Steven Francis Kanaly (; born March 14, 1946) is an American

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, best known for his role as Ray Krebbs on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

primetime soap opera ''

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

''.

Early life and career

Kanaly was born in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

, and grew up in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

. He attended

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as of Fall 2024), it has the ...

. Kanaly served in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

as a radio operator with the First Air Cavalry Division. He provided details of his experiences in the service to ''

Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American psychological epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr, is loosely inspired by the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkn ...

'' screenwriter

John Milius John Frederick Milius (; born April 11, 1944) is an American screenwriter and film director. He is considered a member of the New Hollywood generation of filmmakers. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s for writing the scripts for ''The L ...

for scenes in the film involving the character of Colonel Bill Kilgore (

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor. With a career spanning seven decades, he is regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. He has received an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a British Academy Film Awards ...

). He once described how he entered film acting: Kanaly is best known for his role as Ray Krebbs, foreman of the

Southfork Ranch Southfork Ranch is a conference and event center in Parker, in the US state of Texas, north of Dallas. It includes the Ewing Mansion, the setting for the television series ''Dallas''. A variety of tours are offered to the location. History Th ...

, on the prime-time

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

'' from 1978 to 1989. He reprised the role for the final episode of the series in 1991, and again for the made-for-TV reunion movie '' Dallas: War of the Ewings'' (1998). He reprised the role again in the 2012 TNT revival attending his nephew

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

's wedding. In 2013, Kanaly reprised the role of Ray Krebbs to attend the funeral of

J. R. Ewing John Ross Ewing Jr. is a fictional character in the American television series ''Dallas (TV series), Dallas'' (1978–1991) and its spin-off (media), spin-offs, including the Dallas (2012 TV series), continuation series (2012–2014). The charac ...

. During ''Dallas run, he also guested in other series, including '' Time Express'' in 1979. From 1994 to 1995, he also had a role on the ABC daytime drama series ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2 ...

'' as Seabone Hunkle, the father of Dixie Cooney Martin (played by

Cady McClain Cady McClain (born Katie Jo McClain; October 13, 1969) is an American actress, singer, and author. Career McClain's professional acting career began in 1978 at the age of 9, when she was featured in a commercial for Band-Aid bandages. Among ...

). Kanaly has also guest starred on numerous other television series. In film, he collaborated frequently with writer-director

, appearing in, among others, ''

The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean ''The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean'' is a 1972 American Western comedy film written by John Milius, directed by John Huston, and starring Paul Newman. It is loosely based on the life of American saloon-keeper and Justice of the Peace in ...

'', '' Dillinger'', ''

The Wind and the Lion ''The Wind and the Lion'' is a 1975 American epic historical adventure film written and directed by John Milius, and starring Sean Connery, Candice Bergen, Brian Keith, and John Huston. The film is loosely based on the real-life Perdicaris affa ...

'' and '' Big Wednesday''. Milius befriended Kanaly when they attended the same shooting range in California, and turned him to acting by recommending him to

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. He rec ...

for ''Roy Bean''. Other film roles include ''

The Terminal Man ''The Terminal Man'' is a novel by American writer Michael Crichton. It is his second novel under his own name and his twelfth overall, and is about the dangers of mind control. It was published in April 1972, and also serialized in ''Playboy' ...

'', '' My Name Is Nobody'' and '' Midway''. He starred as J. T. Fuller in an episode of ''

Walker, Texas Ranger ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action fiction, action Crime drama, crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film ''Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both the film and the series starring Chuck Norr ...

''.

Personal life

Kanaly recorded a radio

public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. Oftentimes these messages feature unsettling imagery, ideas or behaviors that are des ...

for

CARE Care may refer to: Organizations and projects * CARE (New Zealand), Citizens Association for Racial Equality, a former New Zealand organisation * CARE (England) West Midlands, Central Accident Resuscitation Emergency team, a team of doctors & ...

in 1981, and he and former ''Dallas'' costar Susan Howard were featured in 1992

NRA NRA may refer to: Organizations Asia and Oceania * National Railway Administration, the national railway regulator of China * National Recruitment Agency, Central Recruiting Agency of the Indian Government * New Revolutionary Alternative, an anar ...

advertisements promoting responsible firearms ownership. He and his wife live on a ranch in

Ojai, California Ojai ( ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''’Awhaỳ'') is a city in Ventura County, California. Located in the Ojai Valley, it is northwest of Los Angeles and east of Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara. The valley is part of the east– ...

. He is a highly regarded watercolor artist.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* *
January 1, 1982 WABC aircheck with CARE public service announcement
!-- Event occurs at 9:00 --> {{DEFAULTSORT:Kanaly, Steve 1946 births Living people American male film actors American male soap opera actors American male television actors Male actors from Burbank, California United States Army soldiers Van Nuys High School alumni United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War 20th-century American male actors California State University, Northridge alumni