Christopher Wray (actor)

Christopher John David Wray (8 March 1940 – 12 September 2014) was an English actor and businessman.[1]

Christopher Wray
Born
Christopher John David Wray

(1940-03-08)8 March 1940
Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died12 September 2014(2014-09-12) (aged 74)
Alma materItalia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts
Occupation(s)Actor and businessman
Years active1957–2014
Known forChristopher Wray Lighting Emporium
TelevisionZ-Cars (1962–1964)
Doctor Who (1971–1972)
Emmerdale (1972–1973)

Early life and education

He was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, North Riding of Yorkshire, and educated at Abingdon School in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, from 1951-1957.[2] He was a keen actor at the school appearing in the School Productions, which included playing Bob Acres in The Rivals during 1956.[3]

Career

In the late 1950s he trained as an actor at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London and for the next few years found roles in British television productions such as Lowe in the episode "I Dies from Love" in Upstairs, Downstairs, Seaman Lovell and PC Groom in Doctor Who, PC Anderson in Z-Cars and PC Ball in Emmerdale.

During the actors’ strike in the early 1960s he started selling old lamps in the Chelsea Antiques Market, and this developed into a lighting business with a shop on the King's Road in London known as the Christopher Wray Lighting Emporium. This became the flagship store of a business with around 20 shops in other towns and cities, including the Christopher Wray Lighting works in Birmingham.

The lighting business became so successful that he gave up on his acting career early in the 1970s following appearances in Emmerdale and The Adventures of Black Beauty in 1973.[4]

See also

References
  1. "Christopher Wray - obituary". The Telegraph. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  2. "Valete et Salvete" (PDF). The Abingdonian.
  3. "The Rivals" (PDF). The Abingdonian.
  4. "Christopher Wray (I) (1940-2014)". IMDb. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
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