
Charles Ray
Born March 15, 1891 · 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.
Notable Appearances
More Movies

Peaceful Valley

Vanity

An Old Fashioned Boy

The Son of His Father

Ticket to a Crime

The House That Shadows Built

The Legend of Rudolph Valentino

Home

The Man Who Lost Himself

Alias Julius Caesar

The Coward

Hollywood Boulevard

The Garden of Eden

Appointment for Love

The Mad Martindales

By Your Leave

Skinner's Dress Suit

The Lady from Cheyenne

The Fire Brigade

A Corner in Colleens

Getting Gertie's Garter

The Count of Ten

A Tailor-Made Man

The Boomerang

Crooked Straight

School for Girls

The Weaker Sex

Percy

Ladies Should Listen

The Deserter

Welcome Home

The Busher

The Courtship of Miles Standish

The Wolf Woman

The Family Skeleton

The Hired Man

The Dividend

Greased Lightning

The Clodhopper

Old Mammy's Secret Code

Paris

Bill Henry

Alarm Clock Andy

His Mother's Boy

The Camera Speaks

Stars of Yesterday

Back of the Man

Sweet Adeline

Homer Comes Home

The Sheriff's Son

The Renegade

45 Minutes from Broadway

The Claws of the Hun

Some Pun'kins

Paris Green

The Buried Past

The Law of the North

A Village Sleuth

The Millionaire Vagrant

Bright Lights

The Honorable Algy

The Egg Crate Wallop

The Old Swimmin' Hole

Hay Foot, Straw Foot

Red Hot Dollars

Playing the Game

Dynamite Smith

The Girl I Loved

Plain Jane

The Pinch Hitter

Just My Luck

The Conversion of Frosty Blake

The Deuce of Spades

A Nine O'Clock Town

The American

String Beans

Two Minutes to Go

Honor Thy Name

The Auction Block

Gas, Oil and Water

The Quakeress

The Grudge

The Gangsters and the Girl

Peggy

Nobody's Widow

Sudden Jim

The Girl Dodger




