Ray Brooks (actor)

Infobox actor
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name = Ray Brooks

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birthdate = birth date and age|1939|04|20|df=y
location = Brighton, East Sussex, England
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notable role = Tolen in "The Knack...and How to Get It"; Joe Macer in "EastEnders"

Ray Brooks (born 20 April 1939 in Brighton, East Sussex) is an English actor possibly best known for his narration work for children's TV show Mr Benn.

Ray Brooks had appeared in the long-running soap "Coronation Street" and had played Terry Mills in the series Taxi with Sid James (1963) by the time he rose to prominence in the UK in the 1960s, starring alongside Michael Crawford and Rita Tushingham in "The Knack...and How to Get It". The film, directed by Richard Lester between his two movies for The Beatles, won the "Palme d'Or" at the Cannes Film Festival in 1965. Brooks followed up this success starring in the groundbreaking television drama "Cathy Come Home", but starring appearances in the 1970s were less numerous (though he was in "Carry On Abroad"). In this decade he gradually built a career doing voiceovers for television advertisements. He also released an album of his own songs, but it wasn't until the Eighties, when the BBC aired the comedy drama "Big Deal", with Brooks as Robbie Box alongside co-star Sharon Duce, that he again returned to prominence. After the conclusion of "Big Deal" Duce and Brooks would star together, as different characters, in the popular "Growing Pains" (1992) about a pair of middle-aged foster parents.

Ray Brooks has also had small roles in a number of cult television programmes: "The Avengers", "Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)", "Danger Man", "Doomwatch" and a major role as David Campbell in the "Doctor Who" film "Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD". Brooks was also the narrator of the well known children's animations by David Mckee: "Mr Benn" and "King Rollo" and the was the original 'next stop' announcement voice of the Croydon Tramlink system before he was replaced by Nicholas Owen. In 2002 he was a member of the cast on the BBC drama "Two Thousand Acres of Sky"; and he joined the cast of "EastEnders" as Joe Macer in 2005.

On 30 September 2006 it was announced that Brooks character in the BBC soap "EastEnders" was to depart in January 2007 following the departure of his on screen wife, Pauline (played by Wendy Richard), at Christmas. His final appearance was on 26 January when his character confessed to killing Pauline and then fell out of a window to his death.

His son Will Brooks, a former football journalist, is currently engineering the MyFootballClub initiative.

External links

* [http://www.chrishunt.biz/feature24.html Ray Brooks interview] by Chris Hunt, 1986, discussing his films of the Sixties
*imdb name|id=0112211|name=Ray Brooks