Charles Ray
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.
Acted in
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, the porter
School for Girls
1934
as Duke
Stars of Yesterday
1931
as Self
The House That Shadows Built
1931
as (archive footage)
The Garden of Eden
1928
as Richard Dupont
Vanity
1927
as Lt. Lloyd Van Courtland
Getting Gertie's Garter
1927
as Ken Walrick
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
Percy
1925
as Percival Rogeen
Dynamite Smith
1924
as Gladstone Smith
The Courtship of Miles Standish
1923
as John Alden
The Girl I Loved
1923
as John Middleton
A Tailor-Made Man
1922
as John Paul Bart
The Deuce of Spades
1922
as Amos
Gas, Oil and Water
1922
as George Oliver Watson
The Old Swimmin' Hole
1921
as Ezra Hull
An Old Fashioned Boy
1920
as David Warrington
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
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
String Beans
1918
as Toby Watkins
The Claws of the Hun
1918
as John Stanton
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
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
The Weaker Sex
1917
as Jack Harding
Plain Jane
1916
as Mr. 'John Sophomore Adams'
The Wolf Woman
1916
as Rex Walden
Home
1916
as Bob Wheaton
Honor Thy Name
1916
The Deserter
1916
as Lieutenant Parker
The Dividend
1916
as Frank Steele
Peggy
1916
as Colin Cameron
The Forbidden Adventure
1915
as Cecil Weatherby
The Coward
1915
as Frank Winslow
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
1915
as John Ward
The Grudge
1915
as Dick Wayne
In the Tennessee Hills
1915
as Jim Carson
The Gangsters and the Girl
1914
as Detective John Stone
For Mother's Sake
1913
The Quakeress
1913
as John Hart - the Schoolmaster
Old Mammy's Secret Code
1913
as David
The Transgressor
1913
as Jim
The Boomerang
1913
as Lt. Calhoun
The Grey Sentinel
1913
as Hal Peters