Charles Ray

Born: 1891-03-15 in Jacksonville, Illinois, USA

Died: 1943-11-23

Known For: Acting

Biography

From Wikipedia Charles Edgar Ray (March 15, 1891 – November 23, 1943) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. Ray rose to fame during the mid-1910s portraying young wholesome hicks in silent comedy films. Ray was born in Jacksonville, Illinois and moved to Springfield as a child where he attended elementary school. He then moved to Arizona for a time before finally relocating to Los Angeles where he finished his education. He initially began his career on the stage before working for director Thomas H. Ince as a film extra in December 1912. He appeared in several bit parts before moving on to supporting roles. Ray's break came in 1915 when he appeared opposite Frank Keenan in the historical war drama The Coward. Ray's popularity increased after appearing in a series of films which cast him in juvenile roles, primarily young hicks or "country bumpkins" that foiled the plans of thieves or con men. In March 1917, he signed with Paramount Pictures and resumed working with director Thomas H. Ince. By 1920, he was earning a reported $11,000 a week. Around this time, he left Paramount after studio head Adolph Zukor refused to give him a pay raise. Zukor later wrote in his autobiography The Public Is Never Wrong, that Ray's ego had gotten out of hand and that Ray "...was headed for trouble and did not care to be with him when he found it." After leaving Paramount, Ray formed his own production company, Charles Ray Productions, and also used his fortune to purchase a studio in Los Angeles where he began producing and shooting his own films. On November 23, 1943, Ray died of a mouth and throat infection at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles for which he had been hospitalized six weeks prior. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Charles Ray has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6355 Hollywood Boulevard.

Filmography

1961

The Legend of Rudolph Valentino as Self (archive footage)

1943

Slightly Dangerous as Opera patron (uncredited)

1942

Mrs. Miniver as Man getting on Bus (uncredited)
Rio Rita as Hotel Guest (uncredited)
The Mad Martindales as Barbershop Customer (uncredited)

1941

Appointment for Love as Butler (uncredited)
The Lady from Cheyenne as Bit Role
The Man Who Lost Himself as (uncredited)

1936

Hollywood Boulevard as Charlie Smith - Assistant Director

1935

Welcome Home as Andrew Carr
Just My Luck as Homer Crow

1934

Ladies Should Listen as Henri
School for Girls as Duke
Ticket to a Crime as Courtney Mallory
By Your Leave as Leonard Purcell
The Camera Speaks as Self (archive footage)

1931

The House That Shadows Built as (archive footage)
Stars of Yesterday as Self

1928

The Count of Ten as Johnny McKinney
The Garden of Eden as Richard Dupont

1927

Vanity as Lt. Lloyd Van Courtland
Getting Gertie's Garter as Ken Walrick
The American as Bill Smith
Nobody's Widow as Honorable John Clayton

1926

The Fire Brigade as Terry O'Neil
Sweet Adeline as Ben Wilson
The Auction Block as Bob Wharton
Paris as Jerry

1925

Percy as Percival Rogeen
Some Pun'kins as Lem Blossom
Bright Lights as Tom Corbin

1924

Dynamite Smith as Gladstone Smith

1923

The Girl I Loved as John Middleton
The Courtship of Miles Standish as John Alden

1922

Alias Julius Caesar as Billy Barnes
A Tailor-Made Man as John Paul Bart
The Deuce of Spades as Amos
Gas, Oil and Water as George Oliver Watson

1921

Scrap Iron as John Steel
Two Minutes to Go as Chester Burnett
The Old Swimmin' Hole as Ezra Hull

1920

Peaceful Valley as Hosiah Howe
An Old Fashioned Boy as David Warrington
A Village Sleuth as William Wells
Paris Green as Luther Green
Alarm Clock Andy as Andrew Gray
Homer Comes Home as Homer Cavender
45 Minutes from Broadway as Kid Burns

1919

Crooked Straight as Ben Trimble
Red Hot Dollars as Tod Burke
The Busher as Ben Harding
The Egg Crate Wallop as Jim Kelly
Hay Foot, Straw Foot as Ulysses S. Grant Briggs
Bill Henry as Bill Henry Jenkins
Greased Lightning as Andy Fletcher
The Girl Dodger as Cuthbert Trotman
The Sheriff's Son as Royal Beaudry

1918

His Own Home Town as Jimmy Duncan
A Nine O'Clock Town as David Clary
The Family Skeleton as Billy Bates
String Beans as Toby Watkins
The Claws of the Hun as John Stanton
Playing the Game as Larry Prentiss
The Hired Man as Ezry Hollins
Staking His Life as Frank Hamilton
The Law of the North as Alain de Montcalm

1917

Skinner's Dress Suit
Back of the Man as Larry Thomas
Sudden Jim as James Ashe, Jr.
The Clodhopper as Everett Nelson
The Weaker Sex as Jack Harding
His Mother's Boy as Matthew Denton
The Millionaire Vagrant as Steven Du Peyster
The Pinch Hitter as Joel Parker
The Son of His Father as Gordon Carbhoy

1916

Home as Bob Wheaton
The Honorable Algy as The Honorable Algy
Peggy as Colin Cameron
A Corner in Colleens as Richard Taylor
Plain Jane as Mr. 'John Sophomore Adams'
The Dividend as Frank Steele
Honor Thy Name
The Wolf Woman as Rex Walden
The Deserter as Lieutenant Parker

1915

The Cup of Life as John Ward
The Coward as Frank Winslow
The Conversion of Frosty Blake as Reverend Horace Brightray
The Forbidden Adventure as Cecil Weatherby
The Lure of Woman as Captain Lane
The Grudge as Dick Wayne
The Renegade as Captain Marley
In the Tennessee Hills as Jim Carson

1914

For Her Brother's Sake as John Frye - the Brother
The City of Darkness as Donald Warner - the Governor's Brother
The Gangsters and the Girl as Detective John Stone

1913

The Buried Past as Tom Winters - the Lover
The Quakeress as John Hart - the Schoolmaster
The Transgressor as Jim
The Boomerang as Lt. Calhoun
The Grey Sentinel as Hal Peters
Old Mammy's Secret Code as David
For Mother's Sake as Jim