Raymond Wallace Bolger (January 10, 1904 – January 15, 1987) was an American actor, dancer, singer, vaudevillian, and stage performer (particularly musical theater) who started his movie career in the silent-film era.
Bolger was a major Broadway performer in the 1930s and beyond. He is best known for his roles in The Wizard of Oz (1939) as the Scarecrow and in Walt Disney's holiday musical fantasy Babes in Toyland in 1961 as the villainous Barnaby.
Bolger was the host of The Ray Bolger Show on TV from 1953 to 1955, originally titled Where's Raymond?
Early life
Raymond Wallace Bolger was born at 598 Second St., South Boston, Massachusetts, into a Catholic family of Irish descent. He was the son of James Edward Bolger and Anne C. née Wallace. His father James was first-generation Irish, and was born in Fall River, Massachusetts; his mother "Annie" who had a large Irish family, was born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. He grew up and attended school in the Codman Square section of Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. After graduating from high school, he worked for a peanut company, as a bank messenger, and for the New England Mutual Life Insurance Company, before finding his way to...More about Ray Bolger...
