{"id":4436,"date":"2025-08-10T14:57:54","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T14:57:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/?p=4436"},"modified":"2025-08-11T10:23:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T10:23:20","slug":"british-tv-legend-ray-brooks-best-known-as-voice-of-mr-benn-dies-aged-86","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/2025\/08\/10\/british-tv-legend-ray-brooks-best-known-as-voice-of-mr-benn-dies-aged-86\/","title":{"rendered":"British TV legend Ray Brooks, best known as voice of Mr Benn, dies aged 86"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"TELEVISION\t<\/div>
English actor Ray Brooks has died aged 86 (Picture: Adam Pensotti\/ BBC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ray Brooks, whose TV career spanned five decades, has died aged <\/a>86.<\/p>\n

The actor was best known for narrating the 1970\u2019s children\u2019s show Mr Benn, but also had notable roles in Cathy Comes Home, Big Deal and Running Wild.<\/p>\n

He also was one of just a handful of actors to appear in both Coronation Street<\/a> and EastEnders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 1964 he played Norman Philips on the ITV<\/a> soap, then 40 years later arrived in Albert Square, in which he played Joe Macer, who infamously murdered his wife Pauline Fowler.<\/p>\n

Brooks died on Saturday after a short illness, his family told the BBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a statement, his sons Will and Tom said their dad believed he was best known for Mr Benn, \u2018with people continually asking him to say the catchphrase \u201cas if by magic!\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"\"\t<\/div>
The actor rose to fame in the 1960s (Picture: Stroud\/ Daily Express\/ Hulton Archive\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n\t\t\"TELEVISION\t<\/div>
He was one of a handful of actors to appear on both EastEnders and Coronation Street (Picture: Adam Pensotti\/ BBC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n\t\t\"TELEVISION\t<\/div>
He played Joe Macer on the BBC soap from 2005 until 2007 (Picture:Alexandra Thompson\/ BBC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The animated series followed the character who, after dressing up in a magical costume shop, would find himself experiencing a new adventure every episode.<\/p>\n

\u2018Although only 13 episodes were made, they were repeated twice a year for 21 years,\u2019 his sons added.<\/p>\n

Other series Brooks appeared in throughout the 1960s and 1970s included Danger Man, Dixon of Dock Green, Emergency-Ward 10, The Avengers, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and Z Cars.<\/p>\n

He also appeared in films like The Knack… and How to Get It, Carry On Abroad and in the Dr Who movie Daleks’ Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Mr\t<\/div>
He also voiced Mr Benn in the animated 1970s childrens show<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brooks rose to fame playing Reg in the BBC play Cathy Come Home, which detailed Britain\u2019s housing shortage in the late 1960s.<\/p>\n

Directed by Ken Loach and filmed in a documentary style, it followed a young couple facing homelessness and has been labelled one of the most influential TV broadcasts of all time.<\/p>\n

But it was in the 1980s when his career took off after being cast in leading roles in two primetime series \u2013 Robbie Box in Big Deal and in Running Wild.<\/p>\n

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Brooks’ family said he ‘died peacefully’ this weekend (Picture: Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Throughout his career Brooks also voiced thousands of adverts for companies including Guinness, Whiskas, Marmite and R Whites Lemonade.<\/p>\n

Despite decades on screen, the actor\u2019s sons said he \u2018shunned the limelight\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018His three true loves were family [he also had a daughter Emma, who died in 2003], Fulham Football Club, and spending time in Brighton, where he was born,\u2019 they explained.<\/p>\n

Brooks\u2019 family revealed that he\u2019d spent the past few years living with dementia but died peacefully yesterday with his family at his bedside.<\/p>\n

Got a story?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk<\/a> entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff<\/a> page – we\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\tComment now<\/title><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"comment-now__label\">Comments<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>English actor Ray Brooks has died aged 86 (Picture: Adam Pensotti\/ BBC) Ray Brooks, whose TV career spanned five decades, has died aged 86. The actor was best known for narrating the 1970\u2019s children\u2019s show Mr Benn, but also had notable roles in Cathy Comes Home, Big Deal and Running...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4436"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4436"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4445,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4436\/revisions\/4445"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.satecsite.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}