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Robin Ray (17 September 1934 – 29 November 1998Roger T. Stearn, "Ray, Robin (1934–1998)"
''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Oct 2006 accessed 29 December 2006
) was an English broadcaster, actor, and musician.


Career

Born Robin Olden, he was the son of Charles Olden, later known as comedian Ted Ray. He was educated at
Highgate School Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is an English co-educational, fee-charging, independent day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate ...
and the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sen ...
, first appearing as a professional actor in a London production of '' The Changeling'' in 1960,Denis Giffor
Obituary: Robin Ray
''The Independent'', 30 November 1998
and playing small roles in films such as ''
I'm All Right Jack ''I'm All Right Jack'' is a 1959 British comedy film directed and produced by John and Roy Boulting from a script by Frank Harvey, John Boulting and Alan Hackney based on the 1958 novel ''Private Life'' by Alan Hackney. The film is a sequel t ...
'' (1959) and '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964), before taking up teaching drama at
RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...
. In 1966, Ray resigned his post at RADA, to pursue a career in broadcasting. From 1965 he was the chairman of the new
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
show ''
Call My Bluff ''Call My Bluff'' is a British panel game show based on the short-lived US version of the same name. It was originally hosted by Robin Ray and later, most notably, by Robert Robinson. Its most prominent panellist was Frank Muir. Format The ga ...
'' 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 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
. 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 Herbert Reginald Chappell (18 March 1934 – 20 October 2019) was a British conductor, composer and film-maker, best known for his television scores. Education and early career Born in Bristol, Herbert Chappell's first musical training was as a ch ...
performed by a chamber group of players from the
Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra The Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra (LSSO) is a youth orchestra based in Leicester, England. The players, aged between 15 and 18, are all drawn from secondary schools in the county of Leicestershire and the City of Leicester. History Th ...
. Two years later
Argo In Greek mythology the ''Argo'' (; in Greek: ) was a ship built with the help of the gods that Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The ship has gone on to be used as a motif in a variety of sour ...
recorded the piece using an ensemble of 45 LSSO players conducted by
Herbert Chappell Herbert Reginald Chappell (18 March 1934 – 20 October 2019) was a British conductor, composer and film-maker, best known for his television scores. Education and early career Born in Bristol, Herbert Chappell's first musical training was as a ch ...
. 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 Susan Stranks (born 2 December 1938) is a British actress and TV presenter. Career Born in London, Stranks was ten years old when she played the role of the younger Emmeline Foster in the romantic adventure film '' The Blue Lagoon'' (1949). S ...
(Robin Ray's wife). At the age of 45 he wrote the musical ''Cafe Puccini'', which opened at the
Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the archit ...
in 1986 with musical director
William Blezard William Blezard (10 March 1921 in Padiham, Lancashire – 2 March 2003 in Barnes, London) was a talented pianist and composer who was musical director to Noël Coward, Marlene Dietrich and Joyce Grenfell. Personal life Blezard's parents work ...
. In the early 1980s he presented a programme called "Robin Ray's Record Review" on
Capital Radio Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. I ...
. In the early 1990s, Ray was one of the first executives hired by the start-up commercial
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
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 A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
in the playlist and ratings.


Personal life and death

Robin married children's TV presenter
Susan Stranks Susan Stranks (born 2 December 1938) is a British actress and TV presenter. Career Born in London, Stranks was ten years old when she played the role of the younger Emmeline Foster in the romantic adventure film '' The Blue Lagoon'' (1949). S ...
in 1960. The couple had a son named Rupert. In 1998, Robin died from lung cancer at the age of 64. Robin's brother
Andrew Ray Andrew Ray (31 May 193920 August 2003) was an English actor who was best known as a child star. Biography He was born Andrew Olden (Ray was his father's stage name) in Southgate, Middlesex, the son of the radio comic Ted Ray and his wife, sho ...
, an actor, died in 2003, also at the age of 64.


Filmography

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0712980/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Robin 1934 births 1998 deaths Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art English game show hosts English radio people English television presenters People educated at Highgate School