Ray Barrett

For the Australian Paralympic athlete, see Ray Barrett (athlete). For the Australian rules footballer, see Ray Barrett (footballer).

Ray Barrett
Born	Raymond Charles Barrett (1927-05-02)2 May 1927 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Died	8 September 2009(2009-09-08) (aged 82) Southport, Queensland, Australia
Education	Brisbane State High School
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1957–2008
Spouses	Audrey Bettanay ​ ​ (m. 1951, divorced)​ Miren Cork ​ ​ (m. 1969, divorced)​ Gaye O'Brien ​ (m. 1986)​
Partner	Celia Sherman
Children	3
Awards	AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (1982) Raymond Longford Award (2005)

Raymond Charles Barrett (2 May 1927 – 8 September 2009) was an Australian actor. During the 1960s, he was a leading actor on British television, where he was best known for his appearances in The Troubleshooters (1965–1971). From the 1970s, he appeared in lead and character roles in Australian films and television series.

Early life

Barrett was born on 2 May 1927 in Brisbane, Queensland and was educated at Windsor State Primary School and at Brisbane State High School. Fascinated by radio from an early age, he won an on-air talent competition in 1939 at the age of 12 for an eisteddfod that was broadcast on 4BH radio, with a musical monologue about a dog called "Paddy". This was to place him on a path different from his dream of becoming a boatbuilder.

In 1949, Barrett was initiated into Freemasonry as an initiate and member of Empire Lodge #197 of the United Grand Lodge of Queensland.

Acting career

United Kingdom

Ray Barrett first appeared on radio in Brisbane, and later in Sydney, to where he moved in 1954. In 1957, he moved to Britain, where his background as a singer earned him a part in a revue alongside Beryl Reid, Patrick Wymark and Sheila Hancock.

Owing to his supposedly tough look, Barrett was given character and tough guy roles from an unusually young age. In Britain, he played one of the lead roles in the TV series Emergency Ward 10 and later one of the main characters, the hard-nosed oil worker Peter Thornton, in the long-running BBC series The Troubleshooters.

While Barrett mostly appeared in television, he also made several films including Hammer's The Reptile (1966).

He also voiced characters in Gerry Anderson-produced "Supermarionation" series of the 1960s: Stingray (1964–65), as Commander Shore and Titan, and Thunderbirds (1965–66) as John Tracy, the Hood and various extras. Also in 1965, he appeared as Bennett/Koquillion in the Doctor Who serial The Rescue. Also as a bankrupt businessman in a 1972 edition of Public Eye.

Australia

In later years, Barrett starred in film and TV roles in his native Australia, living on Stradbroke Island, Queensland during the 1970s. He appeared as the Prime Minister (a character who is assassinated) in Burn the Butterflies, and as a miner in Golden Soak. In 1980, he played the part of the controversial Australian historical figure Governor Bligh in the ABC Television production The Timeless Land. He had secondary roles in many other productions, including Something in the Air.

Barrett also appeared in such films as Don's Party and The Carmakers (about the 1973 release of the Leyland P76 car, co-starring Noel Ferrier and Nick Tate). In 2005, he received an Australian Film Institute Longford Life Achievement Award.

Death

Barrett died on 8 September 2009 at the Gold Coast Hospital in Southport, Queensland, aged 82, after suffering a brain haemorrhage. His final acting appearance had been in the 2008 film Australia.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Type
1954	The Desperate Women	Agent
1960	The Sundowners	Uncredited
1961	Touch of Death	Maxwell
1962	Edgar Wallace Mysteries: Time to Remember (aka Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre)	Sammy
1962	Mix Me a Person	Insp. Wagstaffe
1962	Jigsaw	Sgt. Gorman
1962	Scales of Justice: Moment of Decision		Anthology series, episode 3
1963	Edgar Wallace Mysteries: To Have and to Hold (aka: Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre)	Henry Fraser
1963	80,000 Suspects	Health Inspector Bennett
1964	Valley of the Kings	Mr. Marsh
1966	The Reptile	Harry George Spalding
1966	Thunderbirds Are Go	John Tracy / The Hood (voice)
1967	Just Like a Woman	Australian
1971	Revenge	Harry
1972	Peer Gynt	Button moulder
1973	Little Laura and Big John	Cates
1975	The Amorous Milkman	John
1975	The Hostages	Joe Blake
1976	Don's Party	Mal
1976	Let the Balloon Go	Dr. McLeod
1978	No Room to Run	Jack Deakin	TV movie
1978	The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith	Farrell
1979	Burn the Butterflies	Prime Minister	TV movie
1979	Tim	Man outside hotel (uncredited)
1980	The Earthling	Parnell
1980	Departmental		TV movie
1982	A Shifting Dreaming
1982	A Dangerous Summer	F.C.O. Webster
1983	Goodbye Paradise	Michael Stacy
1984	Where the Green Ants Dream	Cole
1984	Conferenceville		TV movie
1985	The Empty Beach	MacLeary
1985	Rebel	Bubbles
1985	Relatives	Geoffrey
1987	Frenchman's Farm	Harry Benson
1987	Contagion	Bael
1988	As Time Goes By	J.L. Weston
1990	Prisoners of the Sun (aka Blood Oath)	President of the Bench
1991	Waiting	Frank
1994	No Worries	Old Burkey
1995	Hotel Sorrento	Wal Moynihan
1995	Dad and Dave: On Our Selection	Dwyer
1995	Asian Connection: Old Flames
1996	Brilliant Lies	Brian Connor
1996	Hotel de Love	Jack Dunne
1997	Heaven's Burning	Cam
1998	In the Winter Dark	Maurice Stubbs
2002	Dalkeith	Tarquin St John Smythe
2003	Visitors	Bill Perry
2008	Australia	Ramsden (final film role)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Type
1957	The Adventures of Long John Silver	Paul	Series
1959	Educating Archie	Ray	Series
1960	Armchair Mystery Theatre	Detective-Sergeant Cullen	Anthology series
1960–62	Armchair Theatre	Alan Whint / Donnie / Ben	Anthology series
1960–61	Emergency Ward 10	Dr. Don Nolan	Series
1962	Out of This World	Dr. Alan Whint	Series
1962	Man of the World	Charlie West	Series
1963	The Avengers	Strong	Series
1963	Z-Cars	Len Wilson	Series
1963	ITV Playhouse	Larry Ransome	Play
1963	First Night	Frank Angelo	Series
1963–64	ITV Play of the Week	Sergeant Weston / Jack Bailey	Play
1963–64	Ghost Squad	Peter Clarke / Mr. Hicks	Series
1964	The Saint	Willie Kinsall	Series
1964–65	The Brothers Karamazov	Mitya Karamazov
1965	Doctor Who	Bennett / Koquillion	Series
1965	Thursday Theatre	Jacko	Anthology series
1964–65	Stingray	Commander Sam Shore / Sub-Lieutenant John Horatio Fisher / King Titan (voice)	Series
1962–65	Drama 61–67	Captain Murchison	Anthology series
1965	BBC Play of the Month	Knight	Anthology series
1965	Blackmail	Patek
1965	Gideon C.I.D.		Series
1963–65	No Hiding Place	Johnny Crown / Larry Hobbs	Series
1966	The Spies	Walker	Series
1966	The Man in Room 17	Al Gover	Series
1965–66	Thunderbirds	John Tracy / The Hood / Lieutenant Burroughs / Various characters (voice)	Series
1967	Till Death Us Do Part ('Till Closing Time us do Part ', episode)	Self	Series. (1 appearance).
1969	The Corbett Follies
1965–72	Mogul	Peter Thornton	Series
1972	Public Eye	Melville Hayden-Peters	Series
1974	Barlow at Large	Johnny Duchene	Series
1974	The Adventures of Black Beauty	T. Otis Waygood	Series
1964–74	Dixon of Dock Green	Phil Burgh / Nat Singer	Series
1974	Colditz	Flt. Lt. Jack Collins	Series
1974	The Double Dealers	Geoffrey Burch
1973	Churchill's People	Leo Hennessey	Series
1976	Arena	Col Burrows	Miniseries
1976	The Outsiders	Harry	Series
1976–77	Moynihan		Series
1978	Run from the Morning	Detective Sergeant Grogon	Miniseries, 6 episodes
1979	Golden Soak	Alec Hamilton	Miniseries
1980	The Timeless Land	Governor Bligh	Miniseries
1981	Levkas Man		Miniseries
1981	Sporting Chance	Robbo
1984	The Last Bastion	Gen. Thomas Blamey	Miniseries
1984	Five Mile Creek	Harry	Series
1984	Waterfront	Sam Elliott	Miniseries
1986	The Flying Doctors	Frank Watson	Series
1986	Tusitala	Harry Moors	Miniseries
1986	The Challenge	Robert McCullough	Miniseries
1989	G.P.	Rex Mitchell	Series. (2 episodes).
1990	The Paper Man	Maurice Grimm	Miniseries
1995	Correlli	Harry Powell	Series
1995	Bordertown	Colonel Forsythe	Miniseries
1996	Fire	Charles	Series
1997	Adrenaline Junkies
2000	Something in the Air	Len Taylor	Series
2000	Stingers	Mr. Rafferty	Series
2003	White Collar Blue	Barry Hill	Series
2003	After the Deluge	Old Cliff Kirby	Miniseries
2004	All Saints	Doc Connelly	Series. (1 episode).

External links

• Ray Barrett Collection 1927-2007, State Library of Queensland - Collection of papers, scrapbooks, visual and audiovisual material relating to the life and career of Ray Barrett.