Rasmus Kristian Rask (1787 - 1832)

Danish linguist and principal founder of the science of comparative linguistics.

Raul Anthony Chavez (1926 - 2012)

Latino Television Personality. Born in Mexico, Raul and his family immigrated to the United States to escape the turmoil in Mexico after the Mexican revolution. His family settled in Los Angeles, where he attended school and served in the U.S. Navy in World War II as a flight engineer. After the Navy, he attended Pasadena […]

Raúl Aubel (1936 - 1997)

Actor. He had a long career in theater, cinema and television. Best known for his roles in soap operas. (bio by: 380W)

Raúl Juliá (1940 - 1994)

Juliá was born in Floral Park, a subsector of San Juan, to Olga Arcelay and Raúl Juliá. He was the oldest of four brothers and sisters. His mother was a mezzo-soprano who sang at a church choir before marrying Juliá’s father, who was an electrical engineer graduated from Tri-State University. Some relatives were also musicians, […]

Ray Abruzzese (1937 - 2011)

Raymond Lewis Abruzzese, Jr. (October 27, 1937 – August 22, 2011) was an American college and professional football player.  Abruzzese was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A defensive back, he played college football at the University of Alabama, and played professionally in the American Football League for the Buffalo Bills from 1962 through 1964, when the […]

Ray Allen Billington (1903 - 1981)

Educator, historian and author. Billington held two Ph.D. degrees (University of Wisconsin 1926, and Harvard University 1933), taught at several universities in the U.S. served as a professor at Oxford University in England. He retired from his teaching career in 1960 and became the Senior Research Associate at the renowned Huntington Library. He wrote more […]

Ray Arcel (1899 - 1994)

Hall of Fame Professional Boxing Trainer. One of the most respected men in the history of boxing, Ray Arcel trained a record twenty world champions. Born in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1899, Arcel grew up in a tough New York City neighborhood. Ray handled more than 2,000 fighters during his 70-year career in the ring, […]

Ray Arnett (1917 - 2015)

Choreographer, Director, Producer. Arnett was best known for his decades spent working with Liberace. Early in his career, he was nicknamed “King of the Gypsies” for being the hardest-working chorus boy in the now cult classic ‘Forgotten Musicals’ on Broadway. Soon thereafter, he would dance alongside the legendary Mae West on television and eventually star […]

Ray Bloch (1902 - 1982)

Musician, Songwriter. Born in France, he made his orchestra a popular and much admired  band during the 1950s. He came to America during World War I and performed as a pianist in New York Ballrooms. He then organized his own orchestra, toured the US in a Vaudeville shows, then became music director and arranger for […]

Ray Bolger (1904 - 1987)

Ray Bolger Ray Bolger, the loose-limbed song-and-dance man who became known to millions as the Scarecrow in ”The Wizard of Oz,” died yesterday of cancer in Los Angeles. He had his 83d birthday last Saturday and lived in Beverly Hills. Among his many roles on stage, screen and television in a career than spanned six […]

Ray Bradbury (1920 - 2012)

Ray Bradbury was an American science fiction writer whose works were translated in more than 40 languages and sold millions of copies around the world. Although he created a world of new technical and intellectual ideas, he never obtained a driver’s license and had never driven a car. He was born Ray Douglas Bradbury on […]

Ray Chapman (1891 - 1920)

Ray Chapman was born in Beaver Dam, Kentucky, and raised in Herrin, Illinois. He broke into the Major Leagues in 1912 with the Cleveland team, then known as the Naps. Ray Chapman led the American League in runs scored and walks in 1918. A top-notch bunter, Chapman is sixth on the all-time list for sacrifice hits […]

Ray Collins (1889 - 1965)

Ray Collins was born December 10, 1889, in Sacramento, California, to Lillie Bidwell and William Calderwood Collins. His father was a newspaper reporter and dramatic editor on The Sacramento Bee. His mother was the niece of John Bidwell, pioneer, statesman and founder of society in the Sacramento Valley area of California in the 19th century. […]

Ray Combs (1956 - 1996)

Ray Combs Ray Combs, the 40-year-old former host of TV’s “The New Family Feud” game show, committed suicide, dying Sunday at Glendale Adventist Hospital a day after he had been admitted for an unrelated head injury, authorities said. Neither hospital officials nor Glendale police, who are investigating along with the county coroner’s office, would say […]

Ray Corrigan (1902 - 1976)

Ray Corrigan’s career in Hollywood began as a physical fitness instructor and physical culture trainer to the stars. In the early 1930s he did stunts and bit parts in several films. Many of his early roles were in ape costumes, for example, as a gorilla in Tarzan and His Mate (1934) and an “orangopoid” in […]

Ray Dannis (1921 - 2006)

Actor. Through the 1960s and 70s, he made a career performing in horror and comedy films. He is most noted for his lead role as Mr. Babock in the 1972 cult classic “The Corpse Grinders”. The movie frequently paired with “The Undertaker and His Pals” (1966), another noted role where he played Mr. Undertaker. His […]

Ray Danton (1931 - 1992)

Danton was born Raymond Caplan in New York City, the son of Myrtle (née Menkin) and Jack Caplan. His family was Jewish, and he was a descendant of the Vilna Gaon.  Danton entered show business as a child radio actor on NBC radio’s Let’s Pretend show in 1943. Danton did many stage roles whilst attending […]

Ray Dolby (1933 - 2013)

Dolby was born in Portland, Oregon, the son of Esther Eufemia (née Strand) and Earl Milton Dolby, an inventor. He was raised in San Francisco and attended Sequoia High School (class of 1951) in Redwood City, California. As a teenager in the decade following World War II, he held part-time and summer jobs at Ampex […]

Ray Goulding (1922 - 1990)

Actor. Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, he began his career as an announcer on Boston radio. In 1946, he teamed up with Bob Elliott as a comedic duo the “Bob and Ray Show” which was broadcasted on NBC Radio for decades. The duo also performed on radio dram shows such as “One Fell’s Family” and “Mary […]

Ray Harryhausen (1920 - 2013)

Harryhausen was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Martha L. (née Reske) and Frederick W. Harryhausen. Of German descent, the family surname was originally spelled “Herrenhausen”.  After having seen King Kong (1933) for the first of many times on its initial release, Harryhausen spent his early years experimenting in the production of animated […]

Ray Heindorf (1908 - 1980)

Born in Haverstraw, New York, Ray Heindorf worked as a pianist in a movie house in Mechanicville in his early teens. In 1928, he moved to New York City, where he worked as a musical arranger before heading to Hollywood. He gained his first job as an orchestrator at MGM, where he worked on Hollywood […]

Ray Kroc (1902 - 1984)

Kroc was born on October 5, 1902 in Oak Park, near Chicago, to parents of Czech origin, Rose Mary (Hrach) and Louis Kroc. His father was from the village Břasy near Plzeň, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic). He grew up and spent most of his life in Oak Park, Illinois. During the First World War […]

Ray Manzarek (1939 - 2013)

Manzarek was of Polish descent, born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, as were his parents, Helena and Raymond Manzarek, Sr. Growing up, he took private piano lessons from Bruno Michelotti and others. He originally wanted to play basketball, but he only wanted to play power forward or center. When he was […]

Ray Milland (1907 - 1986)

Ray Milland (3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award-winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend (1945), a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild […]

Ray Nance (1913 - 1976)

Ray Nance was the leader of his own band in Chicago from 1932 to 1937. Then, he worked with Earl Hines from 1937 to 1939; and from 1939 to 1940 he worked with Horace Henderson. Ellington hired Nance to replace trumpeter Cootie Williams, who had joined Benny Goodman, in 1940. Nance’s first recorded performance with Ellington […]

Ray Price (1926 - 2013)

Ray Price was born on a farm near the small, now gone, community of Peach, Near Perryville in Wood County, Texas. He was the son of Walter Clifton Price and Clara Mae Bradley Cimini. His Grandfather James MM Price was an early settler of the area.  Price was three years old when his parents divorced and his mother […]

Ray Stannard Baker (1870 - 1946)

Author of numerous books on the life of President Woodrow Wilson. He was also the technical adviser during the production by 20th Century Fox Company on the motion picture “Wilson.” (bio by: Laurie)  Family links:  Parents:  Joseph Stannard Baker (1838 – 1912)  Alice Potter Baker (1844 – 1883)  Siblings:  Ray Stannard Baker (1870 – 1946) […]

Ray Stanton Avery (1907 - 1997)

Inventor, Business Magnate. In 1935 he invented a producted he called “Kum Kleen Pricer Stickers,” the first commercially self-adhesive labels. His invention led to the formation of Avery Dennison Corperation. The company now has 16,000 employees in 37 countries and sales in the billions each year.  Family links:  Parents:  Oliver Perry Avery (1871 – 1959) […]

Raymond A. Brown (1915 - 2009)

Attorney. He was a veteran New Jersey defense attorney noted for his many controversial high-profile cases. In 1960s, he defended professional boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, poet Amiri Baraka and Soviet spy John W. Butenko. He gained a reputation as civil rights lawyer in 1968, when he defended black students which included his son, were arrested […]

Raymond Aron (1905 - 1983)

Philosopher, Sociologist. After attending the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, he studied Philosophy at the Universities of Cologne and Berlin. In 1938, he obtained a degree in French Language and Literature. In Paris he met Jean Paul Sartre, with whom, at the end of the Second World War, founded the magazine Les Temps Modernes. He […]