Raymond Percy Galton (17 July 1930 – 5 October 2018) was an English radio and television scriptwriter, best known for the Galton and Simpson comedy writing partnership with Alan Simpson. Together they devised and wrote 1950s and 60s BBC

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

s including ''

Hancock's Half Hour ''Hancock's Half Hour'' was a BBC radio comedy, and later television comedy series, broadcast from 1954 to 1961 and written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The series starred Tony Hancock, with Sidney James; the radio version also co-starr ...

'' (1954–1961), the first two series' of '' Comedy Playhouse'' (1961–1963), and '' Steptoe and Son'' (1962–1974).

Early life

Galton was born in

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North Londo ...

, and after leaving school he worked for the

Transport and General Workers Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

. He contracted

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...

aged 18 in 1948 and was admitted to Milford Sanatorium near

Godalming Godalming is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settlement ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

, where he met fellow patient Alan Simpson.

Galton and Simpson

Later career

Alan Simpson retired from scriptwriting in 1978 to concentrate on his business interests. Galton then often worked with Johnny Speight on scripts, including ''

Spooner's Patch ''Spooners Patch'' is a British television sitcom, written by Ray Galton (best known for his writing collaborations with Alan Simpson, including ''Steptoe and Son'') and Johnny Speight (best known for ''Till Death Us Do Part''). It ran for 3 s ...

'' (1979–1982) about a corrupt police station. He also wrote scripts for sitcoms produced in Germany and Scandinavia. He co-wrote the ITV series '' Room at the Bottom'' (1986–1988) about television executives. His last sitcom was '' Get Well Soon'' in 1997 which he co-created with John Antrobus and which was based on his own experiences in a sanatorium. In October 2005, Galton and Antrobus premiered their play ''

Steptoe and Son in Murder at Oil Drum Lane ''Steptoe and Son in Murder at Oil Drum Lane'' is a play written by Ray Galton and John Antrobus that brought the ''Steptoe and Son'' saga to an end. It was first performed in 2005. The title of this play was inspired by the Swedish 1982 play ' ...

'' at the Theatre Royal, York. The play was set in the present day and related the events that led to Harold killing his father, and their eventual meeting thirty years later (Albert appearing as a ghost).

Honours and awards

Galton won two BAFTA awards among many others such as a British Comedy Award. He accepted an OBE in 2000 and he and Simpson received a

BAFTA Fellowship The BAFTA Fellowship, or the Academy Fellowship, is a lifetime achievement award presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in recognition of "outstanding achievement in the art forms of the moving image". The award is t ...

on 8 May 2016.

Personal life and death

Galton married Tonia Phillips in 1956, and they had three children; she died from cancer in 1995. He died on 5 October 2018. Galton's family said he died in his sleep at a family home after a long period suffering from

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Galton, Ray 1930 births 2018 deaths English radio writers English television writers British television writers BAFTA fellows Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Paddington English male writers Deaths from dementia in England British male television writers English comedy writers