The Sun, 23 February 2002, by Jon Peake.
"Young at Heart. Gary is in crisis as the middle-aged men 
behaving badly grow old disgracefully. "
-----------------------------------------------------------

Along with his 40-something pals, *Manchild*'s Gary, played 
by Ray Burdis, is going through a difficult stage. Teenager 
Wayne (Jamie Sweeney) thinks his dad is a total loser who's 
under the thumb of his shrewish wife Cheryl (Lindsey 
Coulson). And though Gary's a successful businessman, "the 
timber-decking king of England," he's beginning to believe 
him.

"He thinks he's lost his son," explains 43-year-old Ray.

"But Wayne's just acting like all kids his age. I was like 
that with my dad. I was embarrassed by him. Gary thinks his 
son is mocking him and it goes back to how he was treated by 
his own father.

"They had a terrible relationship. He probably abused him 
mentally. Gary inherited his business and now he's in his 
40's, he's got all this money and has nothing to spend it 
on."

Gary can't help but envy girl-chasing Terry (Nigel Havers), 
in-the-money Patrick (Don Warrington) and newly "endowed" 
James (Anthony Head), who all seem to be having lots of fun 
with no strings attached.

"Gary constantly doubts his marriage," says Ray, who lives 
in London with his wife Jacqui, son Sky, 12, and daughter 
Brooke, who's seven.

"But when he goes after something else, he realises what 
he's got. If Cheryl ever left, he'd kill himself. He 
couldn't survive without her."

Ray admits playing Gary is not too far removed from his own 
world.

"A lot of Gary's insecurities are mine, too," he confesses.

"I let Jacqui read the script to cast a woman's eye over it 
and she agreed!" 

Ray's impressive string of credits as 
actor/writer/producer/director could fill a magazine on 
their own, but highlights include the films Scum, Love, 
Honour And Obey, The Krays, and the comedy series Three Up 
Two Down.

It all started at the Anna Scher stage school in north 
London, where Ray's contemporaries included Pauline Quirke, 
Linda Robson, Gillian Taylforth and Phil Daniels.

But despite acting since he was a child, Ray has banned his 
son from following in his footsteps - for now.

"A lot of child actors waste their childhood," he says. 
"Acting is a job of work - it's like sending your kid up a 
chimney. There's plenty of time to get old."



-----------------------------------------------------------
                     Bentley's Bedlam
            http://www.BetsyDa.com/bedlam.html

This website is for information and entertainment purposes only 
and is not intended to infringe on copyrights held by others.