Ray Brooks - voice of Mr Benn - has died

[Mel O'Drama]

Aged 86

Ray Brooks, voice of Mr Benn, dies aged 86

He also starred in ground-breaking drama Cathy Come Home, as well as primetime shows Big Deal and EastEnders.

www.bbc.co.uk

That voice always takes me straight back to my childhood.

I watched him a couple of weeks ago playing a lothario in The Knack... And How To Get It. And I remember him playing a similar character who gave unhappily married June Whitfield a sexual reawakening in Carry On Abroad.

 

[James from London]

Even though I have no memories of Mr Benn, there was something ubiquitous about Ray Brooks. He was just always there.



Something of his sixties grooviness always lingered, even as he was being harangued so relentlessly on Pauline on EastEnders he had no choice but to hit her over the head with that fruit bowl.

His book, Learning My Lines: An Actor's Life, part-memoir part-diary written during his time on Enders, is probably the most insightful (i.e., juiciest) accounts of working on a soap I've ever read.

 

[Angela Channing]

Mr Benn was a favourite programme of mine when I was young and Ray Brook's kindly voice was perfect for the narration. Even so, I'm a bit surprised that his involvement in Mr Benn was what the BBC chose for the headline for his obituary because he had a long and distinguished career as an actor. Just goes to show what a impact those 13 episodes of 15 minute long animations had on a generation.