Ray Barrett 1927-2009

[philips]

From The Australian, September 8:

VETERAN actor Ray Barrett died suddenly this morning at the Gold Coast Hospital in Queensland from a brain haemorrhage. He was 82.



Barrett's wife Gaye said the actor suffered from chronic low-blood pressure which in recent weeks had led to several falls.



He took a tumble during the night and again at 6am this morning. After that fall he was taken to hospital where he died 30 minutes later.



The entertainment fraternity is shocked at news of Barrett's death.



Andrew Knight, who wrote and produced After the Deluge, in which Barrett appeared as Old Cliff Kirby, said on hearing the news, “Oh no, I was about to go up and see him”.



The actor' appeared alongside fellow legends John Hargreaves and Graham Kennedy in the screen adaptation of John Williamson's play Don's Party although he is perhaps most famous for his role in director Fred Schepisi's The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, for which he won an AFI Award for best actor.



Barrett was better known in recent years for a string of television appearances in series as diverse as Something in the Air, All Saints and White Collar Blue.

[Dave Rattigan]

...but probably most beloved of British film fans for his starring role in Hammer's The Reptile (1966), of course.



Thanks for this news.

[smudge]

More sad news. Excellent in his Edgar Wallace 'To Have And To Hold' amongst many other things...



Respect.



Smudge

[wadsy]

A fine actor. There's a great little Aussie film called "In The Winter Dark" & he



is superb in it. R.I.P. Ray!!

[julian_craster]

I remember Ray as a regular with Geoffrey Keen and Philip Latham in THE TROUBLESHOOTERS (Mogul), the oil company drama on BBC tv, as well as the Edgar Wallace film TO HAVE AND TO HOLD.....R.I.P. Ray

[David Brent]

He was one of my favourite Aussie actors.



An excellent performer in whatever he appeared in. He appeared in the film 'Australia' just last year.



With 'Bud' Tingwell also leaving us in May it has been a bad year for losing iconic Aussie actors.



Dave.

[mrs_emma_peel]

Very sad news indeed …

Ray Barrett was one of my favourite Australian actors … a superb actor … I particularly remember Ray as the rugged Peter Thornton, Operations Manager, Queensland born international troubleshooter and James Bond like field agent from the BBC’s classic The Troubleshooters series and as Alec Hamilton in the excellent Australian mini-series based on the Hammond Innes thriller Golden Soak.

RIP Ray

[batman]

A great actor, one of Australia's best ever screen actors IMHO. he was outstanding in many roles, my faves being .... The Troubleshooters, Revenge, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, The Empty Beach, several Edgar Wallace films and the magnificent Don's Party. He was also, of course, the voice of John Tracy and The Hood in Thunderbirds.

[Santonix]

A really good actor so sad to see him leave us. R.I.P. Ray

[catflap]

I can highly recommend his autobiography, if you can find it.

[troubleshooter]

A fine actor was Ray Barrett. His skill added much to The Troubleshooters. RIP

[John Llewellyn Moxey]

God Bless Ray. Another good friend and fine actor lost.



John

[smudge]

He was also, of course, the voice of John Tracy and The Hood in Thunderbirds.

And Titan in STINGRAY, was he not...?



Smudge

[batman]

And Titan in STINGRAY, was he not...?



Smudge

Not sure about Titan, but I'd forgotten he was the voice of Cmmdr Shore!

[troubleshooter]

Screen hard man dies at 82

Clare Morgan Arts Editor

September 9, 2009

The Sydney Morning Herald



THE veteran Australian actor Ray Barrett died yesterday after suffering a brain hemorrhage. He was 82.



Barrett had suffered from chronic low blood pressure which had caused several falls in recent weeks. After his most recent fall he was taken to the Gold Coast Hospital but died soon after. Famous for his craggy features, piercing gaze and smooth voice, Barrett made a career out of playing hard men on screen.



But the writer Peter Corris, who worked with Barrett on the actor's 1995 autobiography, said yesterday that was merely an actor's skill.



''He was quite a quiet, civilised bloke who enjoyed the good things of life,'' Corris said.



''He hadn't had a hard upbringing, his family circumstances were comfortable, but like all actors he'd been through periods of struggle and rejection, so he was able to project a tough image when it was called for.''



Apart from their interview sessions, Corris and Barrett had the occasional meal and ''did a bit of drinking together as well as playing a bit of golf''.



''He'd been an excellent golfer. Although he was a bit rusty you could see that he had a wonderful swing. I'm a hacker but he was very tolerant of me.''



Barrett had key roles in David Williamson's Don's Party, playing the larrikin Cooley in the West End production in 1975 and the brooding Mal in the 1976 film, and in Brilliant Lies on stage and screen, playing the boozy Brian.



Williamson said yesterday: ''It's a cliche but he's one of those actors you couldn't take your eyes off - there was something magnetic about him.''



Brian had been a minor character in Brilliant Lies until Williamson was told Barrett was playing the role.



''He's such a great actor, I thought I'd have to think of something better for him,'' Williamson said.



''The father became a central figure and I think he ended up a much darker, more complex figure than he would have been if Ray hadn't done the role.''



Barrett won Australian Film Institute awards for his roles in The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Goodbye Paradise and Hotel Sorrento and in 2005 he was the recipient of the institute's Raymond Longford Award.



In recent years he appeared in numerous television series, including Something in the Air, All Saints and White Collar Blue as well as the telemovie After the Deluge, winning a silver Logie as most outstanding actor in a drama series.



His last role was in Baz Luhrmann's Australia.



Barrett is survived by his widow, Gaye, and children Reg, John and Suellen.

[mallee59]

RIP Ray

Another good actor

mallee

[Gerald Lovell]

And Titan in STINGRAY, was he not...?



Smudge

Yes, he was the voice of Titan. I remember Ray best from THE TROUBLESHOOTERS and as Bennett/Koquillion in DOCTOR WHO.

[Lord Brett]

Not sure about Titan, but I'd forgotten he was the voice of Cmmdr Shore!

Yes, he was Titan as well. I'll be doing an obituary on him in the next week, and I'll be sure to post a copy here.

[Gerald Lovell]

I think Ray was in a Christmas episode of TILL DEATH US DO PART, playing himself (alongside Kenny Lynch) and Alf Garnett harangued him in the pub about his pock-marked face. He suggested Ray fill in the holes with polyfilla . . .

[julian_craster]

Veteran Australian actor Ray Barrett dies

Ray Barrett, the veteran Australian actor who became a star of British television in the 1960s, has died, aged 82.



Veteran Australian actor Ray Barrett dies - Telegraph

09 Sep 2009





Barrett's last film role was as the character Ramsden in director Baz Luhrmann's movie "Australia," released last year. The octogenarian, who was aged 80 when the film was in production, filmed several scenes for the blockbuster in the searing outback heat.



Jane Cameron, his agent, said Barrett died in hospital on Tuesday from a brain haemorrhage he suffered after a fall at his home at the Gold Coast in Queensland.



"He was an extraordinarily good actor who loved doing it," Ms Cameron said. "He was such a skilled actor that he was always a very solid presence on the screen."



Raymond Charles Barrett was born in the Queensland capital Brisbane on May 2, 1927. He moved to England in the late 1950s and starred in the long-running British television series "The Troubleshooters" in the 1960s.



Cameron said Barrett did a wide range of acting work in the United Kingdom for almost 20 years, including voices for the iconic puppet television series "Thunderbirds," before he returned to Australia in the mid-1970s.



In Australia, he became a prominent player in a rejuvenated Australian film industry. He received one of Australia's greatest acting accolades, an Australian Film Industry Award for Best Supporting Actor, for his role in director Fred Schepisi's 1978 film "The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith."



Barrett suffered from chronic low blood pressure, which had led to several falls in the last two weeks.



Barrett is survived by his third wife, Gaye, a daughter from his first marriage, Suellen, and two sons from his second marriage, Reg and John.