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These are three original press photos of Ray Bolger. Each is 7x9 inches.
1. NBC, 1976. Ray Bolger stars in \"The Entertainer,\" a Mobil Showcase Presentation.2. 1953 photo of Ray Bolger leaping into the air and dancing3. 1956 portrait
BACKGROUND
Raymond Wallace Bolger (/ˈboʊldʒər/;[2] January 10, 1904 – January 15, 1987)[3] was an American actor, dancer, singer, vaudevillian, and stage performer (particularly musical theater) who started his movie career in the silent-film era. Bolger was a major Broadway performer in the 1930s and beyond. He is best known for his roles in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie The Wizard of Oz (1939) as the Scarecrow and in Walt Disney\'s holiday musical fantasy Babes in Toyland in 1961 as the villainous Barnaby.
Bolger was the host of The Ray Bolger Show on TV from 1953 to 1955, originally titled Where\'s Raymond?[3]
Early life
Raymond Wallace Bolger was born at 598 Second St., South Boston, Massachusetts, into a Catholic family of Irish descent. He was the son of James Edward Bolger and Anne C. (née Wallace).[4][5] His father, James, was a first-generation American of Irish descent, who was born in Fall River, Massachusetts. Bolger\'s mother \"Annie\" was born into a large Irish-American family in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.[6]
Bolger grew up and attended school in the Codman Square section of the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston.[7]
Interviewed in 1940 about his post-high-school years, Bolger reported having worked in Boston for the city\'s First National Bank, and then trying insurance sales and even door-to-door vacuum selling in New England. He was a student at O\'Brien\'s Dancing Academy and was later a manager-instructor at Russakoff\'s School of Dance.[8]
CareerEarly career
His entertainment aspirations evolved from the vaudeville shows of his youth. He began his career in a vaudeville tap show, creating the act \"Sanford & Bolger\" with his dance partner. In 1926, he danced at New York City\'s legendary Palace Theatre, the premier vaudeville theater in the United States. His limber body and improvisational dance movements won him many leading roles on Broadway in the 1930s. Eventually, his career also encompassed film, television, and nightclub work.[9] In 1932 he was elected to the theater club The Lambs[10] and performed on opening night at Radio City Music Hall in December 1932.[11]
After starring in Richard Rodgers\' first stage production of On Your Toes in 1936, in which he played the male lead Junior, as well as the hero of the Slaughter on Tenth Avenue ballet within the musical, Bolger signed his first cinema contract with MGM in 1936, and although The Wizard of Oz was early in his film career, he appeared in other movies of note. His best-known pre-Oz appearance was The Great Ziegfeld (1936), in which he portrayed himself. He also appeared in Sweethearts (1938), the first MGM film in Technicolor, starring Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. He also appeared in the Eleanor Powell vehicle Rosalie (1937), which also starred Eddy and Frank Morgan.
The Wizard of OzBolger as the Scarecrow in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer\'s 1939 adaptation of The Wizard of Oz
Bolger\'s MGM contract stipulated that he would play any part the studio chose. However, he was unhappy when he was originally cast as the Tin Woodman in the studio\'s 1939 feature-film adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. The role of the Scarecrow had already been assigned to another dancing, studio-contract player, Buddy Ebsen. In time, the roles were shuffled around. Bolger\'s face was permanently lined by wearing the Scarecrow\'s makeup.[12]
Post-Oz film career
Following The Wizard of Oz, Bolger moved to RKO Pictures. In 1941, he was a featured act at the Paramount Theatre in New York, working with the Harry James Band. He would do tap dance routines, sometimes in a mock-challenge dance with the band\'s pianist, Al Lerner.
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and Bolger\'s performance was interrupted by President Roosevelt\'s announcement of the news of the attack.[13] Bolger toured in USO shows in the Pacific Theater during World War II,[14][15] and appeared in the United Artists wartime film Stage Door Canteen (1943).[16]
In 1946, he returned to MGM for a featured role in The Harvey Girls. Also that year, he recorded a children\'s album, The Churkendoose, featuring the story of a misfit fowl (\"part chicken, turkey, duck, and goose\"), which teaches children that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it \"all depends on how you look at things\".
BroadwayBolger in a publicity photo for The Bell Telephone Hour, 1963
Bolger\'s Broadway credits included Life Begins at 8:40 (1934), On Your Toes (1936), By Jupiter (1942), All American (1962) and Where\'s Charley? (1948), for which he won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical and in which he introduced \"Once in Love with Amy\", the song often connected with him. He repeated his stage role in the 1952 film version of the musical.[17]
Television
Bolger appeared in his own ABC television sitcom with a variety show theme, Where\'s Raymond? (1953–1954), renamed the second year as The Ray Bolger Show (1954–55). He continued to star in several films, including Walt Disney\'s remake of Babes in Toyland (1961) and smaller cameos throughout the 1960s and 1970.
Bolger made frequent guest appearances on television, including the episode \"Rich Man, Poor Man\" of the short-lived The Jean Arthur Show in 1966. In the 1970s, he had a recurring role as Fred Renfrew, the father of Shirley Partridge (Shirley Jones) on The Partridge Family, and appeared in Little House on the Prairie as Toby Noe and also guest-starred on other television series, such as Battlestar Galactica, Fantasy Island, and The Love Boat. In the late 1970s, Bolger played in a commercial for Safeway Supermarket\'s \"Scotch Buy\" brand, in which he popularized the jingle, \"Scotch Buy – \'taint fancy, but it shore is good.\"[18] His last television appearance was on Diff\'rent Strokes in 1984, three years before his death.[19]
In 1976 Bolger performed the opening number for the 48th Academy Awards ceremony.
In his later years, he danced in a Dr Pepper television commercial, and in 1985, he and Liza Minnelli, the daughter of his Oz costar Judy Garland, starred in That\'s Dancing!, a film written by Jack Haley Jr., the son of Jack Haley, who portrayed the Tin Woodman in The Wizard of Oz.
Honors
In 1998, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.[20]
In 2016, the City of Boston commissioned a mural in Ray Bolger\'s honor in the Codman Square section of the Dorchester neighborhood.[7]
Personal life
Bolger was married to Gwendolyn Rickard for more than 57 years. They had no children.[21] He was a Roman Catholic and a member of the Good Shepherd Parish and the Catholic Motion Picture Guild in Beverly Hills, California.[22]
Bolger was a lifelong Republican who campaigned for Barry Goldwater in the 1964 United States presidential election[23] and Richard Nixon in the 1968 election.[24]
Bolger had 11 nieces and nephews.
Death and legacyRay Bolger\'s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.Ray and Gwendolyn Bolger\'s grave at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City
Bolger was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 1986. His health deteriorated and by the end of that year, he left his Beverly Hills home to live at a nursing home in Los Angeles. He died there on January 15, 1987, five days after his 83rd birthday.[3]
At the time of his death, Bolger was the last surviving main-credited cast member of The Wizard of Oz.[25] He was the only one of Judy Garland\'s Oz costars who attended her funeral (Bert Lahr pre-deceased her in 1967), joining Harold Arlen, the composer of \"Over the Rainbow\", and his wife, Anya Taranda. They were reported as among the last remaining guests at the conclusion of the service.[26]
Whenever asked whether he had received any residuals from telecasts of The Wizard of Oz, Bolger would reply: \"No, just immortality. I\'ll settle for that.\"[27] Bolger\'s Scarecrow is ranked among the \"most beloved movie characters of all time\" by AMC and the American Film Institute.[28][29]
For his contributions to the film industry, Bolger received a motion pictures star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. It is located at 6788 Hollywood Boulevard.[30]
In 2019, the first comprehensive biography of Bolger, More Than a Scarecrow by Holly Van Leuven, was filmsYearTitleRoleNotes1936The Great ZiegfeldRay Bolger
1937RosalieBill Delroy
1938The Girl of the Golden WestHappy Moore(scenes deleted)1938SweetheartsHans
1939The Wizard of OzHunk / The Scarecrow
1941SunnyBunny Billings
1942Four Jacks and a JillNifty Sullivan
1943Forever and a DaySentry(scenes deleted)1943Stage Door CanteenRay Bolger
1946The Harvey GirlsChris Maule
1949Look for the Silver LiningJack Donahue
1952Where\'s Charley?Charley Wykeham
1952April in ParisS. Winthrop Putnam
1961Babes in ToylandBarnaby
1966The DaydreamerThe Pieman
1979Just You and Me, KidTom
1979The Runner StumblesMonsignor Nicholson
1982AnnieSound Effects ManUncredited1985That\'s Dancing!Himself – HostDocumentary Raymond?Raymond \'Ray\' WallaceLead role (61 episodes)1956–1957Washington SquareHost
1958–1959General Electric TheaterStan Maylor / Alfred Boggs2 episodes1962The Red Skelton ShowMayor Threadbare IIIEpisode: \"The Mayor of Central Park\"1962The Little SweepStorytellerTelevision film1963The Judy Garland Showguest starGarland\'s weekly tv series1966The Jean Arthur ShowWealthy ManEpisode: \"Rich Man, Poor Man\"1970–1972The Partridge FamilyGrandpa RenfrewRecurring role (3 episodes)1971Nanny and the ProfessorUncle HoraceEpisode: \"South Sea Island Sweetheart\"1976The EntertainerBilly RiceTelevision film1976Captains and the KingsR.J. SquibbsTelevision miniseries (Chapter I)1977–1979The Love BoatAndy Hopkins / Horace McDonald2 episodes1978Baretta
Episode: \"Just for Laughs\"1978Three on a DateAndrewTelevision film1978–1982Fantasy IslandGaylord Nelson / Spencer Randolph2 episodes1978–1979Little House on the PrairieToby Noe2 episodes1979Heaven Only KnowsSimonTelevision pilot1979Battlestar GalacticaVectorEpisode: \"Greetings from Earth\"1981Aloha ParadiseHarry CarrEpisode: \"Best of Friends/Success/Nine Karats\"1981Peter and the WolfNarratorTelevision film1983Peter and the Magic EggUncle AmosVoice, Television special1984Diff\'rent StrokesClarence MarkwellEpisode: \"A Haunting We Will Go\", (final appearance)Stage workBroadway productionsYearTitleRoleTheatre1926The Merry WorldPerformerImperial Theatre1926A Night in ParisPerformer44th Street Theatre1929Heads UpGeorgieAlvin Theatre1931George White\'s Scandals of 1931PerformerApollo Theatre1934Life Begins at 8:40PerformerWinter Garden Theatre1936On Your ToesPhil Dolan III, HooferImperial Theatre1940Keep Off the GrassPerformerBroadhurst Theatre1942By JupiterSapiensShubert Theatre1946Three to Make ReadyPerformerAdelphi Theatre1948Where\'s Charley?Charley WykehamSt. James Theatre1951Where\'s Charley? (revival)Charley WykehamBroadway Theatre1962All-AmericanProfessor FodorskiWinter Garden Theatre1969Come SummerPhineas SharpLunt-Fontanne Theatre
Additional stage workYearTitleRoleTheatreRef.1932Radio City Music Hall Inaugural ProgramperformerRadio City Music Hall[33]1969Come SummerPhineas SharpO\'Keefe Centre[34]1969The Happy TimeperformerStarlight Musicals[35]
