
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, March 26, 1990                   TAG: 9003262021
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MANHASSET, N.Y.                                LENGTH: Medium

COMIC RAY GOULDING OF `BOB AND RAY' DIES

Ray Goulding, half of the Bob and Ray comedy team whose gentle satire on radio and television featured characters with wacky names, died in his sleep after a long battle with kidney failure, his son said. He was 68.

Goulding died around 6 a.m. Saturday at his home in this New York City suburb, said his son, Bryant Goulding.

Raymond Walter Goulding created the Bob and Ray Show with partner Bob Elliott as a radio act in Boston in the late 1940s.

The two brought their routine to New York City, where they did it on radio. In 1951, during televison's early days, they began appearing on the small screen.

Bob and Ray went on to appear in many radio and TV productions, motion pictures and commercials, including cartoon ads for Piels beer.

The pair created such characters as newsman Wally Ballou, the befuddled Mr. Science, Mary Backstage, Noble Wife; and Jack Headstrong, All-American American.

Goulding and Elliott met in 1946 at Boston radio station WHDH, where Elliott was a disc jockey and Goulding was a newscaster. Their early-morning quips soon put them in demand as a team.

After a few years in Boston, they moved to the NBC radio network, then to NBC television. They had shows in 1951, 1952 and 1953.

In 1955, they were co-hosts of "The Name's the Same," a game show in which a celebrity panel tried to guess the name of a contestant whose name was identical to a well-known person or famous event.

A new generation of TV viewers was treated to Bob and Ray appearances with "Saturday Night Live" stars Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman and Gilda Radner that included their own TV special.

They never stopped doing radio, performing on NBC, CBS, the Mutual network and public radio.

Goulding's films include "Cold Turkey" in 1969, and "Author! Author!" in 1982. He and Elliott appeared on Broadway in 1970 and 1971 in "The Two and Only."

The pair also wrote the books, "From Approximately Coast to Coast . . . It's the Bob And Ray Show" and "Write If You Get Work. The Best of Bob and Ray."

They received Grammy nominations for records in 1987 and 1988.

by CNB