Raymond Sargent

Raymond Sargent
Born Leslie Raymond Thomas
(1952-10-02)2 October 1952
Poole, Dorset, England
Died 9 March 2008(2008-03-09) (aged 55)
Other names Raymond Thomas
Occupation Actor, musician and dramatist
Spouse(s) Julia Thomas
Website http://www.raymondsargent.com

Raymond Sargent (2 October 1952 – 9 March 2008) was a critically acclaimed[1][2][3][4] British actor, musician and dramatist.

Early life

Along with his sister Jean, he was born in the town of Poole, Dorset to a mother from Lancashire and Poole father.

Career

Following several years of study as an electro-mechanic instrument mechanic, then an instrument maker Raymond discovered a passion for drama when his future wife Julia Banwell introduced him to amateur dramatics. He then studied acting professionally at Mountview Theatre School in London.[5]

Theatre

He toured for two years from 1994–1996 with the highly successful nationally touring musical production of The Buddy Holly Story playing Norman Petty and Jack Daw, he also played parts in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Rhinoceros! and Hard Times.[5]

Television

During his early career he played small parts in television programmes such as Only Fools and Horses, Miss Marple, cult programmes The Two Ronnies, Blake's 7 and Doctor Who. He later played larger parts in 'Let's Roll- The Story of Flight 93' and 'Time Tourists'. He also appeared in several television advertisements and training videos.[5][6]

Film

Raymond performed in many student films throughout his career including several for local filmmaker Jamie Shearing.[7]

Music

Raymond was a self-taught musician playing the saxophone, guitar, recorder, accordion, bagpipes, piano and flute amongst other instruments. He played in medieval trio the Wimborne Minstrels, with Charles Spicer and Phil Humphries and in a ceilidh band called No Strings Attached.[8] Raymond wrote original music for his one-man shows and for other projects such as the 'New Music for the River Stour' project, which was performed in Wimborne, Dorset by a local choir.[9]

Dramatisations

Raymond was best known for touring his one-man shows nationally. From 2002 onwards.[5] He performed theatrical adaptations of The Three Strangers by Thomas Hardy and The Signalman by Charles Dickens as halves of his production 'Two Victorian Tales'.[3] He also performed an original dramatisation of T. E. Lawrence's last years and his relationship with Thomas Hardy.

Dance

Raymond was an experienced folk dance 'caller' and applied the skills used for his one-man shows to ceilidh dancing to dance, providing lower cost folk dances by accompanying self-created backing tracks on his saxophone, demonstrating and instructing or 'calling' dances by himself. These were known as 'Track Ceilidhs'. Raymond provided the choreography for LWT's television adaptation of The Mayor of Casterbridge, which he was also an extra in along with his wife Julia, and daughter Laura.[5]

Writing

Raymond held educational workshops on adapting written material for the stage, original script writing, theatre skills, public address and poetry writing.[10][11] He also read poetry for BBC Radio 4's Poetry Please.

References

  1. ↑ Sheila Tracy (12 July 2006). "The Stage / Reviews / Two Victorian Tales". Thestage.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
  2. ↑ "The British Theatre Guide : Reviews – Two Victorian Tales (Customs House, South Shields, and Touring)". Britishtheatreguide.info. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
  3. 1 2 "Raymond Sargent's "Two Victorian Tales"". Raymondsargent.com. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
  4. ↑ Raymond Sargent. "Raymond Sargent's "The Warrior and The Poet"". Raymondsargent.com. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Raymond Sargent. "Biography". Raymond Sargent. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
  6. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2436988/
  7. ↑ "In My Head (2008)". Imdb.com. 26 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
  8. ↑ Raymond Sargent. "The Wimborne Minstrels". Raymondsargent.com. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
  9. ↑ "New Music for the River Stour". Commonground.org.uk. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
  10. ↑ Raymond Sargent. "Ray's Educational Services and Workshops". Raymondsargent.com. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
  11. ↑ "Mere Literary Festival 2004 Programme". Merelitfest.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
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