Aldo Ray (born Aldo Da Re; September 25, 1926 – March 27, 1991) was an American actor of film and television. He began his career as a contract player for
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
before achieving stardom through his roles in ''
The Marrying Kind,
Pat and Mike
''Pat and Mike'' is a 1952 American romantic comedy film starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. The movie was written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, and directed by George Cukor. Cukor directed ''The Philadelphia Story (film), The Phil ...
'' (which earned him a
Golden Globe
The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...
nomination), ''
Let's Do It Again,'' and ''
Battle Cry
A battle cry or war cry is a yell or chant taken up in battle, usually by members of the same combatant group.
Battle cries are not necessarily articulate (e.g. "Eulaliaaaa!", "Alala"..), although they often aim to invoke patriotic or religio ...
.'' His athletic build and gruff, raspy voice saw him frequently
typecast in "tough guy" roles throughout his career, which lasted well into the late 1980s. Though the latter part of his career was marked by appearances in low-budget B-movies and
exploitation films, he still appeared occasionally in higher-profile features, including ''
The Secret of NIMH
''The Secret of NIMH'' is a 1982 American animated Fantasy film, fantasy adventure film directed by Don Bluth in his directorial debut and based on Robert C. O'Brien (author), Robert C. O'Brien's children's novel, ''Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of N ...
'' (1982) and
''The Sicilian'' (1987).
In 1980, Ray was awarded Best Actor for his role in ''
Sweet Savage'' from the
Adult Film Association's third Erotica Awards.
Early life and education
Ray was born Aldo Da Re in
Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania, to an Italian family with five brothers (Mario, Guido, Dante, Dino, and Louis) and one sister (Regina). His brother Mario Da Re (1933–2010) lettered in football at
USC USC may refer to:
Education
United States
* Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico
* University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina
** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina
* ...
from 1952 to 1954 and appeared as a contestant on the May 12, 1955, edition of
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer who performed in films and vaudeville on television, radio, and the stage. He is considered one of America's greatest comed ...
's NBC-TV quiz show ''
You Bet Your Life''. His family moved to the small town of
Crockett, California, when Aldo was four years old. His father worked as a laborer at the
C&H Sugar Refinery, the largest employer in the town. He attended
John Swett High School, where he made the football team; he also coached swimming.
At age 18, during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
in 1944, Ray entered the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
, serving as a
frogman
A frogman is someone who is trained in scuba diving or swimming underwater. The term often applies more to professional rather than recreational divers, especially those working in a tactical capacity that includes military, and in some Europea ...
until 1946; he saw action at
Okinawa with UDT-17. Upon leaving the Navy in May 1946, he returned to Crockett. He studied and played football at Vallejo Junior College and then entered the
University of California at Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...
to study
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
. (Ray later described himself as an "arch conservative" and a "
right-winger".
) He left college in order to run for the office of
constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other peo ...
of the Crockett Judicial District in
Contra Costa County
Contra Costa County (; ''Contra Costa'', Spanish language, Spanish for 'Opposite Coast') is a U.S. county, county located in the U.S. state of California, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the ...
, California. "I always knew I was going to be a big man, but I thought it would be in politics," he said.
Career
''Saturday's Hero''
In April 1950
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
sent a unit to San Francisco to look for some athletes to appear in a film they were making called ''
Saturday's Hero'' (1951). Aldo's brother Guido saw an item in the ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'' about the auditions and asked his brother to drive him there. Director
David Miller was more interested in Ray than in his brother because of his voice; also, Ray was comfortable talking to the camera owing to his political experience. He later recalled, "They... said, 'What's wrong with your voice kid? Are you sick? If you're sick you don't belong here.' I said, 'No, no, no, this is the way I've always spoken.' And they loved it."
Ray would later retell this story in the trailer for ''
Pat and Mike
''Pat and Mike'' is a 1952 American romantic comedy film starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. The movie was written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, and directed by George Cukor. Cukor directed ''The Philadelphia Story (film), The Phil ...
''.
Ray signed a contract and was sent to Los Angeles for a screen test. He was cast in the small role of a cynical college football player opposite
John Derek and
Donna Reed.
Ray worked on the film between the primary and general elections. He was elected constable on June 6. "I was 23 and a sort of child bride to the voters," he later said.
"The guy I ran against was a 16-year incumbent, and I destroyed him with 80 percent of the vote! I was going to work my way up to the U.S. Senate, see, and I would've, too."
Columbia picked up its option on Ray's services and signed him to a seven-year contract. "Of all the people in the picture they took up only one option—mine," he said. "And I said, 'Thank you, goodbye. I'm going home where I can be a big fish in my small pond. You can take this town (Hollywood) and shove it."
Columbia refused to release him from his contract and put him under suspension, giving him a leave of absence to work as constable. "I told them I couldn't care less, they could give me whatever they wanted," he said.
Ray started his new job in November 1950.
Hollywood stardom: ''The Marrying Kind''
After several months, Ray found "the quiet life... monotonous",
so he contacted Max Arnow, talent director at Columbia, and expressed interest in appearing in more movies. Four weeks later, Arnow called back, saying Columbia wanted to audition Ray for a small part in
Judy Holliday
Judy Holliday (born Judith Tuvim, June 21, 1921 – June 7, 1965) was an American actress, comedian, and singer.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', June 9, 1965, p. 71.
She began her career as part of a nightclub act before working in Bro ...
's new movie ''
The Marrying Kind''.
Ray went to Hollywood and did a screen test with the director,
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor ( ; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer, producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO Pictures, RKO when David O. Selzn ...
. The first test went badly, but head of Columbia
Harry Cohn
Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958) was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures, Columbia Pictures Corporation.
Life and career
Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His fath ...
liked Ray and asked for another test. The second one was done opposite (Miss)
Jeff Donnell, whom Ray later married; it was more successful and Ray ended up being cast in the lead.
Harry Cohn felt the name "Aldo Da Re" was too close to "Dare" and wanted to change it to "John Harrison"; the actor refused and "Aldo Ray" was the compromise.
He divorced his wife and resigned as constable in September 1951. His studio salary was $200 a week.
Cukor famously suggested that Ray go to ballet school because he walked too much like a football player. The director later talked about the actor:
He has a great advantage: the way his eyes are made. The light comes into them. There are certain people who have opaque eyes which refuse to catch the light. But his eyes had a certain glow and gave quite well in the photographed result. He did this silent scene very well lying there on the bed in the same room with Judy (Holliday). Then later he did comedy scenes with her—very difficult ones—and there were also emotional sequences where he broke down and cried. They were brilliant.
"Cukor is hypersensitive to reality", recalled Ray. "He told me exactly what to do and why. He explains everything and he knows exactly what he wants."
Ray's performance was much praised. ''
Sight & Sound'' later commented:
To give the performance he did in ''The Marrying Kind'' after so little previous experience was clear evidence that in Aldo Ray the screen had discovered one of its rare "naturals". This was no carefully edited, tricked out performance, but a strikingly sincere and imaginative interpretation: an exceptional talent responding to a finely intuitive director... There was about him none of the personality assurance that extracts a special consideration of the actor as distinct from his role.
Cukor then cast Ray in a supporting role in ''
Pat and Mike
''Pat and Mike'' is a 1952 American romantic comedy film starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. The movie was written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, and directed by George Cukor. Cukor directed ''The Philadelphia Story (film), The Phil ...
'', starring
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the ...
and
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress whose Katharine Hepburn on screen and stage, career as a Golden Age of Hollywood, Hollywood leading lady spanned six decades. She was known for her headstrong ...
. Ray's work in ''Pat and Mike'' led to his nomination, along with
Richard Burton
Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor.
Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...
and
Robert Wagner, for a
Golden Globe
The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...
as Best Newcomer. Burton won the award that year, but Ray's career was launched. He said after two films with Cukor: "I never needed direction again."
Ray said Spencer Tracy told him: "Kid, I don't know what it is that you got, and I got, and some of us have, but you can work in this business forever." "That," said Ray, "made me feel good, you know, coming from a guy like him. I never bowed down to anybody at Columbia or anywhere else, but my overall idea was, I'll do whatever they tell me because it's their business, not mine, and I've got to learn it."
Columbia leading man
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
head
Harry Cohn
Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958) was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures, Columbia Pictures Corporation.
Life and career
Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His fath ...
liked Ray and wanted him for the role of Private Robert Prewitt in ''
From Here to Eternity'' (1953), but
Fred Zinnemann
Alfred Zinnemann (April 29, 1907 – March 14, 1997) was an American film director and producer. He won four Academy Awards for directing and producing films in various genres, including thriller film, thrillers, western (genre), westerns, film ...
insisted
Montgomery Clift be cast. However, other good roles followed instead. "Because of Harry, all my first pictures were big hits, tremendously popular", Ray recalled.
Ray starred opposite
Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman ( ; born Sarah Jane Mayfield; January 5, 1917 – September 10, 2007). was an American actress. A star of both movies and television, she received an Academy Award for Best Actress, four Golden Globe Awards and nominations for two Pr ...
in ''
Let's Do It Again'' (1953), then followed this acting opposite
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer, and Pin-up model, pin-up girl. She achieved fame in the 1940s as one of the top stars of the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of ...
in ''
Miss Sadie Thompson'' (also 1953), the third film version of the
W. Somerset Maugham story "
Rain
Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...
". He also appeared in a production of ''
Stalag 17'' at
La Jolla Playhouse.
Ray was loaned to Warner Bros to appear in ''
Battle Cry
A battle cry or war cry is a yell or chant taken up in battle, usually by members of the same combatant group.
Battle cries are not necessarily articulate (e.g. "Eulaliaaaa!", "Alala"..), although they often aim to invoke patriotic or religio ...
'' (1955), which was directed by
Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh (born Albert Edward Walsh; March 11, 1887December 31, 1980) was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent cinema actor George Walsh. He wa ...
, who would become one of Ray's favorite directors. The film was a box-office hit—probably the most popular movie Ray ever made—although it led to his being typecast.
"In some ways the tough soldier role locked me in", reflected Ray later. "There were no sophisticated roles for me. I never seemed to get past master sergeant, though I always thought of myself as upper echelon."
Clash with Columbia
Ray was meant to appear in ''
My Sister Eileen'' (1955) as The Wreck, but he walked off the set, claiming his role was too small, and had to be replaced by
Dick York.
''Battle Cry'' was a big hit at the box office, so Columbia gave Ray a lead role as a sergeant who marries a Japanese girl in ''
Three Stripes in the Sun'' (originally ''The Gentle Wolfhound'') (1955) and then loaned him to Paramount for ''
We're No Angels'' (also 1955), in which he starred with
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart ( ; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American actor. His performances in classic Hollywood cinema made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Bogart ...
,
Peter Ustinov
Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received #Awa ...
,
Basil Rathbone,
Leo G. Carroll, and
Joan Bennett.
Ray was profiled in ''Sight & Sound'' as follows:
Aldo Ray's technical advance in the four years since ''The Marrying Kind'' enables him now to work in subtler, more economical degree; there is an authoritative reserve and, still remarkably intact, the original rare lack of ostentation. All the same, his career seems to have become a nomadic drifting round the studios looking for the right kind of film. The good humour, the lenitive smile, the frog in the throat voice betray nothing of the disappointment the actor must feel after such exciting beginnings under Cukor's guidance.
Ray was meant to appear in ''
Jubal'' but refused because Columbia had made a profit on his loan-outs for ''Battle Cry'' and ''We're No Angels'' but not paid Ray a bonus;
Rod Steiger
Rodney Stephen Steiger ( ; April 14, 1925 – July 9, 2002) was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Ranked as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars", he is closely associ ...
took the role instead. Ray was put on suspension.
Ray then refused to appear in ''
Beyond Mombasa'' (1956) because he did not want to go on location. This led to his being replaced by
Cornel Wilde
Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker.
Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited ap ...
and put under suspension again. However, the situation was resolved when he agreed to make ''
Nightfall'' (1957), playing an artist who encounters a pair of ruthless bank robbers.
In 1956, in between appearances in ''Three Stripes In The Sun'' and ''
Men in War
''Men in War'' is a 1957 black-and-white American war film about the Korean War directed by Anthony Mann and starring Robert Ryan and Aldo Ray as the leaders of a small detachment of American soldiers cut off and desperately trying to rejoin th ...
'', Ray worked in radio as a personality and announcer at hit music station
WNDR in Syracuse, New York. A photo of Ray with a colleague in the WNDR studios, taken as part of a station promotional package, survives and can be found on a WNDR tribute website. By 1957, in any event, he had left WNDR and the radio business and returned to Hollywood.
On January 31, 1957, Ray appeared on
NBC's ''
The Ford Show Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford''. He and
Tennessee Ernie Ford did a comedy skit from a
foxhole
Foxhole may refer to:
Military
* Foxhole, a type of defensive fighting position
A defensive fighting position is a type of Earthworks (engineering)#Military use, earthwork constructed in a military context, generally large enough to accommodat ...
.
Two with Anthony Mann
Columbia loaned Ray out to Security Pictures (who released through
United Artists
United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...
) for him to appear in ''
Men in War
''Men in War'' is a 1957 black-and-white American war film about the Korean War directed by Anthony Mann and starring Robert Ryan and Aldo Ray as the leaders of a small detachment of American soldiers cut off and desperately trying to rejoin th ...
'' (1957) opposite
Robert Ryan; it was directed by
Anthony Mann
Anthony Mann (born Emil Anton Bundsmann; June 30, 1906 – April 29, 1967) was an American film director and stage actor. He came to prominence as a skilled director of ''Film noirs, film noir'' and Western film, Westerns, and for his Epic film ...
, who became Ray's favorite director. Ray was given 5% of the profits, which he later estimated at $70,000.
Ray was reunited with Security Pictures, Ryan, and Mann to star in ''
God's Little Acre'' (1958), an adaptation of
Erskine Caldwell's controversial novel directed by Mann starring
Robert Ryan and
Tina Louise.
By the seventh year of his contract with Columbia, Ray was earning $750 a week. He later said for the first ten years of his career he made less than $100,000.
He expressed interest in producing his own vehicle, ''The Magic Mesa'', from a script by
Burt Kennedy
Burton Raphael Kennedy (September 3, 1922 – February 15, 2001) was an American screenwriter and film director, director known mainly for directing Westerns. Budd Boetticher called him "the best Western writer ever."
Biography
Kennedy was b ...
, but it was not made.
Instead Ray appeared in an adaptation of
David Goodis's novel ''
Nightfall'' (1957) directed by
Jacques Tourneur
Jacques Tourneur (; ; November 12, 1904 – December 19, 1977) was a French-American filmmaker, active during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known as an auteur of stylish and atmospheric genre films, many of them for RKO Pictures, including ...
and ''
The Naked and the Dead'' (1958), an adaptation of
Norman Mailer
Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American writer, journalist and filmmaker. In a career spanning more than six decades, Mailer had 11 best-selling books, at least ...
's novel directed by
Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh (born Albert Edward Walsh; March 11, 1887December 31, 1980) was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent cinema actor George Walsh. He wa ...
. It was produced by
Paul Gregory, who said:
Aldo Ray was drunk the entire time. He was a very sweet guy, but he was gone. He drank drank drank. Raoul Walsh would say, "Let's get him in the morning 'cause in the afternoon it's over."... I just could not get used to it, actors who got all this money and then didn't behave professionally. The English actors have classical training. They perform like professionals. You take someone like Aldo Ray who was just picked up and catapulted into stardom, and then he was just a sponge for booze. He killed himself drinking, not living up to his moral contract.
Ray later admitted that producers were scared of casting him in projects because of his drinking.
Leaving Columbia
Ray had been popular with Harry Cohn because, in the actor's words, "
took no shit from anybody and he saw that I was that kind of a guy, too."
But when Cohn died in 1958, Columbia elected not to renew Ray's contract and he decided to leave Hollywood. He later said, "I never was an expatriate. I spent some time in England and Spain and Italy but I was never out of this country
he USlonger than six months."
He starred in 1959 in ''
Four Desperate Men'' (''The Siege of Pinchgut''), filmed in Australia; it was the last movie produced by
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in west London, England. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on th ...
(releasing through
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
) and a box office disappointment. According to ''Filmink'' his casting "copped a lot of criticism, and it is odd to see him as an Australian resident, but he at least at looks like an ex con who might be willing to blow up a city. And being an American in Australia could have been made to work if they’d just bothered to explain it."
Ray then appeared opposite
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for h ...
in an episode of ''Desilu Playhouse''. He said he made more money from these two projects "than I'd made the whole eight years before."
In 1959, Ray was cast as Hunk Farber in the episode "Payment in Full" of the NBC western series ''
Riverboat''. In the story line, Farber betrays his friend and employer to collect reward money that he uses to court his girlfriend, Missy.
Ray made ''
The Day They Robbed the Bank of England
''The Day They Robbed the Bank of England'' is a 1960 British crime film directed by John Guillermin and starring Aldo Ray, Elizabeth Sellars and Peter O'Toole. It was written by Howard Clewes and Richard Maibaum and based upon the 1959 The Day ...
'', directed by
John Guillermin
Yvon Jean Guillermin (11 November 192527 September 2015), known as John Guillermin, was an English film director, writer and producer. Working both in the United Kingdom and the United States, he was most active in big-budget, action-adventure f ...
, in the UK and ''
Johnny Nobody'' in Ireland.
He later described his British sojourn as a "big mistake" because none of his British films were widely seen in America.
"Everything went well until the end of '62—then everything collapsed—including me", he later said. "I didn't take care of myself physically and mentally."
He hired a press agent, started taking better care of himself physically, and changed agents.
Return to Hollywood
Ray returned to Hollywood where he made a 1963 television pilot, ''Lollipop Louie'' aired as an episode of ''
Alcoa Premiere''. He had a small role in ''
Sylvia'' (1965) and made a pilot for a TV series financed by producer
Joseph E. Levine, ''
Steptoe and Son'' (an unsuccessful adaptation of the British TV series). "I feel I shall have a complete regeneration of my career", he said in 1965.
In 1966 Ray co-starred in ''
What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?'' (1966), ''
Kill a Dragon'', shot in Hong Kong, and ''
Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round'' (1966) as well as playing "Jake", a deaf mute, in an episode of ''
The Virginian'' entitled "Jacob was a Plain Man". He also made several guest appearances on television.
In the same year Ray claimed, "I've been turning down a lot of TV and B movies. I won't consider anything but important roles in important pictures."
He said he was "almost independently wealthy", having saved and invested wisely in real estate from the times when his fee was $100,000 a film. He was interested in returning to politics but not until he had made "at least" four more movies. "The ideal situation would be three films every two years."
In 1967 he starred as a villain in ''
Welcome to Hard Times'' and starred in ''
Suicide Commando'', shot in Rome and Spain in 1968.
He formed his own company, Crockett Productions, and bought two original scripts for films that were not made: ''Soldares'', by Edwin Gottlieb, about the search for
Pancho Villa
Francisco "Pancho" Villa ( , , ; born José Doroteo Arango Arámbula; 5 June 1878 – 20 July 1923) was a Mexican revolutionary and prominent figure in the Mexican Revolution. He was a key figure in the revolutionary movement that forced ...
, and ''Frogman, South Pacific'', by William Zeck.
His best-known work of the 1960s was his portrayal of Sergeant Muldoon, alongside
John Wayne
Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...
, in ''
The Green Berets'' (1968).
Career decline
As the 1960s ended, Hollywood's appetite for Ray's machismo started to wane. Though he worked steadily in the 1970s, the quality of his roles diminished, and he was typically cast as a gruff and gravelly
redneck
''Redneck'' is a derogatory term mainly applied to white Americans perceived to be crass and unsophisticated, closely associated with rural whites of the southern United States.Harold Wentworth, and Stuart Berg Flexner, ''Dictionary of American ...
.
By 1976, Ray was broke. He blamed this on his ex-wives and red tape that meant he could not develop his real estate properties. "I lost it all", he said. "And I am very, very bitter about it... The biggest mistake I ever made was discovering women. I only wish society had been as free and easy when I was coming along as it is today because if that had been the case I wouldn't have been married. Three women in my life utterly destroyed me."
In 1979, Ray appeared in a pornographic movie, ''
Sweet Savage'', in a nonsexual role. Ray said later:
I wanted, I guess, to see what it was all about—a kind of half-assed adventure, you know? It was also a kind of vacation for me in a bad time—a nice location in Arizona—and I picked up a few thousand bucks. After it came out, a few people wagged their fingers at me—'Oh-ho-ho, you dirty dog'—but I knew I hadn't done anything wrong. They shot all the sex stuff after I'd flown back to L.A. I won the adult film Oscar for that, by the way, but somebody copped it.
In 1981, Ray told a newspaper that his drinking was "under control" and said, "I think things are going to shoot straight up. I'm working on a deal now and if the picture is made my worries... are over... If things go the way I anticipate and I stay healthy I think I've got better years ahead of me than behind me."
He said he was open to a return to politics "if my movie career doesn't take off like I think it will."
He admitted being unhappy with his career, saying: "I think I should have gotten more good stuff."
His career decline accelerated in the 1980s, and after being diagnosed with
throat cancer
Head and neck cancer is a general term encompassing multiple cancers that can develop in the head and neck region. These include cancers of the mouth, tongue, gums and lips ( oral cancer), voice box ( laryngeal), throat ( nasopharyngeal, orophar ...
in 1989, he accepted virtually any role that came his way to maintain his costly
health insurance
Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among ma ...
. He returned to Crockett in 1983.
Though at this stage in his career Ray starred mostly in low-budget and exploitation films, he did appear in occasional higher-profile works. He provided voice-over work as Sullivan for the 1982 animated film ''
The Secret of NIMH
''The Secret of NIMH'' is a 1982 American animated Fantasy film, fantasy adventure film directed by Don Bluth in his directorial debut and based on Robert C. O'Brien (author), Robert C. O'Brien's children's novel, ''Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of N ...
'' alongside fellow character actor
John Carradine
John Carradine ( ; born Richmond Reed Carradine; February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was an American actor, considered one of the greatest character actors in American cinema. He was a member of Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and later J ...
. Ray was originally cast in the role of
Gurney Halleck in
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...
's 1984 film ''
Dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...
'', as his ex-wife
Johanna Ray was the casting director, but was replaced by
Patrick Stewart
Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor. With a career spanning over seven decades of Patrick Stewart on stage and screen, stage and screen, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Patrick Stewart, variou ...
owing to ongoing issues with alcoholism.
During the last stages of his career, Ray made a number of films for
Fred Olen Ray. "He'd give me $1,000 in cash, pay my expenses, and I'd do a day's work", said Ray. "Somebody showed me one of his cassettes—'starring Aldo Ray'—but it was just a one-day job... I needed money at the time, and Fred knew I needed a buck, so I did it. He exploited me, yeah... but I was ripe for it."
He also appeared in two films for Iranian-born filmmaker
Amir Shervan, better known for his cult classic ''
Samurai Cop''.
Personal life
Ray was married three times:
*Shirley Green on June 20, 1947. They had one child, a daughter named Claire.
*
Jeff Donnell (married 30 September 1954, divorced 1956)
*British actress Johanna Bennet (married March 26, 1960, divorced 1967), who continues to work today under the name
Johanna Ray as a respected
casting director
In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra to land the role of a character in a script, screenp ...
. They had two sons, Paul and Eric. Johanna Ray, a longtime collaborator with
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...
, cast her son with Aldo,
Eric Da Re, in Lynch's ''
Twin Peaks
''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...
'' series as well as in the movie ''
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.''
Later life
In 1986 Ray's
SAG membership was revoked when it was discovered he was acting in a non-union production, ''Lethal Injection''.
However, Ray still got his union pension and benefits. His fee at this stage was $5,000 a week.
He appeared in two more higher-profile films,
Michael Cimino
Michael Antonio Cimino ( , ; February 3, 1939 – July 2, 2016) was an American filmmaker. He achieved fame as the director of ''The Deer Hunter'' (1978), which won five Academy Awards, including Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Picture and ...
's
''The Sicilian'' (1987) and
''Blood Red'' (1989), both in supporting roles that emphasized his Italian heritage.
In 1989, he was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in his throat that Ray attributed to excessive smoking and drinking.
His last film, which was filmed in mid 1990, was ''
Shock 'Em Dead'', in which he appeared with
Traci Lords
Traci Elizabeth Lords (born Nora Louise Kuzma; May 7, 1968) is an American actress and singer. As a 15-year-old high-school dropout, she used Identity document forgery, fake identity documents to enter the sex industry, where she began appearin ...
and
Troy Donahue. In an interview that same year, he said about his cancer:
I regret that I don't have more control of my tongue and thoughts—because I speak too frankly and too honestly, and this world is not meant for frank and honest people. They don't mix. Reality is pretty phony... I'm in great shape—got all my energy and strength back. I had surgery on my neck last March, and after one more session of the chemo—that's 50 more hours—the doctors say I'll have it all beat... I'm not scared of dying—it's how I die that matters. I'd rather live one good year than ten more crappy years. And I think I've got some good pictures ahead of me if I can find the right roles. There's plenty of good stuff left in me, you know?
Death
Ray remained in Crockett, with his mother and family and friends. On 19 February 1991, he was admitted to the Veterans Administration Hospital in Martinez, 40 miles east of San Francisco. He died there of complications from throat cancer and pneumonia on 27 March 1991 at age 64.
He was cremated and his ashes were put in an urn and buried in Crockett, with a majority of the residents coming out to pay their respects.
Legacy
Author
Richard Matheson
Richard Burton Matheson (February 20, 1926 – June 23, 2013) was an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres.
He is best known as the author of '' I Am Legend'', a 1954 science ficti ...
said that his best-known work, ''
The Incredible Shrinking Man
''The Incredible Shrinking Man'' is a 1957 American science fiction film directed by Jack Arnold (director), Jack Arnold, based on Richard Matheson's 1956 novel, ''The Shrinking Man''. The film stars Grant Williams (actor), Grant Williams as Sc ...
'', was inspired by a scene in Aldo Ray's ''
Let's Do It Again'' in which a character puts on someone else's hat and it sinks down past his ears; "I thought, what if a man put on his own hat and that happened?" he recounted in an interview for
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
's nonfiction work ''Danse Macabre''.
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...
says Aldo Ray would have been ideal casting for the character of Butch in ''
Pulp Fiction
''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence ...
'' (1994) and that the look of Butch in the film (as played by
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting (TV series), Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and has appeared in over one hundred films, gaining ...
) was inspired by Ray.
Brad Pitt
William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. In a Brad Pitt filmography, film career spanning more than thirty years, Pitt has received list of awards and nominations received by Brad Pitt, numerous a ...
's character in Tarantino's 2009 war film ''
Inglourious Basterds
''Inglourious Basterds'' is a 2009 epic film, epic war film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars an ensemble cast including Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Daniel Brühl, Til Schweiger ...
'' is a soldier named "Aldo Raine", in tribute to Ray.
Ray appears as a character in Tarantino's 2021 novel ''
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
''Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood'' is a 2019 comedy-drama film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Bona Film Group, Heyday Films, and Visiona Romantica, and distributed by Sony Pict ...
''.
The Crockett Museum has a display depicting his life.
A profile in ''Movie Morlocks'' analysed Ray's appeal from the film ''Nightfall'':
Nobody smokes a cigarette like Aldo Ray. There's no forethought involved. No effort to seduce or impress audiences with an exaggerated pose or gesture. Ray doesn't have to pretend to be cool, threatening, bruised, battered or tough. He just is. And I find every unassuming gesture he makes utterly captivating. Aldo Ray has never been considered a great Hollywood actor in the traditional sense but his natural, unaffected performances often seemed to emerge from some unsettled place. You could frequently hear a genuine urgency in the way he delivered his lines and his casual swagger told you he'd been around the block more than once. Whenever Ray erupted on screen it felt like you were watching a volcano explode and if you didn't get out of the way it could easily swallow you up in a heavy flow of golden molten lava. Film historians often like to talk about the sea change that occurred in the 1950s, when actor's 'sic''like Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando brought a new kind of sincerity to Hollywood. These highly trained method actors changed the way we appreciate and understand acting today and they've rightfully been recognized for their accomplishments. But there were other performers that unconsciously championed a new kind of natural approach to acting. And one of them was Aldo Ray.
Filmography
*''
My True Story My True Story may refer to:
* My True Story (song), a 1961 single by The Jive Five
* My True Story (film), a 1951 American romantic crime drama film
* My True Story (radio and TV series), an American radio series, later a TV series
See also
* ...
'' (1951) as Mark Foster (as Aldo DaRe)
*''
Never Trust a Gambler'' (1951) as State Trooper (uncredited)
*''
Saturday's Hero'' (1951) as Gene Hausler (as Aldo DaRe)
*''
The Barefoot Mailman'' (1951) as Theron Henchman (uncredited)
*''
The Marrying Kind'' (1952) as Chet Keefer
*''
Pat and Mike
''Pat and Mike'' is a 1952 American romantic comedy film starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. The movie was written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, and directed by George Cukor. Cukor directed ''The Philadelphia Story (film), The Phil ...
'' (1952) as Davie Hucko
*''
Let's Do It Again'' (1953) as Frank McGraw
*''
Miss Sadie Thompson'' (1953) as Sgt. Phil O'Hara
*''
Battle Cry
A battle cry or war cry is a yell or chant taken up in battle, usually by members of the same combatant group.
Battle cries are not necessarily articulate (e.g. "Eulaliaaaa!", "Alala"..), although they often aim to invoke patriotic or religio ...
'' (1955) as Pvt. / Pfc Andy Hookens
*''
Lux Video Theatre
''Lux Video Theatre'' is an American television anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1957. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays.
Overview
The ''Lux Vi ...
'' (1955, TV Series, episode "Intermission Guest") as Intermission Guest
*''
We're No Angels'' (1955) as Albert
*''
Three Stripes in the Sun'' (1955) as MSgt. Hugh O'Reilly
*''
Nightfall'' (1957) as James Vanning
*''
Men in War
''Men in War'' is a 1957 black-and-white American war film about the Korean War directed by Anthony Mann and starring Robert Ryan and Aldo Ray as the leaders of a small detachment of American soldiers cut off and desperately trying to rejoin th ...
'' (1957) as Montana
*''
The Naked and the Dead'' (1958) as Sgt. Sam Croft
*''
God's Little Acre'' (1958) as Will Thompson
*''
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse'' (1958, TV Series, episode "KO Kitty") as Harold Tibbetts
*''
Four Desperate Men'' (1959) (aka ''Siege of Pinchgut'') as Matt Kirk
*''
Riverboat'' (1959, TV Series, episode "Payment in Full") as Hunk Farber
*''
The Day They Robbed the Bank of England
''The Day They Robbed the Bank of England'' is a 1960 British crime film directed by John Guillermin and starring Aldo Ray, Elizabeth Sellars and Peter O'Toole. It was written by Howard Clewes and Richard Maibaum and based upon the 1959 The Day ...
'' (1960) as Charles Norgate
*''
Johnny Nobody'' (1961) as Johnny Nobody
*''
Frontier Circus
''Frontier Circus'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series about a traveling circus roaming the American West in the 1880s. Filmed by Revue Productions, the program originally aired on CBS from October 5, 1961, until Sep ...
'' (1961, TV Series, episode "Depths of Fear") as Toby Mills
*''
The Virginian'' (1962, TV Series, episode "Big Day Great Day") as Frank Krause
*''
Naked City'' (1962, TV Series, episode "Idylls of a Running Back") as Elvin Rhodes
*''
Musketeers of the Sea'' (1962) as Moreau
*''
Alcoa Premiere'' (1963, TV Series, episode "Lollipop Louie") as Louis Mastroanni
*''
Ben Casey'' (1963, TV Series, episode "Little Drops of Water, Little Grains of Sand") as Frank Alusik
*''
Kraft Suspense Theatre'' (1964, TV Series, episode "The Deep End") as Sam Kimber
*''
Burke's Law'' (1964, TV Series, episode "Who Killed Andy Zygmut?") as Mister Harold
*''
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre'' (1964, TV Series, episode "Have Girls, Will Travel") as Moose
*''
Bonanza
''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...
'' (1964, TV series, episode "The Wild One") as Leif Jessup
*''
Nightmare in the Sun'' (1964) as Sheriff
*''
Sylvia'' (1965) as Jonas Karoki
*''
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone (, 1734September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyo ...
'' (1965, TV Series, episode "The Trek") as Benton
*''
What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?'' (1966) as Sgt. Rizzo
*''
Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round'' (1966) as Eddie Hart
*''
The Virginian'' (1966, TV Series, episode "Jacob was a Plain Man") as Jacob 'Jake' Walker
*''
Run for Your Life'' (1967, TV Series, episode "The Face of the Antagonist") as Vince Murdock
*''
Riot on Sunset Strip'' (1967) as Walt Lorimer
*''
Welcome to Hard Times'' (1967) as Man from Bodie
*''
The Violent Ones'' (1967) as Joe Vorzyck
*''
The Danny Thomas Hour'' (1967, TV Series, episode "Fame is a Four Letter Word") as Georgie Cutler
*''
Kill a Dragon'' (1967) as Vigo
*''
The Power'' (1968) as Bruce
*''
The Green Berets'' (1968) as Sgt. Muldoon
*''
Suicide Commandos'' (1968) as Sergeant Cloadec
*''
A Torn Page of Glory'' (1968) as Major Comack
*''
The Outsider'' (1969, TV Series, episode "The Old School Tie") as Eddie Wolfe
*''
The Bold Ones: The Protectors'' (1969, TV Series, episode "Deadlock") as Edward Logan
*''
Love, American Style
''Love, American Style'' is an American anthology comedy television series that aired on ABC from September 29, 1969, to January 11, 1974. The series was produced by Paramount Television. During the 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons, it was a pa ...
'' (1969, TV Series, episode "Love and the Advice-Givers") as Herb (segment "Love and the Advice-Givers")
*''
Angel Unchained'' (1970) as Sheriff
*''
The Houndcats'' (1972, TV Series) as Mussel Mutt (voice)
*''
And Hope to Die'' (1972) as Mattone
*''
Bonanza
''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...
'' (1972, TV Series, episode "Riot") as Heiser
*''
The Bad Bunch'' (1973) as Lt. Stans
*''
Dynamite Brothers (East Meets Watts)'' (1974) as Burke
*''
The Centerfold Girls'' (1974) as Ed Walker
*''
Movin' On'' (1974, TV Series, episode "The Trick is to Stay Alive) as Art
*''
Police Story'' (1974, episode "Love, Mabel") as Capt. Eagle
*''
Gone with the West'' (1974) as Mimmo, Stage Robber
*''
Seven Alone'' (1974) as Dr. Dutch
*''
Promise Him Anything'' (1975, TV Movie) as Cop
*''
The Man Who Would Not Die'' (1975) as Frank Keefer
*''
SWAT
A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations.
SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...
'' (1975, TV Series, episode "The Vendetta") as Ralph Costas
*''
Inside Out'' (1975) as M.Sgt. Prior
*''
Marcus Welby, M.D.'' (1975, TV Series, episode "The Tidal Wave") as Joe Gavanelli
*''
Psychic Killer'' (1975) as Lt. Dave Anderson
*''
Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood'' (1976) as Stubby Stebbins
*''The Quest'' (1976, TV Series, episode "Seventy Two Hours") as Chippy
*''Black Samurai'' as D.R.A.G.O.N. chief (uncredited)
* ''
Haunted'' (1977) as Andrew
*''
Mission to Glory: A True Story'' (1977) as Mine Boss
*''
Paesano: A Voice in the Night'' (1977) as Sheriff
*''
Haunts'' (1977) as Andrew
*''
The Lucifer Complex'' (1978) as Karl Krauss
*''
Death Dimension'' (1978) as Verde
*''Women in White'' (1979, TV Movie) as Frederick Thaler
*''
Don't Go Near the Park'' (1979) as Taft
*''
Bog
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...
'' (1979) as Sheriff Neal Rydholm
*''
Sweet Savage'' (1979) as Banner
*''
The Glove
The Glove was a 1983 English musical collaboration and recording project by the Cure's Robert Smith and Siouxsie and the Banshees' Steven Severin. They released one studio album, '' Blue Sunshine'', in 1983 as part of Severin's solo deal with ...
'' (1979) as Tiny
*''
Human Experiments'' (1979) as Mat Tibbs
*''
CHiPs'' (1979) (TV series) as Karl Beasley
*''
The Great Skycopter Rescue'' (1980) as Sheriff Burgess
*''Smokey and the Judge'' (1980)
*''
When I Am King'' (1981) as The Manager
*''
The Secret of NIMH
''The Secret of NIMH'' is a 1982 American animated Fantasy film, fantasy adventure film directed by Don Bluth in his directorial debut and based on Robert C. O'Brien (author), Robert C. O'Brien's children's novel, ''Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of N ...
'' (1982) as Sullivan (voice)
*''
Boxoffice'' (1982) as Lew
*''
Mongrel
A mongrel, mutt, or mixed-breed dog is a dog that does not belong to one officially recognized breed, including those that result from intentional breeding. Although the term ''mixed-breed dog'' is sometimes preferred, many mongrels have no kn ...
'' (1982) as Bouchard
*''
Dark Sanity'' (1982) as Larry Craig
*''
To Kill a Stranger'' (1983) as Inspector Benedict
*''
Vultures'' (1984) as Wally
*''
Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie'' (1984) as Bürgermeister
*''
The Executioner, Part II'' (1984) as Police Commissioner
*''
Flesh and Bullets'' (1985) as Lieutenant in Police Department
*''
Biohazard
A biological hazard, or biohazard, is a biological substance that poses a threat (or is a hazard) to the health of living organisms, primarily humans. This could include a sample of a microorganism, virus or toxin that can adversely affect huma ...
'' (1985) as General Randolph
*''
Evils of the Night'' (1985) as Fred
*''
Falcon Crest'' (1985, TV Series) as Phil McLish
*''Frankenstein's Brain'' (1985, Short)
*''
Prison Ship
A prison ship, is a current or former seagoing vessel that has been modified to become a place of substantive detention for convicts, prisoner of war, prisoners of war or civilian internees. Some prison ships were hulk (ship type), hulked. W ...
'' (1986) as The Inquistor
*''
Hateman'' (1987) as Sheriff Benny
*''
Hollywood Cop'' (1987) as Mr. Fong
*''
The Sicilian
''The Sicilian'' is a novel by American author Mario Puzo. Published in 1984 by Random House, Random House Publishing Group (), it is based on the life of Sicilians, Sicilian Banditry, bandit Salvatore Giuliano. It is set in the same universe ...
'' (1987) as Don Siano of Bisacquino
*''
Terror on Alcatraz'' (1987) as Frank Morris
*''
Terror Night'' (1987) as Capt. Ned
*''
Drug Runners'' (1988) as Victor Lazzaro
*''
Blood Red'' (1989) as Father Stassio
*''
Young Rebels'' (1989) as Sheriff
*''
Night Shadow'' (1989) as Gene Krebelski
*''
Shooters'' (1989) as General Makepeace
*''
Crime of Crimes'' (1989) as Johnson
*''
Shock 'Em Dead'' (1991) as Tony
References
External links
*
*
Aldo Ray at Brian's Drive-In Theaterat Los Angeles Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Aldo
1926 births
1991 deaths
People from Northampton County, Pennsylvania
Male actors from Pennsylvania
Military personnel from Pennsylvania
American male film actors
American male television actors
United States Navy personnel of World War II
United States Navy sailors
Deaths from throat cancer in California
American people of Italian descent
20th-century American male actors