Ray Norman

Ray Norman was born on May 18, 1946, in Prittlewell, on England’s Essex Coast, and grew up in Ilford, on the of edge of London. His mother Phyllis was a piano teacher who taught Ray how to play, and his father, Christopher, a former freewheeling sailor who took a job in a law firm in order to provide for his family. By age five, it was apparent that Ray had inherited an independent and venturesome streak from his dad. Though he was told to cross the street while holding his mother’s hand, a neighbour discovered him crossing back and forth, over and over, to prove he could go it alone.