AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime. Watch Now
All Movies List
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 50 Years of Magic

as Self (archive footage)

1990
The Entertainer

as Billy Rice

1976
Babes in Toyland

as Barnaby

1961
April in Paris

as Sam Winthrop Putnam

1952
The Harvey Girls

as Chris Maule

1946
Four Jacks and a Jill

as Nifty Sullivan, a Jack

1942
The Wizard of Oz

as "Hunk" / Scarecrow

1949
Sweethearts

as Hans

1938
The Great Ziegfeld

as Ray Bolger

1936
Ray Bolger Ray Bolger

Birthday

1904-01-10

Place of Birth

Boston, Massachusetts, U.S

Biography

Ray Bolger began his career in vaudeville. He was half of a team called "Sanford and Bolger" and also did numerous Broadway shows on his own. He, like Gene Kelly, was a song-and-dance man as well as an actor. He was signed to a contract with MGM in 1936 and his first role was as himself in The Great Ziegfeld (1936). This was soon followed by a role opposite Eleanor Powell in Rosalie (1937). His first dancing and singing role was in Sweethearts (1938), where he did the "wooden shoes" number with red-headed soprano/actress Jeanette MacDonald. This got him noticed by MGM producers and resulted in his being cast in his most famous role, that of the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz (1939). Surprisingly, even though the film was a success, Bolger's contract with MGM ended. He went to RKO to make Four Jacks and a Jill (1942). After this, Bolger went to Broadway, where he received his greatest satisfaction. In 1953 he turned to television and got his own sitcom, Where's Raymond? (1953), later changed to "The Ray Bolger Show". After his series ended, Bolger made frequent guest appearances on TV and had some small roles in movies. In 1985 he co-hosted That's Dancing! (1985) with Liza Minnelli. Bolger died in 1987 at the age of 83. Interred at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California, USA, in the Mausoleum, Crypt F2, Block 35.
AD

WATCH FREE FOR 30 DAYS

All Prime Video
Cancel anytime
Watch Now