Beloved actor and narrator of Mr Benn dies peacefully at 86 after a short illness

Ray Brooks, the British actor whose career spanned groundbreaking social dramas, soap operas, and a beloved children’s cartoon, has died aged 86. His family confirmed he passed away peacefully on Saturday after a short illness, with loved ones by his side.

Brooks, whose voice became synonymous with the cult 1970s animated series Mr Benn, had been living with dementia in recent years. In a statement shared with the BBC, his sons Will and Tom paid tribute to their father’s passions: “His 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.”

For many, Brooks will forever be the voice of Mr Benn, the quietly magical BBC cartoon that followed a bowler-hatted man on fantastical adventures triggered by costumes in a mysterious shop. Only 13 episodes were produced, yet the series was repeated twice a year for over two decades, embedding itself in the childhood memories of generations.

In a 2017 interview, Brooks reflected on the enduring affection for Mr Benn: “Grandmas come up to me and say their grandchildren are fed up with today’s cartoons, but they love the simplicity of Mr Benn – the fact that he’s very moral, always sorting out people’s problems, including dragons.” He admitted he had turned down other animated offers, with the notable exception of Rupert the Bear, which he wryly described as “the worst thing I’ve ever done.”

Brooks’ on-screen work was as varied as it was prolific. In the 1960s, he appeared in The Knack … And How To Get It, the Richard Lester comedy that won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival in 1965. Just a year later, he starred in Ken Loach’s searing social drama Cathy Come Home, a BBC production filmed in a documentary style that exposed the realities of Britain’s housing crisis. The programme shocked the nation, influencing public debate on homelessness and later being ranked by the British Film Institute as the second-best British television programme ever made, behind Fawlty Towers.

Television audiences of the 1980s knew Brooks as Robbie Box in the BBC comedy-drama Big Deal, a charming yet flawed gambler juggling his betting habit with his relationship with Jan, played by Sharon Duce.

Soap fans saw him in Coronation Street as Norman Phillips, and later in EastEnders, where he took on one of his most controversial roles as Joe Macer. The character’s storyline gripped viewers when Joe killed Pauline Fowler, one of the show’s longest-standing and most iconic characters.

Throughout his career, Brooks had an ability to slip between light and shade – from the warmth of children’s narration to gritty portrayals of troubled men. His work earned admiration not just for his range but for the humanity he brought to every role.

In his later years, Brooks spoke candidly about the changing nature of television and his enduring affection for the simplicity of earlier storytelling. While his on-screen appearances became less frequent, his legacy continued through the repeated broadcasts of Mr Benn and the cultural impact of Cathy Come Home.

He is survived by his sons Will and Tom, and by the countless viewers and listeners who grew up with his voice and his performances. For them, Brooks was more than an actor – he was a fixture of British cultural life, capable of stirring both laughter and deep reflection.