Ray Stantz

Raymond "Ray" Stantz
First appearance	Ghostbusters (1984)
Last appearance	Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009)
Created by	Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis
Portrayed by	Dan Aykroyd
Voiced by	Dan Aykroyd (Ghostbusters: The Video Game) Frank Welker (Real Ghostbusters) (Extreme Ghostbusters guest star)
Information
Nickname(s)	Ray
Aliases	Thurman
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Occupation	Scientist Ghostbuster
Title	Ph.D.
Relatives	Aunt Lois Uncle Andrew MacMillan Samantha Stantz (cousin)
Nationality	American

Raymond "Ray" Stantz, Ph.D. is a fictional character from the Ghostbusters franchise. He appears in the films Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, Casper, and the animated television series The Real Ghostbusters. He was portrayed by Dan Aykroyd in both live action films, and voiced by Frank Welker in the animated series. He is a member of the Ghostbusters and one of the three doctors of parapsychology, along with Dr. Peter Venkman and Dr. Egon Spengler.

Character

Ray is an expert on paranormal history and metallurgy. He is characterized by his almost childlike enthusiasm towards his work, and his forthright acceptance of paranormal activity. As a result Peter once during the movie referred to him as "the heart of the Ghostbusters". Ray has extensive knowledge of the Bible (to the point of even quoting a specific book and chapter -- "I remember Revelation 7:12"—about the end of the world, though the passage he quotes is actually Revelation 6:12), but is an agnostic, commenting when asked if he believes in God, "Never met Him". As revealed in Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Ray attended a seminary at some stage in his life. He is known for his wordy and overly technical explanations of scientific and paranormal phenomena. Ray, along with Egon, is responsible for pioneering the Ghostbusters' theories and designing and building the equipment used for catching and containing ghosts.

Aykroyd did a cameo as Stantz in the 1995 movie version of Casper.^[1]

The Real Ghostbusters

Ray has a completely extended family (which has different nationalities ranging from Swiss to Scottish to Russian), including his Aunt Lois (who appears in the episode, "The Spirit of Aunt Lois"), and Uncle Andrew MacMillan of Dunkeld, Scotland (who is mentioned as being deceased in "Bustman's Holiday").

Ray was born in the Bronx in 1959, according to the episodes Citizen Ghost, and "It's About Time", then later moved to Morrisville, which appears in Look Homeward Ray. The latter episode also reveals that Ray's childhood crush was a brunette named Elaine.

During the show's run he was the closest member of the team to being a pilot, having won a free flying lesson in 1976, as mentioned in You Can't Take It With You.

Ray's surname was misspelled in the series as Stanz, in much the same way as Winston Zeddemore's surname was misspelled Zeddmore.

Ray is the only Ghostbuster to wear the original beige jumpsuit uniform in both the animated series and the films, while the other Ghostbusters wore color coded jumpsuits in the animated series - brown for Venkman, light blue for Winston and gray-blue for Egon (presumably to help differentiate them better).

Extreme Ghostbusters

Ray only appears in the two-part series finale. After the closing down of the Ghostbusters Ray got a job at a major university. After a "minor mishap", which was followed by a large explosion, he has a job at Perpetual Motors, a used car company.

Video games

Dan Aykroyd, as well as all the other main characters, appeared in 2009's Ghostbusters video game.^[2]

References