Raymond George Alfred Cooney (born 30 May 1932) is an English playwright, actor, and director. His biggest success, Run for Your Wife (1983), ran for nine years in London's West End and is its longest-running comedy. He has had 17 of his plays performed there. Cooney began to act in 1946, appearing in many of the Whitehall farces of Brian Rix throughout the 1950s and 1960s. It was during this time that he co-wrote his first play, One For The Pot. With Tony Hilton, he co-wrote the screenplay for the British comedy film What a Carve Up! (1961), which features Sid James and Kenneth Connor. In 1968 and 1969, Cooney adapted Richard Gordon's Doctor novels for BBC radio, as series starring Richard Briers. He also took parts in them. Cooney has also appeared on TV and in several films, including a film adaptation of his successful theatrical farce Not Now, Darling (1973), which he co-wrote with John Chapman. In 1983, Cooney created the Theatre of Comedy Company and became its artistic director. During his tenure the company produced over twenty plays such as Pygmalion (starring Peter O'Toole and John Thaw), Loot and Run For Your Wife. He co-wrote a farce with his son Michael, Tom, Dick and Harry (1993). Cooney produced and directed the film Run For Your Wife (2012), based on his own play. The film however was not a success: it was savaged by critics and has been referred to as one of the worst films of all time. Cooney's farces combine a traditional British bawdiness with structural complication, as characters leap to assumptions, are forced to pretend to be things that they are not, and often talk at cross-purposes. He is greatly admired in France where he is known as "Le Feydeau Anglais", ("The English Feydeau"), in reference to the French farceur Georges Feydeau. Many of his plays have been first produced, or revived, at the Théâtre de la Michodière in Paris. In January 1975, Cooney was the subject of This Is Your Life when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at London's Savoy Hotel. In 2005, Cooney was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his services to drama. Cooney married Linda Dixon in 1962. One of their two sons, Michael, is a screenwriter. Source: Article "Ray Cooney" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Biography from TMDB.
- May 30, 1932 (94)
- London, England, UK
- Writer and actor, also director and producer
- 11 on MovieCove · 57 credits in all
What are Ray Cooney's films like?
Across their 8 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality and Power.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
A split, not a type: Ironic 2 · Wry 1 · Earnest 5
Light 6 · Serious 2 · Dark 0
Grounded 3 · Stylized 5 · Heightened 0
Gentle 2 · Charged 5 · Intense 1
A split, not a type: Steady 4 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 3
Straight-faced 2 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 5
Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 4 · Relentless 2
Casual 3 · Engaged 4 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 6 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 1
Resolved 6 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy6
- Bittersweet2
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Ray Cooney's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 6 of their 11 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (4).
Subscription and free streaming for Ray Cooney's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
57 credits, 11 with a MovieCove page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.
Tout Va Très Bien ! (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Moonlight Madness(2024)
Midcredits score: 12th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Not Now, Darling (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
Ektos eleghou... ola (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)
Espèces Menacées (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)
Mayday (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)
C'est encore mieux l'après-midi (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)
Kölcsönlakás (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)
Natale a 5 stelle(2018)
Midcredits score: 6th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 1st percentile of all films
Run for Your Wife(2012)
Midcredits score: 3rd percentile of all films
Out Of Order (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Außer Kontrolle (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Baby Baby, Balla Balla! (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
Chat et souris (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
Not Now, Sweetheart (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
Funny Money(2006)
Midcredits score: 22nd percentile of all films
Koita poios irthe! (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
Our... Kolotravas wants it. (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
Dure bi rot (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2004)
№13 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2003)
Impair et père (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2002)
Hrimata fantasmata (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2002)
Espèces menacées (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)
Midcredits score: 4th percentile of all films
Oti peite ypourge mou (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1999)
Out of Order (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)
Jack Frost(1997)
Midcredits score: 12th percentile of all films
Panique au Plazza (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1996)
Le vison voyageur (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1995)
One For the Pot (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1993)
Out of Order! (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1992)
Kuta och kör (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1992)
Pappie Hier Ben Ik (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1990)
Double mixte (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1989)
Wife Begins at 40 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1988)
Le Saut du lit (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1988)
C'est encore mieux l'après-midi (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1987)
Huwelijk In De Steigers (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1986)
Se devi dire una bugia dilla grossa (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1986)
Goeie Buren (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1986)
Move Over, Mrs. Markham (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1985)
Whose Life Is It Anyway?(1981)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films
There Goes the Bride(1980)
Midcredits score: 1st percentile of all films
Een Kus van een Rus (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1980)
Why Not Stay For Breakfast? (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1979)
Not Now, Comrade (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1976)
Not Now Darling (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1973)
Dial RIX (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1962)
Nothing Barred (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1961)
No Place Like Homicide!(1961)
Midcredits score: 61st percentile of all filmsThey Met in a City (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1961)
The Night We Got the Bird (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1960)
The Hand(1960)
Midcredits score: 7th percentile of all films
The Guinea Pig (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1948)
My Brother Jonathan (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1948)
På ville veier (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 55 titles, 54 of them dated from 1948 to 2025.
Biggest box office
Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981)
Highest rated
Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981)
Most popular right now
Run for Your Wife (2012)
Film career
- 2000Screen debut· Jack Frost 2: The Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Ray Cooney's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 7th percentile, the median of all 11; across their 8 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 12th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up1
- 50th to 74th1
- Below 25th9
Shape of the crowd
8 of their 11 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Loved1
- Universally Panned1
- Crowd Pleaser1
- Mixed8
Reviewers score the dialogue 40/100 and the plot and story 32/100 in their films, across 8 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Ray Cooney work with?
People who share at least 2 of Ray Cooney's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Leslie Greif shares the most, 2.
Directors
- Leslie GreifShared titles: 10 Rules for Sleeping Around (2013), Funny Money (2006)See all 2 shared titles with Leslie Greif
Writers
- Tony HiltonShared titles: No Place Like Homicide! (1961), The Hand (1960)See all 2 shared titles with Tony Hilton
Producers
- Harry BasilShared titles: 10 Rules for Sleeping Around (2013), Funny Money (2006)See all 2 shared titles with Harry Basil
- Herb NanasShared titles: 10 Rules for Sleeping Around (2013), Funny Money (2006)See all 2 shared titles with Herb Nanas
- Martin C. SchuteShared titles: Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981), There Goes the Bride (1980)See all 2 shared titles with Martin C. Schute