ORBITRA
Ray Bolger

Acting

Ray Bolger

Jan 10, 1904 – Jan 15, 198767 titles 38 movies · 29 TV
Explore orbit
IMDb

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.

Also known as

Raymond Wallace Bulcao · Рэй Болджер · Raymond Wallace Bolger

Born

Jan 10, 1904 – Jan 15, 1987

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Open in OpenStreetMap

Photos

Profile images from TMDB · click to enlarge

1 image

Roles across career

Titles counted once; a person can act and direct on the same film (roles merged).

67

Acting credits

0

Directing

0

Writing

0

Other crew

Most critically rated

Highest TMDB score (min 100 votes)

Most commercially successful

Highest TMDB vote count (attention / reach proxy; not box office)

Career timeline

By release / first air year · movie & TV merged

Orbit ↑

1936 1 title(s)

1937 1 title(s)

1938 2 title(s)

1939 1 title(s)

1941 1 title(s)

1942 1 title(s)

1943 1 title(s)

1946 1 title(s)

1949 2 title(s)

1950 3 title(s)

1951 1 title(s)

1952 2 title(s)

1953 2 title(s)

1954 3 title(s)

1955 1 title(s)

1956 3 title(s)

1958 1 title(s)

1959 1 title(s)

1961 3 title(s)

1962 2 title(s)

1963 1 title(s)

1964 1 title(s)

1966 1 title(s)

1967 1 title(s)

1970 2 title(s)

1974 2 title(s)

1975 1 title(s)

1976 3 title(s)

1977 1 title(s)

1978 4 title(s)

1979 4 title(s)

1982 1 title(s)

1983 1 title(s)

1985 2 title(s)

1990 1 title(s)

1994 1 title(s)

1997 1 title(s)

2000 1 title(s)

2004 1 title(s)

2009 2 title(s)

2025 1 title(s)

Undated 1 title(s)