Frankie Ray Biography

Actor/comedian Frankie Ray -- sometimes billed as Frank Ray -- had a career during the 1950s and 1960s in both television and feature films. Ray, whose stand-up act offered some effective mimicry (including impressions of Edward G. Robinson and Peter Lorre), made his screen acting bow in William Castle's New Orleans Uncensored (1955), as part of a cast that included Arthur Franz, Beverly Garland, Michael Ansara, and Ed Nelson. He next showed up in Roger Corman's Carnival Rock (1957), working alongside David J. Stewart and such Corman stalwarts as Susan Cabot, Jonathan Haze, and Dick Miller. Ray did a couple of episodes of the series Flight, and also showed up in Spencer Gordon Bennet's Submarine Seahawk (1958). But his most enduring year of screen activity, in terms of posterity, was 1962: He appeared in the first season of the series Combat, in an episode entitled "A Day in June", recalling the squad's experience on D-Day; and he co-starred with Robert Ball in Bruno VeSota's sci-fi/horror parody Invasion of the Star Creatures. The latter's freewheeling production gave Ray a chance to utilize parts of his stand-up act. Ray's next screen credit wasn't until 1998, when he showed up -- as himself -- in the documentary Lenny Bruce: Swear To Tell The Truth. And in 2009, he was seen in Like Father, Like Son, a documentary tribute to actor/entertainer Duke Mitchell. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi