Ray Alan, the ventriloquist voice behind Lord Charles, dies aged 79

Ventriloquist Ray Alan, famous for his act with monocled, upper-crust puppet Lord Charles, died suddenly in his sleep yesterday. 

Alan, 79, was best known to millions of television viewers from the 1950s to the 1980s for his appearances on variety shows. 

He also had his own children’s series, Tich And Quackers, featuring a schoolboy puppet and his pet duck. 

'Tremendously well-liked': Ventriloquist Ray Alan with his doll Lord Charles

But it was for Lord Charles, first seen on the BBC’s The Good Old Days, that he was best known. 

The dinner suit-wearing puppet appeared to be tipsy, was noted for his catchphrase ‘You silly arse’ and would often be distracted by glamorous women in the audience.

Alan’s agent Peter Pritchard said the ventriloquist ‘passed away very suddenly’ at his home in Reigate, Surrey. He had complained of feeling unwell and had not worked for
several months because of ill-health. 

Mr Pritchard, who worked with Alan for 30 years, said: ‘Technically he was regarded as Britain’s top ventriloquist. You just couldn’t see his mouth moving. He was tremendously well-liked in the business and he had been in the entertainment business all his life.’ 

Born in Greenwich and raised in South-East London, Alan left school at 14 and was a ‘call boy’ – alerting actors that they were due on stage – at the Lewisham Hippodrome Theatre. His own act originally involved impressions and conjuring tricks before he
developed as a ventriloquist. 

The eyes have it: Ray Alan and Charles with the British boxer Charlie Magri, who tries out a monocle for himself at his gym in 1979

Lord Charles was inspired by a boozy toff spotted by Alan at a table during a cabaret show. He later based the puppet’s face on Stan Laurel, having performed with Laurel and Hardy on their last tour in 1954. 

Alan once recalled: ‘I looked at Stan Laurel’s face and I thought “Good God, that’s the face I want – just change the hair and put a monocle on it”.’ 

He was also a writer, publishing his third crime novel, A Fear Of Vengeance, earlier this year. 

Alan, who is survived by his wife Jane, said of Lord Charles in 2006: ‘I’m not one of those ventriloquists who thinks he’s real. When I finish my work I put it back in the tool
box and I don’t take it out again until the next job.’ 

Asked if he ever felt upstaged by the puppet, he added: ‘I’m delighted to say yes! It’s just what I planned, I can sit back and say nothing and let him take the blame.’