Ray Bolger

Born: 1904-01-10 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S

Died: 1987-01-15

Ray Bolger began his career in vaudeville. He was half of a team called 'Sanford and Bolger' and also did numerous Broadway shows on his own. He, like Gene Kelly, was a song-and-dance man as well as an actor. He was signed to a contract with MGM in 1936 and his first role was as himself in The Great Ziegfeld (1936). This was soon followed by a role opposite Eleanor Powell in Rosalie (1937). His first dancing and singing role was in Sweethearts (1938), where he did the 'wooden shoes' number with red-headed soprano/actress Jeanette MacDonald. This got him noticed by MGM producers and resulted in his being cast in his most famous role, that of t ...