Acting
Charles Ray
EN, XX cinema · 103 credits
Born
15 March 1891
Died
23 November 1943 (aged 52)
Birthplace
Jacksonville, Illinois, USA
Also known as Charles Edgar Alfred Ray · Charles E. Ray · Charles Edgar Ray · Чарльс Рей · Чарльз Рэй
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
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
as Self (archive footage)
Slightly Dangerous
as Opera patron (uncredited)
Mrs. Miniver
as Man getting on Bus (uncredited)
Rio Rita
as Hotel Guest (uncredited)
The Mad Martindales
as Barbershop Customer (uncredited)
The Lady from Cheyenne
as Bit Role
The Man Who Lost Himself
as (uncredited)
Appointment for Love
as Butler (uncredited)
Hollywood Boulevard
as Charlie Smith - Assistant Director
Welcome Home
as Andrew Carr
Just My Luck
as Homer Crow
The Camera Speaks
as Self (archive footage)
By Your Leave
as Leonard Purcell
Ticket to a Crime
as Courtney Mallory
Ladies Should Listen
as Henri
School for Girls
as Duke
The House That Shadows Built
as (archive footage)
The Garden of Eden
as Richard Dupont
The Count of Ten
as Johnny McKinney
Getting Gertie's Garter
as Ken Walrick
Vanity
as Lt. Lloyd Van Courtland
The American
as Bill Smith
Nobody's Widow
as Honorable John Clayton
Sweet Adeline
as Ben Wilson
The Fire Brigade
as Terry O'Neil
The Auction Block
as Bob Wharton
Paris
as Jerry
Percy
as Percival Rogeen
Bright Lights
as Tom Corbin
Some Pun'kins
as Lem Blossom
Dynamite Smith
as Gladstone Smith
The Courtship of Miles Standish
as John Alden, Producer
The Girl I Loved
as John Middleton
Gas, Oil and Water
as George Oliver Watson, Director
The Deuce of Spades
as Amos, Director
A Tailor-Made Man
as John Paul Bart, Producer
Alias Julius Caesar
as Billy Barnes, Director, Producer
Smudge
as Stephen Stanton, Director
The Old Swimmin' Hole
as Ezra Hull
Scrap Iron
as John Steel, Director, Scenario Writer
Two Minutes to Go
as Chester Burnett, Director, Producer
45 Minutes from Broadway
as Kid Burns
A Village Sleuth
as William Wells
Homer Comes Home
as Homer Cavender
An Old Fashioned Boy
as David Warrington
Alarm Clock Andy
as Andrew Gray
Paris Green
as Luther Green
Peaceful Valley
as Hosiah Howe
The Sheriff's Son
as Royal Beaudry
The Busher
as Ben Harding
Bill Henry
as Bill Henry Jenkins
Greased Lightning
as Andy Fletcher
Hay Foot, Straw Foot
as Ulysses S. Grant Briggs
The Egg Crate Wallop
as Jim Kelly
The Girl Dodger
as Cuthbert Trotman
Crooked Straight
as Ben Trimble
Red Hot Dollars
as Tod Burke
The Family Skeleton
as Billy Bates
Playing the Game
as Larry Prentiss
Staking His Life
1918
Staking His Life
as Frank Hamilton
The Claws of the Hun
as John Stanton
His Own Home Town
1918
His Own Home Town
as Jimmy Duncan
String Beans
as Toby Watkins
The Hired Man
as Ezry Hollins
A Nine O'Clock Town
as David Clary
The Law of the North
as Alain de Montcalm
The Weaker Sex
as Jack Harding
The Son of His Father
as Gordon Carbhoy
Sudden Jim
as James Ashe, Jr.
The Millionaire Vagrant
as Steven Du Peyster
The Clodhopper
as Everett Nelson
Back of the Man
as Larry Thomas
The Pinch Hitter
as Joel Parker
His Mother's Boy
as Matthew Denton
The Wolf Woman
as Rex Walden
Home
as Bob Wheaton
The Dividend
as Frank Steele
Plain Jane
as Mr. 'John Sophomore Adams'
Peggy
as Colin Cameron
The Deserter
as Lieutenant Parker
The Honorable Algy
as The Honorable Algy
A Corner in Colleens
as Richard Taylor
The Conversion of Frosty Blake
as Reverend Horace Brightray
The Grudge
as Dick Wayne
The Renegade
as Captain Marley
The Forbidden Adventure
1915
The Forbidden Adventure
as Cecil Weatherby
The Coward
as Frank Winslow
The Lure of Woman
1915
The Lure of Woman
as Captain Lane
In the Tennessee Hills
as Jim Carson
The Gangsters and the Girl
as Detective John Stone, Writer
The City of Darkness
1914
The City of Darkness
as Donald Warner - the Governor's Brother
For Her Brother's Sake
1914
For Her Brother's Sake
as John Frye - the Brother
The Boomerang
as Lt. Calhoun
The Grey Sentinel
1913
The Grey Sentinel
as Hal Peters
The Quakeress
as John Hart - the Schoolmaster
The Buried Past
as Tom Winters - the Lover