Max Geldray

Max Geldray was born on February 12, 1916 in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands as Max van Gelder.

He developed love of jazz music after hearing Louis Armstrong on the radio in 1928; Geldray later wrote "how could anyone not love its energy, its vitality and the freedom of its form? And Louis Armstrong among all the players, became something special to me".

In February 1930 Geldray heard a mouth organ player on BBC Radio and mentioned the performance to a friend, Hans Mossel, owner of a music shop in Amsterdam; Mossel had ordered a chromatic harmonica the previous week and gave it to Geldray, who practised assiduously.

In 1937 he worked with a dance band in The Hague, before joining in Belgium the house band at the Ostend Casino, the Johnny Fresno Band He would meet a number of influential acts who were booked to play the casino on occasion, including saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, the English bandleader Ambrose and French bandleader Ray Ventura. Ventura soon offered Geldray a job and in 1937 Geldray moved to Paris. While in Paris, he went to the Hot Club de France and played with jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, a musician about whom Geldray asserts, "I can honestly say that I have never heard anyone better".

With the invasion of France by German forces in early 1940, Geldray travelled to England, where he realised he would be safer. On 20 September 1940 he joined the Royal Netherlands Motorized Infantry Brigade, part of the Dutch army exiled in England.

During the war he continued to play and appeared on BBC Radio; in 1942 he was part of the entertainment laid on for Princess Elizabeth's sixteenth birthday at Windsor Castle.

During the course of 1942 Geldray also met Sarah Prentice, a 26-year-old Scottish variety artiste, whose professional name was Zaza Peters; the couple married on 18 January 1943.

Was a regular performer on the BBC radio comedy show "The Goon Show" during the 1950s.

In 1956 Geldray appeared in three television comedy shows produced by ITV and starring the Goons: The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d (broadcast 24 February - 23 April 1956) A Show Called Fred (broadcast 2-30 May 1956) and Son of Fred (broadcast 17 September - 5 November 1956).

In 1957 he released an album, Goon with the Wind, which was produced by George Martin and released on the Parlophone label.

In 1958 the BBC proposed dropping Geldray from The Goon Show in a cost-cutting measure; Peter Sellers threatened to leave the series, and Geldray remained.

He was an actor and composer, known for BBC Sunday-Night Play (1960), The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d (1956) and Son of Fred (1956).

In 1962 he met a divorcee with three children, Susan Donofrio; the couple married that year, and in 1964 they had a son, Philip.

In 1972 Geldray returned to the UK to appear in The Last Goon Show of All, a special programme recorded on 30 April and broadcast on 5 October 1972 to mark the 50th anniversary of the BBC. When the BBC refused to pay to fly Geldray from the US, two of the show's cast-Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers-contributed to his expenses. After the performance, at the Camden Theatre, Princess Margaret came backstage and asked if she could be introduced to Geldray as she was an admirer of his playing.

In 1973 Geldray and his family moved to Palm Springs to look after his ailing stepfather; he also played harmonica in the local Trinidad Bar. A local doctor approached him after one set and asked if Geldray would put on a show at his stroke centre, which led to Geldray undertaking voluntary work teaching stroke victims to play the harmonica.

In 1989 Geldray published his autobiography, Goon With the Wind, using the same title as he had for his 1957 album.