Actor Ray Emmet Brown
Ray Emmet Brown parent’s hail from Jamaica. He was born in Manchester and has had a varied career in media. He always knew he wanted to be an actor and from the age of 10 had joined a theatre group in Moss Side.
Unfortunately the group never got to put on a play but the seeds were sown. He joined hospital radio at the age of 15 playing songs that ailing patients had requested and soon after failing most of his exams got a place at Drama school in London. Since leaving Drama school he has had lead parts in the Theatre doing classical plays as well as modern ones.
He won The Manchester Evening News Theatre Award for best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of an American teenager growing up in an abusive household in Generations of the Dead in the Abyss of Coney Island Madness. He went on to do television and film playing lead roles in Prime Suspect 5 with Helen Mirren, Butterfly Collectors with the late Pete Postlethwaite, Born to Run with Keith Allen, and has acted opposite the likes of Bill Nighy, Alan Rickman and the late Natasha Richardson in the film BlowDry.
He was nominated as best newcomer in the Screen Nation Awards for his portrayal of the idealistic young Lawyer Theo Gulliver in the BBC series Outlaws in which he starred opposite Phil Daniels. He has written poetry that has been broadcast on TV and more recently has been seen acting in Life on Mars, Paradox, Law and Order and Emmerdale.
He has since returned to education and retrained as a lawyer, qualifying as a barrister at Law from the Inns of Court School of Law so when he is not working in media he is working in criminal law as a Duty Solicitor.
Ray has been to Jamaica on several occasions and states that because his parents had sacrificed a lot to come over here and make a better life for the family it was always his driving ambition to make them proud as well as honouring his late mother’s motto which was, ‘You can be whatever you want to be in life, you just have to believe in yourself and don’t let anybody tell you any different’. R.I.P. Mum.
Currently he can be seen at the National Theatre playing Prince in the hit show Moon on A Rainbow Shawl.
Errol John’s evocatively titled Moon on a Rainbow Shawl. Written in 1953, this definitive ‘yard play’ was a historic breakthrough for Caribbean playwrights in Britain. Actor Ray Emmet Brown making his debut at the national in this production and playing the part of ‘Prince’ a preening lover who provides raucous comedy.
“Its great to be working at the national and to be working on such a fantastic production with such a brilliant cast”. Born in Manchester to Jamaican Parents it has to been a great opportunity to play a character from a different part of the Caribbean and getting to grips with the Trinidadian accent which has such a rhythmical richness and quality.
A production which must been seen by all!! I feel privileged to be part of it!”
The production runs until early June 2012.
