Mike Pratt (actor)

Mike Pratt
Pratt in Randall and Hopkirk Deceased
Born	7 June 1931(1931-06-07) London, England
Died	10 July 1976(1976-07-10) (aged 45) Chichester,West Sussex
Occupation	English actor, songwriter

Michael John "Mike" Pratt (7 June 1931 – 10 July 1976) was an English actor and songwriter, known for his work on British television in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Career

Pratt is best known for his role as Jeff Randall in the late 1960s ITV detective series Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) alongside Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. Pratt also wrote one episode of the series.

He also appeared in TV series such as No Hiding Place, The Saint, Gideon's Way, Z Cars, Danger Man, Out Of The Unknown, Redcap, The Baron, Man in a Suitcase, The Champions, Callan, UFO, The Expert, Hadleigh, Jason King, Arthur Of The Britons, Softly, Softly - Task Force, Crown Court, Father Brown, Oil Strike North and The Adventures of Black Beauty, in which he had a semi-regular role. His last television role was in the BBC drama series The Brothers as airline pilot Don Stacy.

He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966, appearing on stage throughout the rest of the 1960s and the early 1970s. A successful songwriter, Pratt collaborated with Lionel Bart on many of Tommy Steele's early hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s. To enable Steele to start to film his life story, co-writers Steele, Bart and Pratt, wrote twelve songs in seven days.^[1] One of Steele's subsequent hits was the humorous "Little White Bull", for which Pratt alone was credited. Another Steele-Pratt collaboration, "A Handful of Songs", originally a hit for Tommy Steele in 1957, became the theme tune to a long-running Granada Television children's programme of the same name in the late 1970s.^[2]

Death

Pratt died from lung cancer in July 1976. In August of that year, a show was staged at the Aldwych Theatre in London in his memory. The cast included Glenda Jackson, Kenneth Haigh and John Le Mesurier.^[3]

Of his co-star in Randall & Hopkirk, Kenneth Cope said:

Michael was a great loss, both to the industry and as a friend.^[4]

His son is the session bassist, Guy Pratt, who also played with Pink Floyd in their later live performances.

References

1. ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 38. CN 5585. 
2. ^ http://www.thechestnut.com/handful.htm
3. ^ Tibballs, Geoff (1994) Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), Boxtree
4. ^ ibid.

External links

• Mike Pratt at the Internet Movie Database
• Mike Pratt Website

Persondata
Name	Pratt, Mike
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	7 June 1931
Place of birth	London, England
Date of death	10 July 1976
Place of death	Chichester,West Sussex