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Robert Bray

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For the British soldier, see Robert Bray (British Army officer). For the Irish politician, see Robert Bray (politician).

Robert Bray
Robert Bray with Lassie (Pal)
BornOctober 23, 1917[1]
Kalispell, Montana[2]
DiedMarch 7, 1983[1] (aged 65)[3]
Bishop, California[3]
Occupation(s)film and television actor
Years active1946–1967
Spouse
Joan Loretta Bray
​
​
(m. 1960; div. 1968)​
[4]

Robert E. Bray (October 23, 1917 – March 7, 1983)[1] was an American film and television actor known for playing the forest ranger Corey Stuart in the CBS series Lassie, He also starred in Stagecoach West and as Mike Hammer in the movie version of Mickey Spillane's novel My Gun Is Quick (1957).

Early life

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Born in Kalispell, Montana, Bray's family moved to Seattle when he was ten years of age. After graduating from Lincoln High School, he worked as a lumberjack and ranch hand. At the age of 20 his family moved to Hollywood where he worked as a grip for United Artists.

In 1942 he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps where he served as a drill instructor and in the South Pacific rising to the rank of Master Sergeant[5]

Career

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Bray entered films in 1946 under contract to RKO.[citation needed] He appeared in B Westerns like 1949's Rustlers. In the 1950s, the then freelancing actor appeared in a varied number of roles including the 1952 episode "Thunder Over Inyo" of the syndicated western television series The Adventures of Kit Carson.

In 1954, he portrayed bandit Emmett Dalton in an episode of Jim Davis's syndicated western Stories of the Century. That same year, he guest-starred in Reed Hadley's CBS crime drama, The Public Defender. On December 4, 1955, he was cast as petroleum pioneer Pattillo Higgins in "Spindletop – The First Great Texas Oil Strike (January 10, 1901)" on the CBS history series, You Are There, the story of the origin of the Texas oil industry.

In 1958, he starred in Never Love a Stranger, a film adaptation of a Harold Robbins novel.

Bray guest-starred in the episode "Obituary" of NBC's western series, Jefferson Drum, starring Jeff Richards, and in the 1959 episode "The Trouble with Tolliver" of the ABC western drama, The Man from Blackhawk.

He appeared twice on ABC's The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.

Bray was cast as Carl the Bus Driver in Bus Stop with Marilyn Monroe (1956) and as detective Mike Hammer in My Gun Is Quick (1957). Other roles were on NBC's western anthology series, Frontier and on the syndicated series City Detective and State Trooper.

Early in 1960, Bray was cast as Tom Byson in the episode "Three Graves" of the NBC western series, Riverboat.

In the 1960–1961 television season, Bray played Simon Kane in the ABC series Stagecoach West. The Western comprised 38 one-hour episodes.

He starred in three episodes of NBC's western Laramie between 1960 and 1963. He appeared in three episodes of CBS's Perry Mason. In 1959 he played private detective and murder victim Carl Davis in "The Case of the Foot-Loose Doll." In the 1962 episode, "The Case of the Angry Astronaut," he had the role of title character and defendant Mitch Heller; and in 1963 he portrayed wealthy murder victim Martin Walden (Episode 180, "The Case of the Potted Planter"). He also guest-starred in NBC's Temple Houston (TV series), Overland Trail, and The Loretta Young Show. He appeared in four episodes of CBS's anthology suspense series Alfred Hitchcock Presents between 1958 and 1961.

In 1963, he guest starred on Gunsmoke as Gib Dawson, a settler who marries a Comanche Squaw and has to deal with the racial hatred from others because of it in the episode “Shona” (S8E22). He also appeared as an Army Commander in "The Twilight Zone" S5 E10 "The 7th is Made Up of Phantoms" which aired 12/4/1963.

Bray portrayed forest ranger Corey Stuart starting in Season 11 of Lassie.[6] He was written out of the series in Season 15 as a victim of a forest fire where his character was sent away to a hospital, never to return.[7]

Selected filmography

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Robert Bray birth and death 2". allmovie.com. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  2. ^ "Robert Bray birthplace". tcm.com. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Robert Bray death". UPI. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  4. ^ "Intelius People Search – Public Records, Background Checks & More". Archived from the original on March 1, 2008. Retrieved January 24, 2008.
  5. ^ p.52 Aaker, Everett Television Western Players, 1960-1975: A Biographical Dictionary McFarland 30 May 2017
  6. ^ Terrace, Vincent (January 10, 2014). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010, 2d ed. McFarland. p. 582. ISBN 978-0-7864-8641-0. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  7. ^ Lassie Star
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