Roy Rich

'''Roy Rich''' (16 September 1911 – 24 March 1970)<ref name=BFI/> was a British broadcaster and film and theatre director.

==Life and career== Rich was born in Plymouth, Devon, the son of a music hall comedian. Educated at Dulwich College, southeast London, he became involved in acting at an early age, making his theatrical debut in 1923. He was subsequently involved in theatre for several years.<ref name=BFI/>

Rich was a pioneering broadcaster for the BBC, as one of the first radio DJs.<ref name=TimesObit/> During the Second World War, he was standing in as a news announcer when Broadcasting House was hit by a bomb during the 9:00 p.m. news broadcast.<ref name=GHobit/> He presented ''Children Calling Home'', a series of wartime radio broadcasts featuring conversations between evacuees and their parents.<ref name=SMH/> In 1964, he became head of BBC Light Entertainments (Sound), a post which he held until his retirement in 1967.<ref name=TimesObit/>

Rich died from cancer in hospital in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1970, aged 58.<ref name=BruceTimes/><ref name=TimesObit/> He was married to actress Brenda Bruce; they had twin daughters.<ref name=GH68/>

==Film and television credits== *''My Brother's Keeper'' (1948) - dialogue director *''Broken Journey'' (1948) - associate producer *''Miranda'' (1948) - associate producer *''It's Not Cricket'' (1949) - director *''Stranger from Venus'' (1954) - associate producer *''Double Profile'' (1954) - director *''The Sergeant and the Spy'' (1954) - director *''Phantom Caravan'' (1954) - director *''Rheingold Theatre'' (1955) - 6 episodes

==Theatre credits== *''Black and Blue'' (London Hippodrome, 1939) *''The Diary of a Scoundrel'' (The Garden Theatre, 1949) *''Castle in the Air'' (Adelphi Theatre, 1950) *''Thieves' Carnival'' (Arts Theatre, 1952) *''Hobson's Choice'' (Arts Theatre, 1952) *''As Long As They're Happy'' (King's Theatre, Glasgow, 1953) *''Trial and Error'' (King's Theatre, Glasgow, 1953)

==References== <references>

<ref name=BFI>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160308201431/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f4aabde/ Roy Rich] at the British Film Institute{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}}. Accessed 10 April 2014.</ref><ref name=BruceTimes>{{cite news|title=Brenda Bruce - Obituary|url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:UKNB:LTIB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=131FABBD961E3F28&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0FE85A3ED29CA2BC|newspaper=The Times|date=22 February 1996}}</ref> <ref name=GH68>{{cite news|last=Donaldson|first=Anne|title=Merry Wives of Windsor off-stage|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19681030&id=E9s9AAAAIBAJ&sjid=9UcMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1636,5884748|newspaper=The Glasgow Herald|date=30 October 1968}}</ref> <ref name=GHobit>{{cite news|title=Roy Rich, former radio star|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19700325&id=5ZRAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=C6UMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2897,5064140|newspaper=The Glasgow Herald|date=25 March 1970}}</ref> <ref name=SMH>{{cite news|title=Children's Two-Way Radio Talks|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19410520&id=JWlVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PpUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3295,2461263|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=20 May 1941}}</ref> <ref name=TimesObit>{{cite news|title=Obituary: Mr Roy Rich|url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=plymlib&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=CS236941945&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|newspaper=The Times|date=25 March 1970}}</ref>

</references>

==External links== *{{IMDb name|nm0723710}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rich, Roy}} Category:1911 births Category:1970 deaths Category:British broadcasters Category:Mass media people from Plymouth, Devon Category:People educated at Dulwich College Category:Deaths from cancer in England Category:British film directors Category:British radio DJs Category:British theatre directors Category:20th-century British musicians