Gary Gray (actor)

This article is about the actor born in 1936. For the actor born in 1987, see Gary LeRoi Gray.

Gary Gray
Born	Gary Dickson Gray (1936-12-18)December 18, 1936 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	April 4, 2006(2006-04-04) (aged 69) Brush Prairie, Washington, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Occupation	Actor

Gary Dickson Gray (December 18, 1936 – April 4, 2006) was an American child actor in films, and as an adult in television.

Biography

Born in Los Angeles, California, Gray was the son of Jeanie Ellen Dickson and John William Gray, aka Bill Gray, a film business manager. On January 28, 1961, he married Jean Charlene Bean. The couple had four daughters and 19 grandchildren.

Acting career

Gray (left) with Chief Yowlachie in a promotional poster for the 1951 film The Painted Hills

It was two clients of his father's, Bert Wheeler and Jack Benny, who suggested that Gray should be used in films. Gray made his film debut in the Joan Crawford film A Woman's Face in 1941, and played minor roles in such popular films as Heaven Can Wait (1943), Gaslight (1944) and Meet Me in St. Louis (1944). In the 1944 short feature I Am an American he played Thomas Jefferson Kanowski, son of fictional Polish immigrant Fydor Kanowski. He played more substantial roles in films such as Return of the Bad Men (1948) with Randolph Scott, Gun Smugglers (1948) with Tim Holt, Rachel and the Stranger (also 1948) with Robert Mitchum, The Next Voice You Hear (1950) with Nancy Reagan and James Whitmore, and Wild Heritage (1958) with Maureen O'Sullivan.

On April 17, 1956, Gray was cast as sixteen-year-old Jackie Jensen, later a Major League Baseball player, in "The Jackie Jensen Story", which aired on the NBC anthology series, Cavalcade of America. Jensen played himself as an adult; Vivi Janiss was cast as Jensen's mother.

By the time he graduated from high school Gray had appeared in more than 70 films, however as an adult his acting roles were fairly few, and were mainly for television. By the early 1960s, he had retired from acting and concentrated on raising his family.

Business career and later life

In 1960, Gray started a swimming pool maintenance and repair business. For the last 25 years of his 38 years in the swimming pool industry, Gray worked for two of the major international manufacturers of swimming pool equipment as territory, regional, and national sales manager. Gray was a sought-after speaker and educator for the "National Spa and Pool Institute" as well as by the "Independent Pool and Spa Service Association". Gray retired from the swimming pool industry in July, 1999.

Gray collected tapes of his movies and television programs, as well as stills, posters, and lobby cards from his acting career. Beginning in the mid-90s, he was a frequent guest at film festivals throughout the United States. He enjoyed visiting with his fans, and relating many interesting stories from his lengthy career. Gray played golf as a hobby.

Personal life

Gary Gray was married to Jean Charlene Bean and had 4 children.

Death

Gary Gray died on April 4, 2006, in Brush Prairie, Washington from cancer, aged 69.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1941	A Woman's Face	Sailor-Suited Boy in Park	Film debut, Uncredited
	Sun Valley Serenade	Charles - Adopted Refugee Boy	Uncredited
1943	The Meanest Man in the World	Second Boy With Candy	Uncredited
	It's a Great Life	Boy at Circus Show	Uncredited
	Hitler's Madman	Little Boy	Uncredited
	Two Tickets to London	Boy Pushing Swing	Uncredited
	Alaska Highway	Boy	Uncredited
	Heaven Can Wait	Boy in Park	Uncredited
	Where Are Your Children?	Boy in Day Care Nursery	Uncredited
1944	Beautiful But Broke	Boy in Nursery	Uncredited
	Address Unknown	Hugo Schulz
	Gaslight	Boy in Park with Nanny	Uncredited
	Once Upon a Time	Boy with Shoebox	Uncredited
	The White Cliffs of Dover	Boy at Dinner Table	Uncredited
	Meet Me in St. Louis	Boy at Pavilion	Uncredited
	I'll Be Seeing You	Franklin - Boy with Toy Machine Gun	Uncredited
1945	Youth for the Kingdom	Boy
	The Clock	Little Joe, Boy in Park	Uncredited
	Adventures of Rusty	Herbie	Uncredited
	Men in Her Diary	Boy Outside Flower Shop	Uncredited
1946	To Each His Own	Casey Ingham	Uncredited
	The Green Years	Boy Making First Communion	Uncredited
	Rendezvous 24	'Hansel' in Radio Show	Voice, Uncredited
	Little Mister Jim	Neighbor Boy	Uncredited
	Slightly Scandalous	Little Boy	Uncredited
	Three Little Girls in Blue	Farm Boy with Jug	Uncredited
	Three Wise Fools	Willie the Squeak	Uncredited
	The Wonderful Ears of Johnny McGoggin	Johnny McGoggin
	Gay Bubbles	Jimmie
1947	My Brother Talks to Horses	Boy at School	Uncredited
	Backlash	Chris	Uncredited
	Too Many Winners	Jimmy Edwards	Uncredited
	The Millerson Case	Second Boy at School	Uncredited
	Living in a Big Way	Boy at 'Broken Arms'	Uncredited
	High Conquest	Boy on Train	Uncredited
	Dark Delusion	Boy Patient	Uncredited
	Swing the Western Way	Boy in Grandstand at Rodeo	Uncredited
	Heaven Only Knows	Jimmie	Uncredited
1948	Tenth Avenue Angel	Boy	Uncredited
	Best Man Wins	Bob Smiley
	Return of the Bad Men	Johnny
	Fighting Back	Jimmy Sanders
	Night Wind	Johnny Benson
	Rachel and the Stranger	Davey
	Whispering Smith	Bobby, Baggs' Grandson	Uncredited
	Gun Smugglers	Danny Reeves
1949	Henry, the Rainmaker	David Latham
	Streets of San Francisco	Frankie Fraser
	Leave It to Henry	David Latham
	The Girl from Jones Beach	Woody Wilson
	Masked Raiders	Artie Trevett
	The Great Lover	Tommy O'Connor
1950	Father Is a Bachelor	Jan Chalotte
	Father Makes Good	David Latham
	The Next Voice You Hear...	Johnny Smith
	Two Weeks with Love	McCormick Robinson
	Father's Wild Game	David Latham
1951	The Painted Hills	Tommy Blake
	Father Takes the Air	David Latham
1951-1952	Fireside Theatre	Johnny	Episode: "The Secret"
1951-1958	Family Theater	Undetermined Roles	3 episodes
1952	Rodeo	Joey Cartwright
1953	You Are There	Young Rebel	Episode: "The Boston Tea Party"
	Crazylegs	Teenager on Phone
1954	Annie Oakley	Bucky Donavan	Episode: "Annie and the Six o' Spades"
	Captain Midnight	Jimmy Sawyer	Episode: "Deadly Diamonds"
1955	Cavalcade of America	Apple Knocker	Episode: "The Texas Rangers"
	The First Hundred Days	Gary
1956	Studio 57	Mikey	Episode: "The Baxter Boy"
	The Lineup	Bell Boy	Episode: "The Ringing Bells Case"
	Teenage Rebel	Freddie Green	Uncredited
	Emergency Hospital	Earl Fanmorn	Uncredited
	The Danny Thomas Show	Bob	Episode: "Terry at the Crossroads"
	Hey, Jeannie!	Undetermined Role	Episode: "Jeannie the Caddy"
	The Adventures of Jim Bowie	Paul Wilkins	2 episodes
	December Bride	Undetermined Role	Episode: "Football Hero"
1957	I Love Lucy	Fruit Basket Deliveryman	Episode: "Lucy Misses the Mertzes"
	Man Without a Gun	Undetermined Role	Episode: "The Fugitive"
1957-1960	The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp	The Kid/Billy Clanton	3 episodes
1958	Wild Heritage	Hugh Adam David Breslin
	The Party Crashers	Don Hartlow
	26 Men	Shagg Tanner	Episode: "My Brother's Keeper"
1959	Trackdown	Luke Turley	Episode: "The Feud"
	Tumbleweed: Baron of Purgatory	Johnny Benson	Episode: "Baron of Purgatory"
1962	Terror at Black Falls	Johnny	Final film

Bibliography

• Goldrup, Tom and Jim (2002). Growing Up on the Set: Interviews with 39 Former Child Actors of Film and Television. McFarland & Co. pp. 103–112. ISBN 1476613702.
• Holmstrom, John (1996). The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995. Norwich: Michael Russell, p. 199-200.

External links

• Gary Gray at Find a Grave
• Gary Gray at IMDb