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{{short description|American actor (1904–1987)}}{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2011}}

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RAYMOND WALLACE/BOLGER> WORK=FAMILY SEARCHURL-ACCESS=REGISTRATION, 190410|mf=yes}}| birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.1987151mf=yes}}| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City>Holy Cross CemeteryActorsingerVaudeville>vaudevillian}}| years_active = 1922–1985Scarecrow (Oz) in The Wizard of Oz>Barnaby in Babes in Toyland}}Gwendolyn Rickard}}}}Raymond Wallace Bolger ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|oÊŠ|l|dÊ’|É™r}};“Bolger”. Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary. January 10, 1904 – January 15, 1987) 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 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?NEWS, Glenn, Fowler, Ray Bolger, Scarecrow in ‘Oz’ Dies,query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEEDE1F3AF935A25752C0A961948260, The New York Times, January 16, 1987, June 5, 2008,

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.WEB, Raymond W Bolger United States Census, 1910, Family Search,familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M22C-B6N, registration, WEB, James E. Bolger Massachusetts Marriages, Family Search,familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHF7-R3Z, registration, His father, James, was 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.Van Leuven, Holly. Ray Bolger: More than a Scarecrow, Chapter 1, Oxford University Press, 2019, {{ISBN|0-190639059}}, p. 7 Bolger grew up and attended school in the Codman Square section of the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston.Mayor’s Mural Crew creates homage to Ray Bolger, OFD After graduating from high school, he worked at a peanut company, as a bank messenger, and for the New England Mutual Life Insurance Company before finding his way to vaudeville on Broadway in The Passing Show of 1926.{{Citation needed |date=November 2022}}

Career

Early 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 theatre 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.WEB,www.filmreference.com/film/8/Ray-Bolger.html, Ray Bolger Biography, Film Reference, September 18, 2012, In 1932 he was elected to the theater club The LambsWEB,www.The-Lambs.org, About The Lambs, The Lambs, Inc., March 8, 2018, and performed on opening night at Radio City Music Hall in December 1932.MAGAZINE, 2, Ray Bolger Was There At Music Hall’s Birth, Oldfield, Col. Barney, Variety (Magazine), Variety, April 12, 1978, 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 theSlaughter 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 Oz“>

The Wizard of Oz

File:The Wizard of Oz Ray Bolger 1939.jpg|right|thumb|273x273px|Bolger as the Scarecrow ]]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.BOOK,books.google.com/books?id=RR9QAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA169, The Making of The Wizard of Oz, 169, Chicago Review Press, October 1, 2013, Harmetz, Aljean, Aljean Harmetz, 978-1613748350,

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.BOOK, Lerner, Al, 2007, Vamp ‘Til Ready, BearManor Media, 978-1593930806, {{page needed| date=April 2018}} Bolger toured in USO shows in the Pacific Theater during World War II,“Ray Bolger” masterworksbroadway.com, accessed August 26, 2019“Ray Bolger Bio” allmusic.com, accessed August 26, 2019 and appeared in the United Artists wartime film Stage Door Canteen (1943).Stage Door Canteen tcm.com, accessed August 26, 2019In 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”.

Broadway

File:Ray Bolger 1963.JPG|thumb|upright|Bolger in a publicity photo for The Bell Telephone HourThe Bell Telephone HourBolger’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.{{IBDB name|32422}}

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.“Archived at Ghostarchive{{cbignore}} and the www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RIsDvq2Joo&gl=US&hl=en" title="web.archive.org/web/20190908043549www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RIsDvq2Joo&gl=US&hl=en">Wayback Machine{{cbignore}}: WEB, Ray Bolger 1978 Safeway Scotch Buy Commercial,www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RIsDvq2Joo, YouTube, 7 May 2018, {{cbignore}} His last television appearance was on Diff’rent Strokes in 1984, three years before his death.WEB,www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/ray-bolger, About Ray Bolger, Lucy E. Cross, June 12, 2011, 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.Palm Springs Walk of Stars by date dedicated {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013165655www.palmspringswalkofstars.com/web-storage/Stars/Stars%20dedicated%20by%20date.pdf |date=October 13, 2012 }}, palmspringswalkofstars.com; accessed September 26, 2014.In 2016, the City of Boston commissioned a mural in Ray Bolger’s honor in the Codman Square section of the Dorchester neighborhood.

Personal life

Bolger was married to Gwendolyn Rickard for more than 57 years. They had no children.WEB, Gary, Adelman, Ray Bolger in The Wizard of Oz as the Scarecrow,www.kansasoz.com/infoscarecrow.htm, Kansas Wizard of Oz ‘N More, 2008, June 5, 2008, June 18, 2021,web.archive.org/web/20210618174859/https://www.kansasoz.com/infoscarecrow.htm, dead, He was a Roman Catholic and a member of the Good Shepherd Parish and the Catholic Motion Picture Guild in Beverly Hills, California.WEB,www.goodshepherdbh.org/a-city-on-a-hill/our-history, Church of the Good Shepherd, Our History, September 26, 2014, Bolger was a lifelong Republican who campaigned for Barry Goldwater in the 1964 United States presidential electionBOOK,books.google.com/books?id=QfHXAAAAQBAJ&q=Ray%20Bolger, When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics, 9781107650282, Critchlow, Donald T., 2013-10-21, Cambridge University Press, and Richard Nixon in the 1968 election.WEB,www.pophistorydig.com/topics/1968-presidential-racerepublicans/, “1968 Presidential Race” Republicans, The Pop History Dig, March 8, 2018, Bolger had 11 nieces and nephews.

Death and legacy

File:Ray & Gwendolyn Bolger’s grave.JPG|thumb|right|Ray and Gwendolyn Bolger’s grave at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver CityHoly Cross Cemetery, Culver CityBolger was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 1986, and at the end of that year, his health deteriorated and he left his Beverly Hills home to live at a nursing home in Los Angeles, where he died on January 15, 1987, less than 5 days after he turned 83. At the time of his death, Bolger was the last surviving main credited cast member of The Wizard of Oz.WEB,www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/ray-bolger, Ray Bolger, The Official Masterworks Broadway Site, March 8, 2018, At Judy Garland’s funeral, Bolger was the only one of her Oz costars who attended. He joined 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.NEWS,www.nytimes.com/books/00/04/09/specials/garland-funeral.html, Judy Garland’s Funeral Draws Her Colleagues, Van Gelder, Lawrence, June 28, 1969, The New York Times, April 2, 2017, 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.“NEWS,www.ozclub.org/reference/oztlfrm.htm, Return to Oz & 50th Anniversary of MGM Film, Jane, Albright, The Oz Reference Library, June 5, 2008,www.ozclub.org/reference/oztlfrm.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20080419114829www.ozclub.org/reference/oztlfrm.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20080419114829www.ozclub.org/reference/oztlfrm.htm, April 19, 2008, 2008, Bolger’s Scarecrow is ranked among the “most beloved movie characters of all time” by AMC and the American Film Institute.WEB,www.filmsite.org/greatfilmcharacters-s.html, Greatest Movie Characters, www.filmsite.org, en, 2017-08-20, WEB,www.afi.com/10top10/moviedetail.aspx?id=7892&thumb=6, AFI: 10 Top 10, www.afi.com, 2017-08-20, 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.WEB,www.walkoffame.com/ray-bolger, Hollywood Walk of Fame - Ray Bolger, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, November 29, 2017, In 2019, the first comprehensive biography of Bolger, More Than a Scarecrow by Holly Van Leuven, was published.“How a High Schooler Obsession Became Biography” Boston Globe, March 13, 2019Statham, William. “BWW Review: Ray Bolger: More Than A Scarecrow by Holly Van Leuven” broadwayworld.com, May 7, 2019

Filmography{| class“wikitable“|+Theatrical films

! Year !! Title !! Role !! NotesThe Great Ziegfeld >|Rosalie (1937 film)>Rosalie Bill Delroy The Girl of the Golden West (1938 film)>The Girl of the Golden West Happy Moore (scenes deleted)Sweethearts (1938 film)>Sweethearts Hans The Wizard of Oz >Scarecrow (Oz)>Hunk / The Scarecrow Sunny (1941 film)>Sunny Bunny Billings Four Jacks and a Jill (film)>Four Jacks and a Jill Nifty Sullivan Forever and a Day (1943 film)>Forever and a Day Sentry (scenes deleted)Stage Door Canteen (film)>Stage Door Canteen Ray Bolger The Harvey Girls >|Look for the Silver Lining (film)>Look for the Silver Lining Jack Donahue Where’s Charley? (film)>Where’s Charley? Charley Wykeham April in Paris (film)>April in Paris S. Winthrop Putnam Babes in Toyland (1961 film)>Babes in Toyland Barnaby The Daydreamer (film)>The Daydreamer The Pieman Just You and Me, Kid >|The Runner Stumbles >|Annie (1982 film)>Annie Sound Effects Man UncreditedThat’s Dancing! >| Documentary film{| class=“wikitable“|+Television! Year !! Title !! Role !! NotesWhere’s Raymond? >| Lead role (61 episodes)Washington Square (TV series)>Washington Square Host General Electric Theater >| 2 episodesThe Red Skelton Show >| Episode: “The Mayor of Central Park”The Little Sweep >| Television filmThe Jean Arthur Show >| Episode: “Rich Man, Poor Man”The Partridge Family >| Recurring role (3 episodes)Nanny and the Professor >| Episode: “South Sea Island Sweetheart”The Entertainer (play)>The Entertainer Billy Rice Television filmCaptains and the Kings >| Television miniseries (Chapter I)The Love Boat >| 2 episodesBaretta >| Episode: “Just for Laughs”Three on a Date >| Television filmFantasy Island >| 2 episodesLittle House on the Prairie (TV series)>Little House on the Prairie Toby Noe 2 episodesHeaven Only Knows >| Television pilotBattlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)>Battlestar Galactica Vector Episode: “Greetings from Earth”Aloha Paradise >| Episode: “Best of Friends/Success/Nine Karats”Peter and the Wolf >| Television filmPeter and the Magic Egg >| Voice, Television specialDiff’rent Strokes >| Episode: “A Haunting We Will Go”, (final appearance)

Stage work{| class“wikitable“|+Broadway productions

! Year !! Title !! Role !! TheatreThe Merry World >| Imperial TheatreA Night in Paris >| 44th Street TheatreHeads Up >Neil Simon Theatre>Alvin TheatreGeorge White’s Scandals of 1931 >Apollo Theatre (42nd Street)>Apollo Theatre(Life Begins at 8:40) >| Winter Garden TheatreOn Your Toes >| Imperial TheatreKeep Off the Grass >| Broadhurst TheatreBy Jupiter >Shubert Theatre (New York City)>Shubert TheatreThree to Make Ready >Adelphi Theatre (New York City)>Adelphi TheatreWhere’s Charley? >| St. James TheatreWhere’s Charley? (revival) >Broadway Theatre (53rd Street)>Broadway TheatreAll American (musical)>All-American Professor Fodorski Winter Garden TheatreCome Summer >| Lunt-Fontanne Theatre

References

{{Reflist|2}}

External links

{{Commons}}

• {{IMDb name|0001961}}
• {{Tcmdb name|18584}}
• {{Amg name|7128}}
• Churkendoose album (mp3)
• “Did these stories Really Happen” by Michelle Bernier. Createspace Pub. 2010; {{ISBN|1-4505-8536-1}}

{{Navboxes| title = Awards for Ray Bolger| list ={{DramaCriticsBestActorMusical}}{{TonyAward MusicalLeadActor 1947-1975}}}}{{Authority control}}