quartet were Dick Katz (piano) and Coleridge Goode (bass). When guitarist Caton moved on he was succeeded in turn by Laurie Deniz, Australian Don Fraser and Judd Proctor, who was a member of the quartet for six years from July 1955. Early in The Goon Shows run, there were many jokes linking Ellington to the African nation of Ghana, thus leading Ellington to say that he came from Ghana. Ellington's recording of "The Madison" reached No. 36 in the UK Singles Chart in November 1962. He was married to Anita West, who was to become the second female presenter of Blue Peter when she replaced Leila Williams, but she only lasted a few months in this role. They had had two young children (Lance and Nina) when the marriage ended in divorce. Ray's son Lance Ellington is a singer who has recorded several jazz-orientated albums, and is one of the backing singers in the BBC show Strictly Come Dancing. Lance Ellington also appeared in tributes to Peter Sellers, in the film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, where he played his father, and took his father's part in the Goon Show "50th Anniversary Cardboard Replica" first broadcast on 12 April 2001, the day after Harry Secombe died. Ray Ellington died of cancer on 27 February 1985. References Citations Sources Oxford Dictionary of National Biography External links The Spike Milligan Tribute Site The Spike Milligan Appreciation Society 1915 births 1985 deaths English male singers English drummers British male drummers English Jews English people of African-American descent English people of Russian-Jewish descent African-American Jews Jewish jazz musicians Jewish singers Golders Green Crematorium 20th-century English singers 20th-century drummers The Goon Show 20th-century British male singers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force Physical Training instructors