Later Years
Ray Smith died at the age of 55 in Llandough Hospital after a major heart attack. He had been shooting one of the last scenes in the television adaptation of Kingsley Amis' novel The Old Devils. Taken ill on location in Newport, Ray was driven to hospital but checked himself out after a few hours because he did not want to hold up the production. Ironically the scenes that were being shot in Newport involved the death of Amis' main character Alun Weaver (played by John Stride).
Ray Smith died before the series was shown on BBC2. An onscreen credit by director Tristram Powell, producer Adrian Mourby and writer Andrew Davies dedicated the series to Ray Smith. This final performance as Charlie, the good-hearted alcoholic sage, won him a posthumous BAFTA Cymru Award (Best Actor) in 1992.
His son was the musician Huw Justin Smith, a.k.a. Pepsi Tate.
Read more about this topic: Ray Smith (actor)
Famous quotes containing the word years:
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