Max Geldray

Best known for providing musical interludes for the BBC radio comedy programme The Goon Show, he was also credited as being the first harmonica player to embrace the jazz style.

Geldray was born in the Netherlands and played jazz in the United Kingdom, Belgium, France and his home country, before settling in Britain at the outbreak of the Second World War; he was wounded during the Invasion of Normandy.

After The Goon Show series ended, Geldray settled in the US, where he worked as an entertainer in the Reno casinos alongside performers such as Sarah Vaughan and Billy Daniels.

[2] While in Paris, he went to the Hot Club de France and played with jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt,[1] a musician about whom Geldray asserted, "I can honestly say that I have never heard anyone better".

[16][a] 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.

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

[2] Geldray took part in the Normandy landings with the Prinses Irene Brigade, but was injured by a bomb blast and spent time in a military hospital.

[1][15] Settling in London, Geldray took up British citizenship,[19] and worked on a number of BBC radio programmes, such as Workers' Playtime, Melody Magazine and Forces' All-Star Bill.

[1][13] In 1951, he provided the musical interludes for a new BBC series Crazy People, a comedy show that starred Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, and Michael Bentine.

[15] Geldray worked in the casinos of Reno, appearing with Sarah Vaughan and Billy Daniels; he did not like the city, so returned to Los Angeles.

[15] 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.

[2] 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.