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