Actors - Ray Walston

Home > Listing Index > Actors > Ray Walston

	Actors - Ray Walston

Ray Walston (December 2, 1914–January 1, 2001) was a stage, television and feature film character actor who played the title character on the situation comedy My Favorite Martian and Judge Henry Bone on the drama series Picket Fences.

Early life

He was born Herman Walston in New Orleans, Louisiana, to middle-class parents Harrie and Mittie Walston. He started acting at an early age, beginning his tenure as a "spear carrier" rounding out productions at many New Orleans theaters. He mostly played small roles with stock companies, where he not only starred in travelling shows but also worked at a movie theater, selling tickets and cleaning the stage floors. His family moved to Houston, Texas, where he joined the Houston Civic Theater's repertory company under Margo Jones, debuting in 1938.

Stage work

Walston was very popular with Margo Jones's team of actors before he travelled to Cleveland, Ohio, where he spent three years with the Cleveland Playhouse. He then traveled to New York City, where he made his Broadway debut in a 1945 production of Hamlet and would later work in shows directed by Jose Ferrer and George Abbott. Abbott cast Walston as Satan in Damn Yankees!, with dancer Gwen Verdon as his sexy aide Lola. The chemistry between Verdon and Walston was such that they both garnered critical success and won awards for their roles. After a decade in New York theater, he won a Tony Award, and he and Verdon were invited to reprise their roles in the movie version of Damn Yankees! (1958).

Film and television work

Walston had a successful movie career in addition to Damn Yankees!, beginning with South Pacific
(1958), Say One for Me (1959), Tall Story, Portrait in Black and The Apartment
(all in 1960), Convicts 4 (1962), Wives and Lovers and Who's Minding the Store? (both in 1963), Kiss Me, Stupid
(1964), Caprice (1967), Paint Your Wagon
(1969), and The Sting
(1973).

Walston went on to some of his greatest success on the small screen. He starred as the Martian, Uncle Martin, on My Favorite Martian from 1963 to 1966. His co-star was Bill Bixby.

After Martian

After his starring role in Martian, he returned to beloved character actor status in television of the 1970s and 1980s, appearing as a guest star in numerous shows, such as Love, American Style, The Rookies, Mission: Impossible
, Ellery Queen, The Six Million Dollar Man, Little House on the Prairie
, and Bill Bixby’s The Incredible Hulk (on which he played a magician), among many others.

From 1980 to 1992, Walston starred in fourteen movies, some of which were good and some were not. Perhaps most notable was his performance as Mr. Hand in 1982's Fast Times at Ridgemont High
, as well as its 1986 television adaptation.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Ray Walston ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Ray Walston; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay