Ray Bolger

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Ray Bolger
in the film Stage Door Canteen (1943)
Birth name	Raymond Wallace Bolger^[1]^[2]
Born	January 10, 1904 Dorchester, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	January 15, 1987, aged 83 Los Angeles, California
Years active	1936 - 1985
Spouse(s)	Gwendolyn Rickard (1929 - 1987) (his death)
Notable roles	The Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Ray Bolger (January 10, 1904 – January 15, 1987) was an American entertainer of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the Scarecrow (and the farmworker "Hunk") in the 1939 film classic, The Wizard of Oz.

Bolger was born Raymond Wallace Bolger^[3]^[1]^[2] to an Irish American^[4] Roman Catholic family in Dorchester, Massachusetts, a heavily Irish neighborhood at the time. His father, James Edward Bolger, was a house-painter, his mother, Anne Wallace,^[5] a homemaker. He was inspired by the vaudeville shows he attended when he was young to become an entertainer himself. He began his career as a dancer. His limber body and ability to ad lib movement won him many starring roles on Broadway in the 1930s.

His film career began when he signed a contract with MGM in 1936. His best-known film prior to The Wizard of Oz was The Great Ziegfeld (1936), in which he portrayed himself.

Bolger as the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Bolger's studio contract stipulated that he would play any part the studio chose; however, he was unhappy when he was cast as the Tin Man. The Scarecrow part had already been assigned to another lean and limber dancing studio contract player, Buddy Ebsen.

In time, the roles were switched. While Bolger was pleased with his role as the Scarecrow, Ebsen was struck ill by the powdered aluminum make-up used to complete the Tin Man costume. (The powdered aluminum had been inhaled and coated Ebsen's lungs, leaving him near death. Ironically, Ebsen would outlive all the principal players of Oz.) Ebsen's illness paved the way for the role to be filled by Jack Haley.

Bolger's performance in Oz was a tour de force. He displayed the full range of his physical, comedic, and dramatic talents playing the character searching for the brain that he has always had. The Scarecrow's sympathy for Dorothy Gale's plight, his cleverness and bravery in rescuing her from the Wicked Witch of the West (played by Margaret Hamilton) and his deep affection for her shone through, endearing the character -- and Bolger -- in the public mind forever. Whenever queried as to whether he received any residuals from broadcasts of the 1939 classic, Bolger would reply: "No, just immortality. I'll settle for that."[1]

Following Oz, Bolger moved to RKO. He starred in several more films and had a sitcom called Where's Raymond? from 1953 - 1955 (also known as "The Ray Bolger Show"). He also made frequent guest appearances on television. In 1985 he and Liza Minnelli, the daughter of his Oz co-star Judy Garland, starred in "That's Dancing" -- a film also written by Jack Haley, Jr., the son of late Tin Man actor Jack Haley. Liza Minnelli and Jack Haley, Jr. would have a brief marriage some years later.

Bolger's Broadway credits included On Your Toes, By Jupiter, and Where's Charley?, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical and in which he introduced "Once in Love with Amy," the song most often connected with him.

Ray Bolger died in Los Angeles, California of cancer five days after his 83rd birthday, and is interred at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California, in the Mausoleum, Crypt F2, Block 35.

He was survived by his wife of 57 1/2 years, Gwendolyn Rickard. [2]

At the time of his death, he was the last surviving member of the main Oz cast. An editorial cartoon the day after his death featured the Oz cast dancing off into the setting sun, with the Scarecrow running to catch up.

Preceded by Paul Hartman for Angel in the Wings	Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical 1949 for Where's Charley?	Succeeded by Ezio Pinza for South Pacific