Charles Ray
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- March 15, 1891
- Died
- November 23, 1943
- Birthplace
- Jacksonville, Illinois, USA
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
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino 1961
as Self (archive footage)
Slightly Dangerous 1943
as Opera patron (uncredited)
Mrs. Miniver 1942
as Man getting on Bus (uncredited)
The Mad Martindales 1942
as Barbershop Customer (uncredited)
Rio Rita 1942
as Hotel Guest (uncredited)
Appointment for Love 1941
as Butler (uncredited)
The Lady from Cheyenne 1941
as Bit Role
The Man Who Lost Himself 1941
as (uncredited)
Hollywood Boulevard 1936
as Charlie Smith - Assistant Director
Just My Luck 1935
as Homer Crow
Welcome Home 1935
as Andrew Carr
Ticket to a Crime 1934
as Courtney Mallory
By Your Leave 1934
as Leonard Purcell
The Camera Speaks 1934
as Self (archive footage)
Ladies Should Listen 1934
as Henri
School for Girls 1934
as Duke
Stars of Yesterday 1931
as Self
The House That Shadows Built 1931
as (archive footage)
The Count of Ten 1928
as Johnny McKinney
The Garden of Eden 1928
as Richard Dupont
Vanity 1927
as Lt. Lloyd Van Courtland
Getting Gertie's Garter 1927
as Ken Walrick
Nobody's Widow 1927
as Honorable John Clayton
The American 1927
as Bill Smith
The Fire Brigade 1926
as Terry O'Neil
The Auction Block 1926
as Bob Wharton
Paris 1926
as Jerry
Sweet Adeline 1926
as Ben Wilson
Bright Lights 1925
as Tom Corbin
Some Pun'kins 1925
as Lem Blossom
Percy 1925
as Percival Rogeen
Dynamite Smith 1924
as Gladstone Smith
The Courtship of Miles Standish 1923
as John Alden, Producer
The Girl I Loved 1923
as John Middleton
A Tailor-Made Man 1922
as John Paul Bart, Producer
Alias Julius Caesar 1922
as Billy Barnes, Director, Producer
Smudge 1922
as Stephen Stanton, Director
The Deuce of Spades 1922
as Amos, Director
Gas, Oil and Water 1922
as George Oliver Watson, Director
Two Minutes to Go 1921
as Chester Burnett, Director, Producer
Scrap Iron 1921
as John Steel, Director, Scenario Writer
The Old Swimmin' Hole 1921
as Ezra Hull
An Old Fashioned Boy 1920
as David Warrington
Peaceful Valley 1920
as Hosiah Howe
A Village Sleuth 1920
as William Wells
45 Minutes from Broadway 1920
as Kid Burns
Homer Comes Home 1920
as Homer Cavender
Paris Green 1920
as Luther Green
Alarm Clock Andy 1920
as Andrew Gray
Red Hot Dollars 1919
as Tod Burke
Crooked Straight 1919
as Ben Trimble
The Egg Crate Wallop 1919
as Jim Kelly
Bill Henry 1919
as Bill Henry Jenkins
Hay Foot, Straw Foot 1919
as Ulysses S. Grant Briggs
The Busher 1919
as Ben Harding
Greased Lightning 1919
as Andy Fletcher
The Sheriff's Son 1919
as Royal Beaudry
The Girl Dodger 1919
as Cuthbert Trotman
String Beans 1918
as Toby Watkins
The Law of the North 1918
as Alain de Montcalm
A Nine O'Clock Town 1918
as David Clary
The Claws of the Hun 1918
as John Stanton
- His Own Home Town
His Own Home Town 1918
as Jimmy Duncan
Playing the Game 1918
as Larry Prentiss
The Family Skeleton 1918
as Billy Bates
The Hired Man 1918
as Ezry Hollins
- Staking His Life
Staking His Life 1918
as Frank Hamilton
His Mother's Boy 1917
as Matthew Denton
The Son of His Father 1917
as Gordon Carbhoy
Sudden Jim 1917
as James Ashe, Jr.
The Clodhopper 1917
as Everett Nelson
The Millionaire Vagrant 1917
as Steven Du Peyster
The Pinch Hitter 1917
as Joel Parker
Back of the Man 1917
as Larry Thomas
Skinner's Dress Suit 1917
Actor
The Weaker Sex 1917
as Jack Harding
The Honorable Algy 1916
as The Honorable Algy
A Corner in Colleens 1916
as Richard Taylor
Plain Jane 1916
as Mr. 'John Sophomore Adams'
The Wolf Woman 1916
as Rex Walden
Home 1916
as Bob Wheaton
Honor Thy Name 1916
Actor
The Deserter 1916
as Lieutenant Parker
The Dividend 1916
as Frank Steele
Peggy 1916
as Colin Cameron
- The Forbidden Adventure
The Forbidden Adventure 1915
as Cecil Weatherby
The Coward 1915
as Frank Winslow
- The Lure of Woman
The Lure of Woman 1915
as Captain Lane
The Conversion of Frosty Blake 1915
as Reverend Horace Brightray
The Renegade 1915
as Captain Marley
- The Cup of Life
The Cup of Life 1915
as John Ward
The Grudge 1915
as Dick Wayne
In the Tennessee Hills 1915
as Jim Carson
- The City of Darkness
The City of Darkness 1914
as Donald Warner - the Governor's Brother
The Gangsters and the Girl 1914
as Detective John Stone, Writer
- For Her Brother's Sake
For Her Brother's Sake 1914
as John Frye - the Brother
The Buried Past 1913
as Tom Winters - the Lover
- For Mother's Sake
For Mother's Sake 1913
as Jim
The Quakeress 1913
as John Hart - the Schoolmaster
Old Mammy's Secret Code 1913
as David
- The Transgressor
The Transgressor 1913
as Jim
The Boomerang 1913
as Lt. Calhoun
- The Grey Sentinel
The Grey Sentinel 1913
as Hal Peters
Credits from TMDB.