Charles Ray
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Charles Ray (b. March 15, 1891 in Jacksonville, Illinois - d. November 23, 1943 in Los Angeles, California) was a silent film star.
The son of a Scots-Irish railroad worker and a mother of French descent, Charles Ray did was not raised in one town but traveled in towns in Illinois, and then in California. Half-hearted, Ray attempted a business career by a growing love for the theatre, and his sister pushed him into a professional career by giving him the tuition to attend the Wallace Dramatic School. After touring in plays, most of which he produced, throughout the Southwest, Ray then returned to Los Angeles. In 1912 applied for work as an extra at Thomas H. Ince's studio at Inceville. Soon, producer Ince noticed Ray and gave him increasingly important juvenile roles.
The leading role in The Coward made him a star. By 1917, he was a world-famous figure, starring in one film after another in which the innocent country boy wises up to the dangers of a big city. Tired after dozens of films with the same basic plot, Ray broke away from Ince and entered into his own production company. Much has been made of Ray's supposed hubris and ingratitude. Bit it seems egotism to have had less to do with the decision than the need for a change. Ray said:
"Call it ambition, restlessness, anything you like, but I had this desire for new experience and new expression, and it had nothing to do with making money."
Though Ray's star still shone brightly, and several of his self-produced films were artistic successes, his career began to decline as he moved further from his familiar bumpkin character.
He lost everything on a failed production called The Courtship of Myles Standish, and was rescued from utter poverty by his old mentor, Thomas Ince, who put him into several films of increasing interest. After Ince's death in 1924, this year sent Ray Poverty Row where he made a few undistinguished pictures. His departure from important roles coincided with the transition to talkies. Ray then went to New York and tried unsuccessfully to find stage work and to write. After several years of hand-to-mouth living, he then returned to Los Angeles and began playing bit parts of no consequence. A slightly more prominent role in A Yank in the RAF seems to promise a comeback, but failed. In 1943, an impacted tooth became infected and Ray died from it at the age of fifty-two.
