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Ray Collins (actor)

 
Ray Collins (actor)

 
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Ray Collins (actor)
 
 
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Ray Bidwell Collins (December 10, 1889 – July 11, 1965) was an American actor in film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
, stage
Stage (theatre)

In theatre, the stage is a designated space for the performance of theatrical productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience....
, radio
Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic radiation with frequency below those of visible light.Electromagnetic radiation radio propagation by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space....
, and television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
. One Collins' best remembered roles was that of Lt. Arthur Tragg in the long-running series Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)

Perry Mason is an Emmy Award-winning American TV series that ran from 1957 in television to 1966 in television. Perry Mason was played by actor Raymond Burr....
.

ins was born in Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California

Sacramento is the Capital of the United States U.S. state of California, and the county seat of Sacramento County, California. Located along the Sacramento River and just south of the American River's confluence in California's expansive California Central Valley, it is the seventh-largest city in California.....
 to Lillie Bidwell and William C. Collins, a newspaper drama editor. He started acting on stage at the age of 14. In the mid 1930s, now an established stage and radio actor, Collins began working with Orson Welles
Orson Welles

George Orson Welles , better known as Orson Welles, was an Academy Award-winning United States actor, director, writer and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television, and radio....
' Mercury Theatre
Mercury Theatre

The Mercury Theatre was a theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and John Houseman. After initial success in live theatrical productions, in 1938 the Mercury Theatre progressed into their their best-known period as The Mercury Theatre on the Air, a radio drama series that included one of the most notable an...
 leading to some of his most memorable roles.






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Ray Bidwell Collins (December 10, 1889 – July 11, 1965) was an American actor in film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
, stage
Stage (theatre)

In theatre, the stage is a designated space for the performance of theatrical productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience....
, radio
Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic radiation with frequency below those of visible light.Electromagnetic radiation radio propagation by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space....
, and television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
. One Collins' best remembered roles was that of Lt. Arthur Tragg in the long-running series Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)

Perry Mason is an Emmy Award-winning American TV series that ran from 1957 in television to 1966 in television. Perry Mason was played by actor Raymond Burr....
.

Biography

Collins was born in Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California

Sacramento is the Capital of the United States U.S. state of California, and the county seat of Sacramento County, California. Located along the Sacramento River and just south of the American River's confluence in California's expansive California Central Valley, it is the seventh-largest city in California.....
 to Lillie Bidwell and William C. Collins, a newspaper drama editor. He started acting on stage at the age of 14. In the mid 1930s, now an established stage and radio actor, Collins began working with Orson Welles
Orson Welles

George Orson Welles , better known as Orson Welles, was an Academy Award-winning United States actor, director, writer and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television, and radio....
' Mercury Theatre
Mercury Theatre

The Mercury Theatre was a theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and John Houseman. After initial success in live theatrical productions, in 1938 the Mercury Theatre progressed into their their best-known period as The Mercury Theatre on the Air, a radio drama series that included one of the most notable an...
 leading to some of his most memorable roles. Having already appeared on radio with Welles on The Shadow
The Shadow

The Shadow is a collection of serialized dramas, originally on 1930s radio and then in a wide variety of media, that follow the exploits of Character vigilante The Shadow....
 (a regular as Commissioner Weston) and in Welles' serial adaptation of Les Miserables
Les Misérables

Les Mis?rables is a novel by French author Victor Hugo, and among the best-known novels of the 19th century. It has been described as one of the greatest novels ever written in any language....
 from 1937, Collins became a regular on The Mercury Theatre on the Air; through the run of the series, he played many roles in literary adaptations, from Squire Livesey from Treasure Island
Treasure Island

Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold". First published as a book in 1883, it was originally serialised in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881-82 under the title The Sea Cook, or Treasure Island....
 and Dr. Watson to Mr. Pickwick in an adaptation of Pickwick Papers. Collins' best known (albeit uncredited) work on this series, however, was in the infamous The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds (radio)

The War of the Worlds was an episode of the American radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre. It was performed as a Halloween episode of the series on October 30, 1938 and aired over the CBS Radio Network radio network....
 broadcast, playing three roles, including Mr. Wilmuth (on whose farm the Martian craft lands) and the newscaster who describes the destruction of New York.

Along with other Mercury Theatre players, Collins made his first notable screen appearance in Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane is a 1941 in film United States dramatic film and the first feature film directed by Orson Welles. It was nominated for an Academy Award in nine categories, but won only for Best Original Screenplay by Herman Mankiewicz and Welles....
, as ruthless Boss Jim Gettys. He would also play key roles in Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons
The Magnificent Ambersons (film)

The Magnificent Ambersons is a Cinema of the United States drama film written and directed by Orson Welles. His second feature film, it is based on the The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington and stars Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter, Tim Holt, Agnes Moorehead and Ray Collins....
 and Touch of Evil
Touch of Evil

Touch of Evil is an American police procedural film, written, directed and co-starring Orson Welles. Paul Monash and Franklin Coen also wrote scenes for the film....
. Collins appeared in over 90 films in all, including Leave Her to Heaven
Leave Her to Heaven

Leave Her to Heaven is a 1945 in film 20th Century Fox color film noir film starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, with Vincent Price, Darryl Hickman, and Chill Wills....
 (1945), The Best Years of Our Lives
The Best Years of Our Lives

The Best Years of Our Lives is an Cinema of the United States drama film about three servicemen trying to piece their lives back together after coming home from World War II....
 and Crack-Up (1946), A Double Life
A Double Life

A Double Life is a 1947 in film film noir which tells the story of an actor whose mind becomes affected by the character he portrays. The movie starred Ronald Colman and Signe Hasso....
 (1947), two entries in the Ma and Pa Kettle
Ma and Pa Kettle

Ma and Pa Kettle were comic characters who first appeared in the novel The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald. She based them on farming neighbors in Washington state, U.S.A....
 series (as in-law Benjamin Parker), and the 1953 version of The Desert Song
The Desert Song

The Desert Song is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach, inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Morocco fighters, against French colonial rule....
, in which he played the non-singing role of Kathryn Grayson
Kathryn Grayson

Kathryn Grayson is an American actress and operatic soprano singer. Trained as an opera singer from the age of twelve, Grayson was contracted to MGM and established a career in films from the early 1940s....
's father. He displayed comic ability in The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer is a 1947 screwball comedy film starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, and Shirley Temple. Sidney Sheldon was awarded the 1948 in film Academy Awards for Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay for this film in his first and only Academy Award nomination during his career in Hollywood....
 (1947), and The Man from Colorado
The Man from Colorado

The Man from Colorado is a 1948 United States western movie directed by Henry Levin and starring Glenn Ford and William Holden....
 (1948).

He may be best remembered for his work on television, playing Lieutenant Tragg on Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)

Perry Mason is an Emmy Award-winning American TV series that ran from 1957 in television to 1966 in television. Perry Mason was played by actor Raymond Burr....
 in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also a regular as John Merriweather on the television version of The Halls of Ivy
The Halls of Ivy

The Halls of Ivy was an NBC radio situation comedy that ran from 1949-1952. It was created by Fibber McGee & Molly co-creator/writer Don Quinn before being adapted into a CBS television comedy produced by ITC Entertainment and Television Programs of America....
 starring Ronald Colman
Ronald Colman

Ronald Colman was an England Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning actor....
.

On July 11, 1965, Collins died of emphysema
Emphysema

Emphysema is a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease . It is often caused by exposure to toxin Chemical substance, including long-term exposure to tobacco smoking....
 at the age of 75.

Partial filmography

  • Citizen Kane
    Citizen Kane

    Citizen Kane is a 1941 in film United States dramatic film and the first feature film directed by Orson Welles. It was nominated for an Academy Award in nine categories, but won only for Best Original Screenplay by Herman Mankiewicz and Welles....
     (1941)
  • The Magnificent Ambersons
    The Magnificent Ambersons (film)

    The Magnificent Ambersons is a Cinema of the United States drama film written and directed by Orson Welles. His second feature film, it is based on the The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington and stars Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter, Tim Holt, Agnes Moorehead and Ray Collins....
     (1942)
  • Commandos Strike at Dawn
    Commandos Strike at Dawn

    Commandos Strike at Dawn is a war film directed by John Farrow and written by Irwin Shaw from a story by C.S. Forester, starring Paul Muni,Anna Lee, Lillian Gish and Cedric Hardwicke....
     (1942)
  • The Human Comedy
    The Human Comedy (film)

    The Human Comedy is a 1943 in film drama film directed by Clarence Brown and adapted by Howard Estabrook. It is often thought to be based on the novel of the The Human Comedy , but actually Saroyan wrote the screenplay first, was fired from the movie project, and quickly wrote the novel and published it just before the movie was released...
     (1943)
  • Slightly Dangerous
    Slightly Dangerous

    Slightly Dangerous is a romantic comedy film starring Lana Turner and Robert Young . A bored young woman in a dead-end job runs away to New York City and ends up impersonating the long-lost daughter of a millionaire....
     (1943)
  • Crime Doctor
    Crime Doctor (film)

    Crime Doctor is a crime film starring Warner Baxter as a man with amnesia determined to remember his past. The film, released by Columbia Pictures, was based on the Crime Doctor radio program and spawned nine sequels:...
     (1943)
  • Salute to the Marines
    Salute to the Marines

    Salute to the Marines is a 1943 World War II movie starring Wallace Beery. The movie, set in the Philippines and shot in color , was directed by S....
     (1943)
  • Whistling in Brooklyn
    Whistling in Brooklyn

    Whistling in Brooklyn is the third and last film starring comedian Red Skelton as radio personality and amateur detective Wally "The Fox" Benton....
     (1943)
  • See Here, Private Hargrove (1944)
  • The Seventh Cross
    The Seventh Cross (1944 film)

    The Seventh Cross is a 1944 film starring Spencer Tracy, Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy. Cronyn was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor....
     (1944)
  • Barbary Coast Gent
    Barbary Coast Gent

    Barbary Coast Gent is a 1944 in film film set in 1880s San Francisco's Barbary Coast, San Francisco, California and Nevada starring Wallace Beery....
     (1944)
  • Leave Her to Heaven
    Leave Her to Heaven

    Leave Her to Heaven is a 1945 in film 20th Century Fox color film noir film starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, with Vincent Price, Darryl Hickman, and Chill Wills....
     (1945)
  • Two Years Before the Mast
    Two Years Before the Mast (film)

    Two Years Before the Mast is a 1946 in film adventure film based on Richard Henry Dana, Jr.'s Two Years Before the Mast. It starred Alan Ladd, Brian Donlevy, William Bendix, Howard Da Silva and Esther Fern?ndez....
     (1946)
  • Crack-Up
    Crack-Up (1946 film)

    Crack-Up is a film noir directed by Irving Reis, remembered for directing many "Falcon" movies of the early 1940s including The Falcon Takes Over. The drama is based on Madman's Holiday a story written by mystery writer Fredric Brown....
     (1946)
  • The Best Years of Our Lives
    The Best Years of Our Lives

    The Best Years of Our Lives is an Cinema of the United States drama film about three servicemen trying to piece their lives back together after coming home from World War II....
     (1946)
  • The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
    The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer

    The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer is a 1947 screwball comedy film starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, and Shirley Temple. Sidney Sheldon was awarded the 1948 in film Academy Awards for Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay for this film in his first and only Academy Award nomination during his career in Hollywood....
     (1947)
  • A Double Life
    A Double Life

    A Double Life is a 1947 in film film noir which tells the story of an actor whose mind becomes affected by the character he portrays. The movie starred Ronald Colman and Signe Hasso....
     (1947)
  • The Senator Was Indiscreet
    The Senator Was Indiscreet

    The Senator Was Indiscreet is a 1947 in film comedy film starring William Powell as a dim-witted U.S. senator who decides to run for president, with Ella Raines as a reporter interested in the detailed diary he has kept about all the political misdeeds of his colleagues....
     (1947)
  • The Man from Colorado
    The Man from Colorado

    The Man from Colorado is a 1948 United States western movie directed by Henry Levin and starring Glenn Ford and William Holden....
     (1948)
  • Good Sam
    Good Sam

    Good Sam is a 1948 in film film starring Gary Cooper as a Parable of the Good Samaritan who is helpful to others at the expense of his own family....
     (1948)
  • Command Decision
    Command Decision

    Command Decision is the third episode of the first series of the United Kingdom comedy series Dad's Army, which was originally transmitted on Wednesday 14 August, 1968....
     (1948)
  • Homecoming
    Homecoming (1948 film)

    Homecoming is a 1948 in film romantic drama starring Clark Gable and Lana Turner....
     (1948)
  • It Happens Every Spring
    It Happens Every Spring

    It Happens Every Spring is a movie which was made in 1949. The story is completely fictitious, and the main character King Kelly is not based on or related to the King Kelly....
     (1949)
  • The Fountainhead
    The Fountainhead (film)

    The Fountainhead is a 1949 in film Cinema of the United States drama film based on the best-seller The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. The movie stars Gary Cooper as Howard Roark, Patricia Neal as Dominique Francon, Raymond Massey as Gail Wynand, Robert Douglas as Ellsworth Toohey and Kent Smith as Peter Keating....
     (1949)
  • The Heiress
    The Heiress

    The Heiress is a 1949 drama film by Ruth Goetz and Augustus Goetz adapted from their 1947 The Heiress that was based on the 1880 novel Washington Square by Henry James....
     (1949)
  • Francis
    Francis (1950 film)

    Francis is a 1950 in film black-and-white comedy film that launched the Francis the Talking Mule series. It starred Donald O'Connor as an American soldier who gets into trouble when he insists an Army mule named Francis can speak....
     (1950)
  • Kill the Umpire
    Kill the Umpire

    Kill the Umpire is a 1950 comedy starring William Bendix and Una Merkel, directed by Lloyd Bacon and written by Frank Tashlin....
     (1950)
  • Summer Stock
    Summer Stock

    Summer Stock is an MGM musical film made in 1950. The film was directed by Charles Walters and stars Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, and Phil Silvers....
     (1950)
  • You're in the Navy Now
    You're in the Navy Now

    You're in the Navy Now is a Hollywood film released in 1951 in film by Twentieth Century Fox about the United States Navy in the first months of World War II....
     (1951)
  • The Racket
    The Racket (1951 film)

    The Racket is a remake of the The Racket. This film noir-style black-and-white film was directed by John Cromwell with uncredited directing help from Nicholas Ray and Mel Ferrer....
     (1951)
  • Invitation
    Invitation (film)

    Invitation is a 1952 in film melodrama starring Van Johnson and Dorothy McGuire as a happily married couple, until the wife learns a secret about her husband....
     (1952)
  • Dreamboat
    Dreamboat (film)

    Dreamboat is a 1952 in film comedy film starring Clifton Webb as a college professor with a mysterious past....
     (1952)
  • Athena
    Athena (film)

    Athena is a romantic musical comedy released on 4 November 1954 by MGM.Not a great success on its release, this Motion Picture has an unusual and somewhat campy appeal....
     (1954)
  • The Desperate Hours
    The Desperate Hours (film)

    The Desperate Hours is a 1955 film from Paramount Pictures starring Humphrey Bogart and Fredric March. The movie was produced and directed by William Wyler and based on a The Desperate Hours and The Desperate Hours written by Joseph Hayes which were loosely based on actual events....
     (1955)
  • Texas Lady
    Texas Lady

    Texas Lady is a 1955 in film film made by RKO Radio Pictures, directed by Tim Whelan, and starring Claudette Colbert, Barry Sullivan and Ray Collins ...
     (1955)
  • The Solid Gold Cadillac
    The Solid Gold Cadillac

    The Solid Gold Cadillac is a 1956 film film director by Richard Quine and written by Abe Burrows, Howard Teichman and George S. Kaufman. It was adapted from the hit Broadway theatre play of the same name by Teichman and Kaufman, in which they pillory big business and corrupt businessmen....
     (1956)
  • Touch of Evil
    Touch of Evil

    Touch of Evil is an American police procedural film, written, directed and co-starring Orson Welles. Paul Monash and Franklin Coen also wrote scenes for the film....
     (1958)


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