Ray Danton

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Raymond "Ray" Danton , born as Raymond Caplan , (born September 19, 1931 in New York City , United States ; † February 11, 1992 in Los Angeles , ibid) was an American actor and director in film and television, " mostly in roles of tough, tough and sometimes brutal heroes and big city gangsters with a mafia background. "

Live and act

Danton began his artistic career in 1943 with radio broadcasts. At the age of fifteen, he went on his first theater tour with a summer stage and a little later began studying at both the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Technical School. He then teamed up with other young actors, including the future film director Mike Nichols , to form the Interschool Congress theater company. In 1950 he was seen in London at the side of Tyrone Power in a performance of the play " Mister Roberts ". In 1951, Raymond Danton made his television camera debut. From 1951 to 1954 he served as a soldier in the Korean War .

Immediately after his release into civilian life in 1954, the attractive, virile artist with the striking, jet-black hair found connection with Hollywood films. Even in his debut, Danton played “Little Big Man”, a combative, vigorous Indian. After a few other western roles, he was preferred to play leading roles in melodramas, war and gangster films. Danton was particularly successful in impersonating the crime king of the 1920s, 'Legs' Diamond, in " JD the Killer " and again later, this time as a supporting character, in " Dead Can't Sing ". At the same time, in 1961 Danton played the future actor with a mob past, George Raft , in the biopic " The dancing gangster ". But by 1962, Danton's short-lived Hollywood career seemed to be over. He then returned to (series) television and finally, like many of his B-film star colleagues at the time, accepted film offers from Europe.

There Ray Danton embodied "cold-blooded heroes in motley, third-rate exotic adventures ... and agent thrillers". In the course of the early 1970s he returned to his American homeland and began to work as a director. After 1975 Ray Danton did not get any more commissions from the cinema and was mainly active for television, for which he wrote individual episodes of popular series such as Cagney & Lacey , The Incredible Hulk , Magnum , Dallas , Fame - The Path to Fame , TJ Hooker , Quincy , The Denver Clan, and most recently, in the late 1980s, Mike Hammer .

Ray Danton was married to actress Julie Adams from 1954 to 1981 . This marriage resulted in two children.

Filmography

as an actor in the cinema (complete), unless otherwise stated

  • 1955: The Spear of Vengeance (Chief Crazy Horse)
  • 1955: Looters at Pikes Park (The Looters)
  • 1955: With Brute Force (The Spoilers)
  • 1955: And tomorrow I'll cry (I'll Cry Tomorrow)
  • 1956: You or I (Outside the Law)
  • 1956: The Night Runner
  • 1957: Her life was a scandal (Too Much Too Soon)
  • 1958: Tarawa bridgehead (Tarawa Beachhead)
  • 1958: The Onion Head
  • 1959: The Beat Generation
  • 1959: He was called Kelly (Yellowstone Kelly)
  • 1959: The Big Operator
  • 1960: Titans (Ice Palace)
  • 1960: JD, the Killer (The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond)
  • 1960: Rivals for Power (A Fever in the Blood)
  • 1961: The dead can no longer sing (Portrait of a Mobster)
  • 1961: The Dancing Gangster (The George Raft Story)
  • 1961: 1000 miles to Yokohama (A Majority of One)
  • 1961: The Longest Day (The Longest Day)
  • 1962: The Chapman Report (The Chapman Report)
  • 1962: FBI Code 98 (FBI Code 98)
  • 1964: The Revenge of Sandokan (Sandokan alla riscossa)
  • 1964: Sandokan and the Leopard (Sandokan contro il leopardo di Sarawak)
  • 1965: the spy who went to hell (Corrida pour un espion)
  • 1966: Hell hunt for hot goods (New York chiama Superdrago)
  • 1966: Lucky M. fills all the coffins (Lucky el intrepido)
  • 1966: Ballata da un miliardo
  • 1967: Death flies to Jamaica (Flatfoot)
  • 1967: You only die once (Si muore solo una volta)
  • 1968: The great driven hunt
  • 1971: Triangle
  • 1972: The Deathmaster (director only)
  • 1972: Ballad of Billie Blue
  • 1972: The Sagittarus Mine
  • 1972: La tumba de la isla maldita / Hannah - Queen of the Vampires / Crypt of the Living Dead (co-director only)
  • 1974: The Razor Killer (The Centerfold Girls)
  • 1974: Pursuit
  • 1975: Sixpack Annie
  • 1975: Psychic Killer (Psychic Killer) (director and co-script only)
  • 1975: Lullaby of Vengeance (Apache Blood)
  • 1986: Mike Hammer - Kidnapping in Hollywood (The Return of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer) (TV movie, director only)
  • 1987: Lost Heros (Vietnam War Story) (co-director only)

literature

Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 2: C-F. John Paddy Carstairs - Peter Fitz. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 285 f.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Kay Less : The large personal dictionary of the film . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 2: C - F. John Paddy Carstairs - Peter Fritz. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 285.
personal data
SURNAME Danton, Ray
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Danton, Raymond (full name); Caplan, Raymond (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor and director
DATE OF BIRTH September 19, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , United States
DATE OF DEATH February 11, 1992
Place of death New York City , United States