Gene Raymond (August 13, 1908 – May 3, 1998) was an American film, television, and stage actor of the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to acting, Raymond was also a composer, writer, director, producer, and decorated military pilot. Raymond was born Raymond Guion on August 13, 1908 in New York City. He attended the Professional Children's School while appearing in productions like Rip Van Winkleand Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch. His Broadway debut, at age 17, was in The Cradle Snatchers which ran two years. (The cast included Mary Boland, Edna May Oliver, and a young Humphrey Bogart.)
His most notable films, mostly as a second lead actor, include Red Dust (1932) with Jean Harlow
and Clark Gable, Zoo in Budapest(1933) with Loretta Young, Ex-Lady (1933) with Bette Davis
, Flying Down to Rio (1933) with Dolores del Río
, Fred Astaire
and Ginger Rogers
, I Am Suzanne (1934) with Lilian Harvey, Sadie McKee (1934) with Joan Crawford, Alfred Hitchcock
's Mr. and Mrs. Smith(1941) with Carole Lombard
and Robert Montgomery
, and The Locket (1946) with Laraine Day
, Brian Aherne
, and Robert Mitchum. MacDonald and Raymond made one film together, Smilin' Through, which came out as the U.S. was on the verge of entering World War II. In the 1950s he mostly worked in television, appearing in Playhouse of Stars,[2] Fireside Theatre, Hollywood Summer Theater and TV Reader's Digest. In the 1970s he appeared on ABC Television Network's Paris 7000 and had guest roles in The Outer Limits, Robert Montgomery Presents, Playhouse 90, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Ironside, The Defenders, Mannix, The Name of the Game, Lux Video Theatre, Kraft Television Theatre and U.S. Steel Hour.
On May 3, 1998, at 89 years of age, Raymond died of pneumonia in Los Angeles, California. For his contributions to the motion picture and television industries, Gene Raymond has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
located at 7001 Hollywood Boulevard
(motion pictures) and 1708 Vine Street
(television).
Much more about the Man From UNCLE in the Open Channel D book:
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