Ted Ray

Ted Ray (born Charles Olden; 21 November 1905 – 8 November 1977) was an English comedian of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, on radio and television. His BBC radio show Ray's a Laugh ran for 12 years. Biography Ray was born Charles Olden in Wigan, Lancashire, England, to comic singer and mimic Charles Olden (who used the stage-name Charlie Alden) and his wife Margaret Ellen (née Kenyon). His parents moved to Liverpool within days of his birth, and Liverpudlians regard him as a local. He was educated at Anfield council school and Liverpool Collegiate School, and as a youth wished to become a footballer. As a comedian of the 1940s and 1950s, he demonstrated his ad-libbing skills in his weekly radio show Ray's A Laugh from 1949 until 1961. A music hall comedian, Ray usually played violin badly as part of his act—first as Hugh Neek, then "Nedlo the Gypsy Violinist". He also played comedy roles in several British films—notably as the headmaster in Carry On Teacher. He is best remembered for the BBC Radio show Ray's a Laugh, a domestic comedy in which Kitty Bluett played his wife. Other actors and actresses who featured on the show included Peter Sellers, Fred Yule, Patricia Hayes, Kenneth Connor, Pat Coombs and Graham Stark; Sellers' earliest appearances predated The Goon Show by a couple of years. In 1949 and 1950, Ray was King Rat of the Grand Order of Water Rats. Ray was an accomplished golfer, frequently playing with professional sportsmen. Later in his career, he appeared with Jimmy Edwards, Arthur Askey and Cyril Fletcher in the comedy radio panel game Does the Team Think?