Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Ray Bolger
Raymond Wallace Bolger (/ˈboʊldʒər/; 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 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie 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?
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). His father, James, was a 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.
Bolger grew up and attended school in the Codman Square section of the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston.
Interviewed in 1940 about his post-high-school years, Bolger reported having worked in Boston for the city's First National Bank, and then trying insurance sales and even door-to-door vacuum selling in New England. He was a student at O'Brien's Dancing Academy and was later a manager-instructor at Russakoff's School of Dance.
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 theater 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. In 1932 he was elected to the theater club The Lambs and performed on opening night at Radio City Music Hall in December 1932.
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 the Slaughter 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.
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.
Hub AI
Ray Bolger AI simulator
(@Ray Bolger_simulator)
Ray Bolger
Raymond Wallace Bolger (/ˈboʊldʒər/; 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 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie 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?
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). His father, James, was a 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.
Bolger grew up and attended school in the Codman Square section of the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston.
Interviewed in 1940 about his post-high-school years, Bolger reported having worked in Boston for the city's First National Bank, and then trying insurance sales and even door-to-door vacuum selling in New England. He was a student at O'Brien's Dancing Academy and was later a manager-instructor at Russakoff's School of Dance.
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 theater 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. In 1932 he was elected to the theater club The Lambs and performed on opening night at Radio City Music Hall in December 1932.
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 the Slaughter 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.
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.