Ray Teal
Encyclopedia
Ray Teal was an actor
who appeared in more than 250 movies and some 90 television programs in his 37-year career. His longest running role was as Sheriff Roy Coffee on NBC
's most successful western
, Bonanza
(1960–1972). He also played a sheriff in the film Ace in the Hole.
Teal had a recurring role as a police officer in the 1953-1955 ABC
sitcom with a variety show
theme, Where's Raymond?
, renamed The Ray Bolger Show
. Ray Bolger
played Raymond Wallace, a song-and-dance man who was repeatedly barely on time for his performances. Others on the series were Richard Erdman
, Allyn Joslyn
, Betty Lynn
, Sylvia Lewis
, Gloria Winters
, and Verna Felton
.
In 1955, Teal portrayed a ruthless cattle baron
in the episode "Julesburg" of ABC
's Cheyenne
, starring Clint Walker
, the first hour-long western series on a major network.
Teal, a saxophone
player, worked his way through UCLA
as a bandleader before becoming an actor. He was a bit part player in western movies for several years before landing a substantial role in Northwest Passage
(1940). Another of his roles was as Little John
in The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946). His most memorable movie roles include playing one of the judges in Judgment at Nuremberg
(1961) with Spencer Tracy
and an indulgent bar owner to Marlon Brando
's motorcycle gang in The Wild One
. This was the second of three times that Teal appeared with Brando having done so already as a drunk in Brando's debut in The Men and later in Brando's only directorial effort, One-Eyed Jacks
, as a bar tender.
He appeared in three episodes of the 1955-1957 anthology series, Crossroads
, a study of clergy
men from different denominations.
Teal died of natural causes at the age of seventy-four in Santa Monica
, California
.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
who appeared in more than 250 movies and some 90 television programs in his 37-year career. His longest running role was as Sheriff Roy Coffee on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's most successful western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
, Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
(1960–1972). He also played a sheriff in the film Ace in the Hole.
Teal had a recurring role as a police officer in the 1953-1955 ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
sitcom with a variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
theme, Where's Raymond?
Where's Raymond?
Where's Raymond? is a 1953-1954 ABC situation comedy television series starring Ray Bolger as Raymond Wallace, a song-and-dance man who is consistently barely on time for his performances...
, renamed The Ray Bolger Show
Where's Raymond?
Where's Raymond? is a 1953-1954 ABC situation comedy television series starring Ray Bolger as Raymond Wallace, a song-and-dance man who is consistently barely on time for his performances...
. Ray Bolger
Ray Bolger
Raymond Wallace "Ray" Bolger was an American entertainer of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the Scarecrow and Kansas farmworker Hank in The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
played Raymond Wallace, a song-and-dance man who was repeatedly barely on time for his performances. Others on the series were Richard Erdman
Richard Erdman
Richard Erdman is an American film and television actor and director.-Notable roles:...
, Allyn Joslyn
Allyn Joslyn
Allyn Joslyn was an American stage, film and television actor.-Biography:Allyn Joslyn was born in Milford, Pennsylvania, the son of a mining engineer...
, Betty Lynn
Betty Lynn
Betty Lynn is an American actress. She is best known for playing Thelma Lou in The Andy Griffith Show.-Career:...
, Sylvia Lewis
Sylvia Lewis
Sylvia Lewis is an American actress, dancer and choreographer.-Career:Sylvia Lewis was born in York, Pennsylvania. She first performed as a young child in the last days of vaudeville in Baltimore, Maryland. She received her first classical training as a scholarship student at the Peabody...
, Gloria Winters
Gloria Winters
Gloria Winters was an actress most remembered for having portrayed the well-mannered niece, Penny King, in the 1950s-1960s American television series Sky King.-Early life and career:Gloria Winters grew up in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, but later moved to Hollywood...
, and Verna Felton
Verna Felton
Verna Felton was an American character actress who was best-known for providing many female voices in numerous Disney animated films, as well as voicing Fred Flintstone's mother-in-law Pearl Slaghoople for Hanna-Barbera...
.
In 1955, Teal portrayed a ruthless cattle baron
Cattle baron
A cattle baron is a historic term for a person who possessed great power or influence, generally as owner of a large ranch and many cattle, specifically beef cattle. A cattle baron in the United States was sometimes called a cowman or a rancher...
in the episode "Julesburg" of ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Cheyenne
Cheyenne (TV series)
Cheyenne is a western television series of 108 black-and-white episodes broadcast on ABC from 1955 to 1963. The show was the first hour-long western, and in fact the first hour-long dramatic series of any kind, with continuing characters, to last more than one season...
, starring Clint Walker
Clint Walker
Norman Eugene Walker, known as Clint Walker , is an American actor best known for his cowboy role as "Cheyenne Bodie" in the TV Western series, Cheyenne.-Life and career:...
, the first hour-long western series on a major network.
Teal, a saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
player, worked his way through UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
as a bandleader before becoming an actor. He was a bit part player in western movies for several years before landing a substantial role in Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage (1940 film)
Northwest Passage is a 1940 film in Technicolor, starring Spencer Tracy, Robert Young, Walter Brennan, Ruth Hussey, and others. It is based on a novel by Kenneth Roberts titled Northwest Passage ....
(1940). Another of his roles was as Little John
Little John
Little John was a legendary fellow outlaw of Robin Hood, and was said to be Robin's chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men.-Folklore:He appears in the earliest recorded Robin Hood ballads and stories...
in The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946). His most memorable movie roles include playing one of the judges in Judgment at Nuremberg
Judgment at Nuremberg
Judgment at Nuremberg is a 1961 American drama film dealing with the Holocaust and the Post-World War II Nuremberg Trials. It was written by Abby Mann, directed by Stanley Kramer, and starred Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Maximilian Schell, Werner Klemperer, Marlene Dietrich, Judy...
(1961) with Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
and an indulgent bar owner to Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
's motorcycle gang in The Wild One
The Wild One
The Wild One is a 1953 outlaw biker film directed by László Benedek and produced by Stanley Kramer. It is famed for Marlon Brando's iconic portrayal of the gang leader Johnny Strabler.-Basis:...
. This was the second of three times that Teal appeared with Brando having done so already as a drunk in Brando's debut in The Men and later in Brando's only directorial effort, One-Eyed Jacks
One-Eyed Jacks
One-Eyed Jacks, a 1961 Western, is the only film directed by actor Marlon Brando, who also played its lead character, Rio.The film was originally to be directed by Stanley Kubrick and Sam Peckinpah...
, as a bar tender.
He appeared in three episodes of the 1955-1957 anthology series, Crossroads
Crossroads (1955 TV series)
Crossroads is the title of a 30-minute American television religion drama series which aired from 1955–1957, the first season on ABC and the second via syndication....
, a study of clergy
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
men from different denominations.
Teal died of natural causes at the age of seventy-four in Santa Monica
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Selected filmography
- Northwest PassageNorthwest PassageThe Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
(1940) - Sergeant YorkSergeant YorkSergeant York is a 1941 biographical film about the life of Alvin York, the most-decorated American soldier of World War I. It was directed by Howard Hawks and was the highest-grossing film of the year....
(1941) - They Died With Their Boots OnThey Died with Their Boots OnThey Died with Their Boots On is a 1941 western film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Despite being rife with historical inaccuracies, the film was one of the top-grossing films of the year, being the last of eight Flynn–de Havilland collaborations.Like...
(1941) - The Big ShotThe Big ShotThe Big Shot is a crime drama film starring Humphrey Bogart as a crime boss and Irene Manning as the woman with whom he falls in love.-Cast:*Humphrey Bogart as Joseph "Duke" Berne*Irene Manning as Lorna Fleming*Richard Travis as George Anderson...
(1942) - Apache TrailApache TrailThe Apache Trail in Arizona was a stagecoach trail that ran through the Superstition Mountains. It was named the Apache Trail after the Apache Indians who originally used this trail to move through the Superstition Mountains....
(1942) - Back to BataanBack to BataanBack to Bataan is a World War II war film produced by Robert Fellows, directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring John Wayne and Anthony Quinn. It was produced by RKO Radio Pictures. It depicts events that took place after the Battle of Bataan on the island of Luzon in the Philippines...
(1945) - Dead ReckoningDead reckoningIn navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating one's current position by using a previously determined position, or fix, and advancing that position based upon known or estimated speeds over elapsed time, and course...
(1947) - The Countess of Monte CristoThe Countess of Monte Cristo (1948 film)The Countess of Monte Cristo is a 1948 American comedy film directed by Frederick De Cordova and starring Sonja Henie, Olga San Juan and Dorothy Hart.-Cast:* Sonja Henie - Karen Kirsten* Olga San Juan - Jenny Johnsen* Dorothy Hart - Peg Manning...
(1948) - Road House (1948 film)Road House (1948 film)For the 1989 film, see Road House .Road House is a film noir drama directed by Jean Negulesco, with cinematography by Joseph LaShelle. The picture features Ida Lupino, Cornel Wilde, Celeste Holm, Richard Widmark, among others....
(1948) - The Wild NorthThe Wild NorthThe Wild North is a 1952 American western film directed by Andrew Marton and starring Stewart Granger, Wendell Corey and Cyd Charisse. A trapper goes on the run in the Canadian wilderness, pursued by a lawman.-Cast:* Stewart Granger - Jules Vincent...
(1952) - The Wild OneThe Wild OneThe Wild One is a 1953 outlaw biker film directed by László Benedek and produced by Stanley Kramer. It is famed for Marlon Brando's iconic portrayal of the gang leader Johnny Strabler.-Basis:...
(1953) - The Indian FighterThe Indian FighterThe Indian Fighter is a 1956 Western movie. It is from an original story by Robert L. Richards.-Plot:Johnny Hawks is a man who made his name fighting Indians...
(1955) - The Guns of Fort PetticoatThe Guns of Fort PetticoatThe Guns of Fort Petticoat is a 1957 Technicolor Western produced by Harry Joe Brown and Audie Murphy for Columbia Pictures. It was based on the 1955 short story "Petticoat Brigade" by Chester William Harrison that he expanded into a novelization for the film's release. It was directed by George...
(1957) - Inherit the WindInherit the WindInherit the Wind may refer to:* Inherit the Wind , a 1955 play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee* Inherit the Wind , directed by Stanley Kramer; starring Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, and Gene Kelly...
(1960) - Cattle KingCattle KingCattle King is a 1963 film directed by Tay Garnett. It stars Robert Taylor and Robert Loggia.-Cast:*Robert Taylor as Samm Brassfield*Robert Loggia as Johnny Quatro*Joan Caulfield as Sharleen Travers*Robert Middleton as Clay Mathews...
(1963) - Bullet for a Badman (1964)
- ChisumChisumChisum is a 1970 Warner Bros. Technicolor western motion picture starring John Wayne, Forrest Tucker, Christopher George, Ben Johnson, Glenn Corbett, Geoffrey Deuel, Andrew Prine, Bruce Cabot, Patric Knowles, and Richard Jaeckel....
(1970)