Ted Ray's role as Master of Ceremonies on It's A Knockout was right up his street. He was a born entertainer, one of the last great exponents of British music hall, even though when he came to prominence, the tradition had more or less passed. His fame was achieved through radio comedy and, to a lesser extent, television, where he regularly appeared on games shows, in comedies and even in the occasional drama production.

Ray was born Charles Olden on 21st November 1905, the son of a Wigan comedian. He stage name was inspired by a famous golfer of the 1920s, whose name he had selected from a sporting diary. Ray's route into the theatre was punctuated by work as a ship's steward, an office clerk and a dance band violinist before he made his debut at the Palace Theatre, Preston, Lancashire in 1927. Three years later, he was appearing in London Music Hall.

The height of Ted Ray's fame was undoubtedly through his work in radio comedy, where his own series, Ray's A Laugh (pictured, right), which commenced transmission in 1949, rapidly became a firm household favourite, running eventually for twelve years. This popularity lead to four appearances - three of them consecutive - in the prestigious Royal Variety Performance. A year later, he became Master of Ceremonies on Calling All Forces, a BBC variety show.

Television work beckoned and Ray was undoubtedly a natural, able to work to the camera in empty studios as though he was in a packed theatre. His affinity and direct interaction with the audience made him a popular performer on both sides of the camera lens. In 1955, he fronted his own monthly BBC comedy series, insipidly titled The Ted Ray Show, which ran in various forms until 1958, at which point he temporarily jumped ship and made six programmes for independent television entitled (much more imaginatively) Hip Hip Who Ray, which were more stand-up focused than his BBC shows. Among his other television work were readings of children's stories on the long-running Jackanory strand and regular appearances on MacDonald Hobley's panel game, Does The Team Think?.

Ted Ray also made appearances in feature films, his earliest being Elstree Calling (1930), followed by Radio Parade of 1935 (1935). He featured in a run of films in the 1950s, including the starring role in Carry On Teacher (1959), an early entry in Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas' long running and hugely successful film series.

After receiving serious injuries in a 1975 car crash, Ted Ray cut down his public appearances to a minimum, meaning he was unable to appear in the tenth anniversary edition of It's A Knockout, where he would have joined original co-hosts MacDonald Hobley and Charlie Chester.

Ted Ray died in hospital following a heart attack on Tuesday 8th November 1977 aged 71. He left a wife, Dorothy, and their two sons, Andrew Ray, the actor, and BBC producer and Face the Music panellist, Robin Ray. He committed his career memories to paper in two autobiographies: Raising the Laughs (1952) and My Turn Next (1963).

by Alan Hayes