Robert Bray
Encyclopedia
Robert E. Bray was an American
film and television actor
probably best remembered for his role as the forest ranger Corey Stuart
in the long-running CBS series Lassie
.
ing parents in Kalispell, Montana
. The family moved to Seattle
, where Bray attended Lincoln High School
. After graduation, he was for a time a lumberjack
, a cowboy
, and a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps
. In 1942, Bray joined the United States Marine Corps
and saw action in the South Pacific during World War II
. He finished the war at the rank of master sergeant and then aspired to become a taxidermist or the owner of a hunting
/fishing
lodge.
Instead, Bray entered film in 1946 under contract to RKO. He was marketed as the "next Gary Cooper
". 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 on Reed Hadley
's CBS crime drama, The Public Defender
.
Bray appeared too as Carl the Bus Driver in Bus Stop
with Marilyn Monroe
(1956) and as detective
Mike Hammer
in My Gun Is Quick
(1957). He appeared on NBC
's western anthology series, Frontier
, and on Rod Cameron
's syndicated series City Detective
.
In the 1960-1961 television season, Bray played Simon Kane, along with Wayne Rogers
as Luke Perry and Richard Eyer
as David "Davey" Kane, Simon's son, in the ABC
series Stagecoach West
, a production of Dick Powell
's Four Star Television
. Bray and Rogers portrayed the co-owners of the Timberland Stage Line which carried passengers from Missouri
to San Francisco
during the 1860s.
He starred between 1960 and 1963 in three episodes of NBC
's western
Laramie
. He appeared in three episodes of CBS's Perry Mason
, including the 1963 segment in which he portrayed wealthy murder
victim Martin Walden (Episode 180, "The Case of the Potted Planter"). He also guest starred on NBC's short-lived Temple Houston
, Riverboat
with Darren McGavin
, Overland Trail
(known for its similarity to Stagecoach West), and The Loretta Young Show. He appeared between 1958 and 1961 in four episodes of CBS's anthology suspense series Alfred Hitchcock Presents
. In 1958, Bray was offered a supporting role in director
Joshua Logan
's film adaptation of South Pacific
, but he decided to star in low-budget films for Allied Artists
. It was a strategic error in his career, for South Pacific became a smash success.
In 1964, Bray won the role of Corey Stuart
in Lassie because of his affinity for animals and their reciprocity toward him. That same year, Lassie went to color
film. Stuart, the plot develops, acquired Lassie after the former owners, the Martin family (played by Hugh Reilly
, June Lockhart
, and Jon Provost
), moved to Australia
. Lassie's life then grew more exciting with rescues and adventures in the national forest
setting. On three episodes, Bray appeared with the former child actor
Bobby Diamond
of NBC's Fury
. Bray was replaced in 1968 by two younger rangers. The storyline attributes the end of Bray's role to injuries that the character sustained while fighting a forest fire.
Bray and his wife, Joan, retired to Bishop, California
in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. He was often seen in his Winnebago
in Bishop with his dog "Lady". Bray was a fly fisherman, hunter, model duck carver, and all-around sportsman.
, Bray's ashes were scattered over Zuma Beach
, Malibu, California.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film and television actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
probably best remembered for his role as the forest ranger Corey Stuart
Corey Stuart
Corey Stuart is a fictional character in the long running television series, Lassie . Stuart is a middle aged bachelor and a Ranger with the United States Forest Service. The character was portrayed by Robert Bray. Corey Stuart first appeared in the series as a one-shot character in the tenth...
in the long-running CBS series Lassie
Lassie (1954 TV series)
Lassie is an American television series that follows the adventures of a female Rough Collie named Lassie and her companions, human and animal. The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax and was televised from September 12, 1954, to March 24, 1973...
.
Life and career
Bray was born to homesteadHomestead (buildings)
A homestead is either a single building, or collection of buildings grouped together on a large agricultural holding, such as a ranch, station or a large agricultural operation of some other designation.-See also:* Farm house* Homestead Act...
ing parents in Kalispell, Montana
Kalispell, Montana
Kalispell is a city in and the county seat of Flathead County, Montana, United States. The 2010 census put Kalispell's population at 19,927 up 5,704 over 2000. At 40.1% this is the largest percentage of growth of any incorporated city in Montana. Kalispell is the largest city and commercial center...
. The family moved to Seattle
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, where Bray attended Lincoln High School
Lincoln High School (Seattle, Washington)
Lincoln High School is a former public high school in the Seattle Public Schools district of Seattle, Washington, USA.-History:The school was built in 1906 to handle the growth in the area. It was founded in 1907; until 1971 it was a three-year high school, thereafter a four-year high school...
. After graduation, he was for a time a lumberjack
Lumberjack
A lumberjack is a worker in the logging industry who performs the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to a bygone era when hand tools were used in harvesting trees principally from virgin forest...
, a cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
, and a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...
. In 1942, Bray joined the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
and saw action in the South Pacific during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He finished the war at the rank of master sergeant and then aspired to become a taxidermist or the owner of a hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
/fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
lodge.
Instead, Bray entered film in 1946 under contract to RKO. He was marketed as the "next Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper
Frank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
". In the 1950s, the then freelancing actor appeared in a varied number of roles including the 1952 episode "Thunder Over Inyo" of the syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
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...
television series The Adventures of Kit Carson
The Adventures of Kit Carson
The Adventures of Kit Carson is an American Western series that aired in syndication from August 1951 to November 1955, originally sponsored by Coca-Cola. It stars Bill Williams in the title role as frontier scout Christopher "Kit" Carson...
. In 1954, he portrayed bandit Emmett Dalton
Emmett Dalton
Emmett Dalton was an American outlaw, train robber and member of the Dalton Gang in the American Old West. Part of the ill-fated Dalton raid on two banks in Coffeyville, Kansas, he survived despite receiving 23 gunshot wounds...
in an episode of Jim Davis
Jim Davis (actor)
Jim Davis was an American actor, best known for his role as Jock Ewing in the CBS prime-time soap Dallas, a role which he held up until his death in April 1981.-Biography:...
's syndicated western Stories of the Century
Stories of the Century
Stories of the Century is a Western television series that ran in syndication through Republic Pictures between January 23, 1954, and March 11, 1955.-Synopsis:...
. That same year, he guest starred on Reed Hadley
Reed Hadley
Reed Hadley was an American movie, television and radio actor.Reed Hadley was born Reed Herring in Petrolia in Clay County near Wichita Falls, Texas, to Bert Herring, an oil well driller, and his wife Minnie. Hadley had one sister, Bess Brenner. He was reared in Buffalo, New York...
's CBS crime drama, The Public Defender
The Public Defender (TV series)
The Public Defender is a half-hour 69-episode television dramatic series starring Reed Hadley as Bart Matthews, an attorney for the indigent. The series aired on CBS from March 11, 1954 to June 23, 1955, a season and a half.-Premise:...
.
Bray appeared too as Carl the Bus Driver in Bus Stop
Bus Stop (film)
Bus Stop is a 1956 film directed by Joshua Logan for 20th Century Fox, starring Marilyn Monroe, Don Murray, Arthur O'Connell, Betty Field, Eileen Heckart, Robert Bray and Hope Lange...
with Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
(1956) and as detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
Mike Hammer
Mike Hammer
Michael "Mike" Hammer is a fictional detective created by the American author Mickey Spillane in the 1947 book I, the Jury .-Description:...
in My Gun Is Quick
My Gun Is Quick
My Gun Is Quick is a 1957 mystery film based on the novel My Gun is Quick by Mickey Spillane. Written by Richard M. Powell and directed by Phil Victor and George White, the movie stars Robert Bray as private investigator Mike Hammer, Pamela Duncan as Velda, Hammer's secretary.The story begins when...
(1957). He appeared 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 western anthology series, Frontier
Frontier (1955 TV series)
This program should not be confused with Frontiers , the British program Frontier , Frontier Justice , Frontier Circus, or Frontier Doctor....
, and on Rod Cameron
Rod Cameron
Rod Cameron was a Canadian-born movie actor whose career extended from the 1930s to the 1970s. He appeared in horror, war, action and science fiction movies, but is best remembered for his many Westerns....
's syndicated series City Detective
City Detective (TV series)
City Detective is a half-hour syndicated crime drama starring Rod Cameron as 43-year-old Bart Grant, a tough 1950s New York City police lieutenant. The first of three consecutive Rod Cameron series, City Detective aired between January 1, 1953 and May 10, 1955...
.
In the 1960-1961 television season, Bray played Simon Kane, along with Wayne Rogers
Wayne Rogers
William Wayne McMillan Rogers III is an American film and television actor, best known for playing the role of 'Trapper John' McIntyre in the U.S...
as Luke Perry and Richard Eyer
Richard Eyer
Richard Ross Eyer is a former American child actor during the 1950s and 1960s who taught elementary school in the eastern Sierra city of Bishop in Inyo County until he retired in 2006. He is the older brother of Robert Eyer Richard Ross Eyer (born May 6, 1945, Santa Monica, California) is a former...
as David "Davey" Kane, Simon's son, in the 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...
series Stagecoach West
Stagecoach West (TV series)
Stagecoach West is a highly-acclaimed Western drama television series which ran for thirty-eight episodes on the ABC network from October 4, 1960, until June 27, 1961. Characters Luke Perry and Simon Kane operate the Timberland Stage Line from Missouri to San Francisco...
, a production of Dick Powell
Dick Powell
Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.Despite the same last name he was not related to William Powell, Eleanor Powell or Jane Powell.-Biography:...
's Four Star Television
Four Star Television
Four Star Television, also called Four Star International, was an American television production company. Founded in 1952 as Four Star Productions by prominent Hollywood actors Dick Powell, David Niven, Ida Lupino, and Charles Boyer, the company produced many well-known shows of the early days of...
. Bray and Rogers portrayed the co-owners of the Timberland Stage Line which carried passengers from Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
to San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
during the 1860s.
He starred between 1960 and 1963 in three episodes of 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 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...
Laramie
Laramie (TV series)
Laramie is an American Western television series that aired on NBC from 1959 to 1963. Laramie was a Revue Studios production which originally starred John Smith as Slim Sherman, Robert Fuller as Jess Harper, Hoagy Carmichael as Jonesy and Robert Crawford, Jr...
. He appeared in three episodes of CBS's Perry Mason
Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional character, a defense attorney who was the main character in works of detective fiction authored by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason was featured in more than 80 novels and short stories, most of which had a plot involving his client's murder trial...
, including the 1963 segment in which he portrayed wealthy murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
victim Martin Walden (Episode 180, "The Case of the Potted Planter"). He also guest starred on NBC's short-lived Temple Houston
Temple Houston
Temple Lea Houston was the last-born child of Texas Revolutionary Sam Houston.After traveling and working in the East, Houston returned to Texas in 1877, and graduated from Baylor University with honors in 1880....
, Riverboat
Riverboat (TV series)
Riverboat is a western television series starring Darren McGavin and Burt Reynolds that was broadcast on the NBC television network from September 13, 1959 until January 2, 1961....
with Darren McGavin
Darren McGavin
Darren McGavin was an American actor best known for playing the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker and his portrayal in the film A Christmas Story of the grumpy father given to bursts of profanity that he never realizes his son overhears...
, Overland Trail
Overland Trail (TV series)
Overland Trail is a short-lived American Western series which aired on NBC from February 7 to June 6, 1960. The series starred William Bendix and Doug McClure,-Synopsis:...
(known for its similarity to Stagecoach West), and The Loretta Young Show. He appeared between 1958 and 1961 in four episodes of CBS's anthology suspense series Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. The series featured dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. By the premiere of the show on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades...
. In 1958, Bray was offered a supporting role in director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Joshua Logan
Joshua Logan
Joshua Lockwood Logan III was an American stage and film director and writer.-Early years:Logan was born in Texarkana, Texas, the son of Susan and Joshua Lockwood Logan. When he was three years old his father committed suicide...
's film adaptation of South Pacific
South Pacific (film)
South Pacific is a 1958 musical romance film adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific, and based on James A. Michener's Tales of the South Pacific...
, but he decided to star in low-budget films for Allied Artists
Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures Corporation is a Hollywood studio that produced and released films, most on low budgets, between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram is considered a leader among the smaller studios sometimes referred to...
. It was a strategic error in his career, for South Pacific became a smash success.
In 1964, Bray won the role of Corey Stuart
Corey Stuart
Corey Stuart is a fictional character in the long running television series, Lassie . Stuart is a middle aged bachelor and a Ranger with the United States Forest Service. The character was portrayed by Robert Bray. Corey Stuart first appeared in the series as a one-shot character in the tenth...
in Lassie because of his affinity for animals and their reciprocity toward him. That same year, Lassie went to color
Color
Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
film. Stuart, the plot develops, acquired Lassie after the former owners, the Martin family (played by Hugh Reilly
Hugh Reilly
Hugh Reilly was an American actor, appearing on the Broadway stage, in films, and on television. He is best remembered for co-starring in the mid-1950s television series Lassie.-Early years and career:...
, June Lockhart
June Lockhart
June Lockhart is an American actress, primarily in 1950s and 1960s television, but with memorable performances on stage and in film too. She is remembered as the mother in two TV series, Lassie and Lost in Space. She also portrayed Dr...
, and Jon Provost
Jon Provost
Jon Provost is a former child actor of film and television. He is best known for his role as young Timmy Martin in the CBS series, Lassie....
), moved to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Lassie's life then grew more exciting with rescues and adventures in the national forest
United States National Forest
National Forest is a classification of federal lands in the United States.National Forests are largely forest and woodland areas owned by the federal government and managed by the United States Forest Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture. Land management of these areas...
setting. On three episodes, Bray appeared with the former child actor
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...
Bobby Diamond
Bobby Diamond
Bobby Diamond, also known as Robert Leroy Diamond , is a California civil and criminal law attorney who was a child star and young-adult actor, mostly in the 1950s and 1960s...
of NBC's Fury
Fury (TV series)
Fury is an American Western television series that aired on NBC from 1955–1960, starring Peter Graves as Jim Newton , Bobby Diamond as Jim's adopted son, Joey Clark Newton, and William Fawcett as ranch hand Pete Wilkey...
. Bray was replaced in 1968 by two younger rangers. The storyline attributes the end of Bray's role to injuries that the character sustained while fighting a forest fire.
Bray and his wife, Joan, retired to Bishop, California
Bishop, California
Bishop is a city in Inyo County, California, United States. Though Bishop is the only city and the largest populated place in Inyo County, the county seat is Independence. Bishop is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley, at an elevation of 4147 feet . The population was 3,879 at the...
in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. He was often seen in his Winnebago
Winnebago Industries
Winnebago Industries Inc., , is a manufacturer of motor homes, a type of recreational vehicle or RV, in the United States. It is based in Forest City, Iowa.-Corporate history:...
in Bishop with his dog "Lady". Bray was a fly fisherman, hunter, model duck carver, and all-around sportsman.
Death
He spent his last years in the High Sierras where he had made many of his early western films. After his death at the age of 65 from a heart attackMyocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, Bray's ashes were scattered over Zuma Beach
Zuma Beach
Zuma Beach is a County beach located at 30000 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California. One of the largest and most popular beaches in the Los Angeles County, Zuma is known for its long, wide sands and excellent surf...
, Malibu, California.