CHARLES H. GRAY, 86 - August 2, 2008 Actor Charles H. Gray, who was best known for his role as Clay Forrester in the television western series "Rawhide", died in San Bernardino, California, on August 2, 2008. Gray was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on November 27, 1921. He appeared frequently in films and television from the mid-1950s. His film credits include "One Desire" (1955), "The Houston Story" (1956), "Tension at Table Rock" (1956), "The Black Whip" (1956), "Trooper Hook" (1957), "God Is My Partner" (1957), "The Unknown Terror" (1957), "Ri de a Violent Mile" (1957), "Cattle Empire" (1958), "Desert Hell" (1958), "Charro!" (1969) with Elvis Presley, "Wild Rovers" (1971), "Bless the Beasts & Children" (1971), "The Organization" (1971), "Junior Bonner" (1972), "The New Centurions" (1972), and the 1979 horror film "Prophecy" as the Sheriff. The mustachioed Gray frequently played villains in television westerns, but took turn as cattle driver Clay Forrester in the final three seasons of "Rawhide" from 1961 to 1964. He was also featured in episodes of "Highway Patrol", "Whirlybird", "Adventures of Superman", "The Silent Service", "Leave It to Beaver", "Meet McGraw", "Black Saddle", "The Ann Sothern Show", "The Texan", "State Trooper", "Yancy Derringer", "Zane Grey Theater", "Have Gun - Will Travel", "Riverboat", "One Step Beyond", "Gunslinger", "Death Valley Days", "Gunsmoke", "Perry Mason", "Laredo", "The Road West", "The Iron Horse", "Hallmark Hall of Fame", "The High Chaparral", "McCloud", "Storefront Lawyers", "The Virginian", "Bonanza", "Alias Smith and Jones", "Emergency!", "The Rookies", "Banacek", the soap opera "The Young and the Restless" as Bill Foster, and "Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law". Gray was also featured in the tele-films "The Savage Land" (1969), "Drive Hard, Drive Fast" (1973), "Captains and the Kings" (1976), "A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story" (1978), "Sergeant Matlovich vs. the U.S. Air Force" (1978), "And I Alone Survived" (1978), and "Ike" (1979).
So I gather this was a distinct Charles Gray (or Grey?) from the handsome fellow whose underplayed, offbeat take on Ernst Stavro Blofeld in "Diamonds or Forever" was probably the only redeeming feature in that 1971 film (although I suppose St. John was nice to look at, and still is), a Bond film very nearly as lame as EVERY SINGLE Moore try at the iconic character would soon prove to be, and which ultimately would stand as the #1 Bond film Connery Should NEVER have made...until, of course, "Never Say Never Again".
In the previous article, <RadioactiveSeat...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> So I gather this was a distinct Charles Gray (or Grey?) from the > handsome fellow whose underplayed, offbeat take on Ernst Stavro > Blofeld in "Diamonds or Forever" was probably the only redeeming > feature in that 1971 film (although I suppose St. John was nice to > look at, and still is), a Bond film very nearly as lame as EVERY > SINGLE Moore try at the iconic character would soon prove to be, and > which ultimately would stand as the #1 Bond film Connery Should > NEVER have made...until, of course, "Never Say Never Again".
I thought the white kitty was cute. And the gay assassins were kind of funny. -- _+_ From the catapult of |If anyone objects to any statement I make, I am _|70|___:)=}- J.D. Baldwin |quite prepared not only to retract it, but also \ / bald...@panix.com|to deny under oath that I ever made it.-T. Lehrer ***~~~~-------------------------------------------------------------------- --
[Default] On Mon, 1 Dec 2008 12:45:40 -0800 (PST), RadioactiveSeat...@hotmail.com magnanimously proffered:
>So I gather this was a distinct Charles Gray (or Grey?) from the >handsome fellow whose underplayed, offbeat take on Ernst Stavro >Blofeld in "Diamonds or Forever" was probably the only redeeming >feature in that 1971 film ...
According to the latest SAG magazine Charles H. Gray passed away on August 2nd. The imdb has yet to record it and there's little on Gray's page besides his credits, not even a birth date. I have yet to find any obits online.
I think RAWHIDE stands among the handful of TV's finest westerns. For three of its eight seasons (and 45 of its 217 episodes) Charles H. Gray was one of the stars of the show as bad guy turned good guy Clay Forrester. I always liked Forrester because--among a crew of likable characters brought to life by Eric Fleming, Clint Eastwood, Sheb Woolley, Paul Brinegar, Rocky Shahan, Steve Raines and James Murdock--he stood out as something of a mustachioed rogue, a little unpredictable at times, with a definite edge to him. Gray played the part with charm and swagger, but subtly. He had previously appeared in two 1st season episodes as a goateed drover named Flagg, but Clay Forrester didn't sign on with Gil Favor's herd till season 4.
Gray's credits have been confused over the years with the British Charles Gray, who is of course known for playing Blofeld, Mycroft Holmes and a host of memorable roles. The Missouri-born Gray's credits are dominated by a long string of westerns, both TV and feature, including multiple guest and supporting spots on high profile shows like HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL and GUNSMOKE.
Genre credits are minimal; the sheriff in PROPHECY in '79 was his last role, and much earlier he had a part in the fungal-fest THE UNKNOWN TERROR, as well as a later SUPERMAN episode and a ONE STEP BEYOND.
LEAVE IT TO BEAVER fans will remember Gray as the new neighbor Mr. Donaldson that Beaver's in mortal terror of, fearing jealousy over a kiss on the cheek from the man's wife, played by Phyllis Coates. A very amusing episode.
- DrPaulArmstorng
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"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen
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