Marguerite Ray (March 18, 1931 – November 18, 2020) was an American television actress, known for originating the role of Mamie Johnson in the soap opera ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in the fictional Genoa City (named after the real-life Genoa City, Wiscon ...

''; she was the first Black regular on the show. In a career that lasted from the 1960s until 2001, she also appeared in '' Sanford'' and had a recurring role in ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

''.

Biography

Ray was born March 18, 1931, in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, to

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

parents, Walter Ray, Sr. and his spouse Jeannette. She had two sisters, Verna (Peters) and Jacqueline (Jackson), and four brothers, Walter, Jr., Ronald, Henry, and Burt. She attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, gaining a degree in Recreation and Theatre Arts. She started acting in television in the 1960s, gaining a regular part in '' Sanford'' (1980–81), playing a widow who is the girlfriend of the lead. She originated the role of Mamie Johnson in the soap opera ''

'', playing the character from 1980 to 1990. She was the first Black regular on the show, which was the soap opera with the highest ratings among African-American viewers in 1988. She had a recurring role in ''

'' (1989), and her many other television credits include roles in ''

Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typi ...

'', ''

The Bill Cosby Show ''The Bill Cosby Show'' is an American sitcom television series that aired for two seasons on NBC's Sunday night schedule from 1969 until 1971 under the sponsorship of Procter & Gamble. There were 52 episodes made in the series. It marked Bill C ...

'', ''

The Odd Couple Odd Couple may refer to: Neil Simon play and its adaptations * ''The Odd Couple'' (play), a 1965 stage play by Neil Simon ** ''The Odd Couple'' (film), a 1968 film based on the play *** ''The Odd Couple'' (1970 TV series), a 1970–1975 televis ...

'', '' Quincy, M.E.'', ''

The Rockford Files ''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner, aired on NBC from September 13, 1974, to January 10, 1980. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investigator Jim Rockford, with Noah Beery Jr. in th ...

'' and '' Ironside''. Ray also had minor roles in films including ''Blood's Way'' (1973), ''

Cheech and Chong's Next Movie ''Cheech and Chong's Next Movie'' is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Tommy Chong and the second feature-length project by Cheech & Chong, following '' Up in Smoke'', released by Universal Pictures. Plot Cheech & Chong are on a missio ...

'' (1980) and ''

To Sleep with Anger ''To Sleep with Anger'' is a 1990 American black comedy film written and directed by Charles Burnett, and starring Danny Glover. In 2017, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Con ...

'' (1990). Her final television appearance was in 2001. She died on November 18, 2020, in Los Angeles. In June 2021, Ray was misidentified during the "In Memoriam" segment of the

Daytime Emmy Awards The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...

for living actress

Veronica Redd Veronica Redd (born August 8, 1948) is an American actress, known for her role as Mamie Johnson in the CBS daytime soap opera, ''The Young and the Restless''. Life and career Redd was born in Washington, D.C. In her first Hollywood acting role a ...

. The Daytime Emmys released a statement apologizing for the mistake.

References

Wikipedia erroneously has photos of both Marguerite Ray and Veronica Redd in this article

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Marguerite 1931 births 2020 deaths Actresses from New Orleans American television actresses American soap opera actresses University of California, Berkeley alumni 21st-century American women

Biography

See also

References

External links