1959	I'm All Right Jack	Young Chemist
1960	Carry On Constable	Assistant Manager
1960	Doctor in Love	Doctor	Uncredited
1960	Watch Your Stern	Flag lieutenant (aide to the admiral)
1963	Dig This Rhubarb		6 episodes
1964	A Hard Day's Night	T.V. Floor Manager
1965–1970	Call My Bluff	Presenter	53 episodes
1966	No Hiding Place	Tommy Strachey	Episode: A Dead Cert
1968	Crazy World, Crazy People	Host	Television film
1969–1970	Music Now	Presenter	7 episodes
1967–1983	Face the Music	Panel member	85 episodes
1972–1974	The Movie Quiz	Presenter	30 episodes
1976–1977	The Lively Arts	Presenter	37 episodes
1982–1984	Film Buff of the Year	Presenter	29 episodes
1988	Alexei Sayle's Stuff		Episode: Fun With Magnets