Remembering Ray Brooks, the Voice Behind Mr Benn
Ray Brooks, a familiar voice and face to generations of television viewers, has passed away at the age of 86. Known most fondly as the voice of the beloved 1970s children’s series Mr Benn
Although Brooks played a huge variety of roles, he often said he was most recognised for Mr Benn
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But Mr Benn was just one part of an extraordinary career. Brooks first rose to prominence in the mid-1960s with Ken Loach’s groundbreaking BBC drama Cathy Come Home , in which he played Reg, a young man caught in the harsh realities of Britain’s housing crisis. The drama was filmed in a raw, documentary style and is still cited as one of the most influential British television broadcasts ever. He later earned a string of high-profile roles in primetime shows, from Big Deal , where he portrayed charming gambler Robbie Box, to Running Wild and Growing Pains . He was one of the rare actors to appear in both Coronation Street —as Norman Phillips in the 1960s—and EastEnders , where he took on the darker role of Joe Macer, a man whose storyline ended in infamy when he murdered soap stalwart Pauline Fowler.
Brooks’s television credits from the 1960s and ’70s read like a catalogue of British TV classics: Danger Man , The Avengers , Z Cars , Emergency-Ward 10 , Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) , and Dixon of Dock Green . He also found success in film, appearing in The Knack… and How to Get It , winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1965, the cult Daleks’ Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. , and the comedy Carry On Abroad . His theatre work was equally respected, including productions of Alan Ayckbourn’s Absent Friends and Tom Stoppard’s On The Razzle .
Off-screen, Brooks shunned the limelight. His sons Will and Tom described his three great loves as family—he also had a daughter, Emma, who died in 2003—Fulham Football Club, and his hometown of Brighton. A passionate Fulham supporter, he even wore a “Save Fulham” badge during an appearance on Wogan in the 1980s to protest a proposed merger with QPR.
Ray Brooks’s passing marks the loss of a performer who could be charming, intense, witty, and warm—sometimes all in the same scene. Whether on stage, on screen, or simply behind the microphone, his voice and presence have become part of Britain’s cultural memory, and they will be fondly remembered for many years to come.
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