A man passed away recently who, for those of us of a certain age, will be remembered with great fondness and warmth.
The passing of Ray Alan, Ventriloquist supreme, saddened me greatly. I was fortunate enough to meet Ray (through a mutual friend, Steve Cosham), many years ago, and spend a marvelous Sunday at lunch with him at The Earlswood Arms pub, near his home in Reigate. He charmed us all, that day, with his warmth and generosity of spirit.
Sometime later I drew a caricature of him, and his most famous creation Lord Charles, for his birthday. As a professional artist I’ve drawn many such caricatures, but Ray was gracious and effusive with his praise and I enjoyed this one probably more than any other.
In 2005 Ray called me and asked if he could use the illustration in his autobiography (he was writing it and looking for a deal at the time), I was delighted to say yes. In fact, I said, when he was ready, I would redraw it (to a higher finish) to make it easier to print. This made him happy and we agreed to talk again soon. Sadly, the call from Ray never came ......and we lost touch.
When news of his death hit I was extremely upset, but I basked in the memory of that afternoon with him....and counted myself lucky to have known him at all. This last week I’ve revisited the drawing I did for him, and come up with the above image. I’m pleased with it as an image, and feel it captures Ray's playful nature. He had a completely irreverent attitude to Lord Charles and enjoyed confounding peoples expectations of that relationship.
He will, for me, forever be the T.V. Star I grew up with and the lovely man who regaled us with stories and gags that glorious Sunday afternoon.
Excelsior, respectfully, out.
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