Ray Collins (actor)


Ray Bidwell Collins was an American character actor in stock and Broadway theatre, radio, films, and television. With 900 stage roles to his credit, he became one of the most successful actors in the developing field of radio drama. A friend and associate of Orson Welles for many years, Collins went to Hollywood with the Mercury Theatre company and made his feature-film debut in Citizen Kane, as Kane's ruthless political rival. Collins appeared in more than 75 films and had one of his best-remembered roles on television, as the disarming but determined police Lieutenant Arthur Tragg on the television series Perry Mason.

Life and career

Ray Bidwell Collins was born December 10, 1889, in Sacramento, California, to Lillie Bidwell and William Calderwood Collins. His father was a newspaper reporter and dramatic editor on The Sacramento Bee. His mother was the niece of John Bidwell, pioneer, statesman, and founder of society in the Sacramento Valley area of California in the 19th century. Collins was inspired as a young boy to become an actor after seeing a stage performance by his uncle, Ulric Collins, who had performed the role of Dave Bartlett in the Broadway production of Way Down East. He began putting on plays with neighborhood children in Sacramento.
Collins made his professional stage debut at age 13, at the Liberty Playhouse in Oakland, California.
In December 1912, Collins and his first wife Margaret Marriott were a vaudeville team who performed at the Alhambra Theater in Seattle. In July 1914, the couple and their young son Junius moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where Collins worked as an actor. In 1922, he was part of a stock company called Vancouver's Popular Players which enacted plays at the original Orpheum Theatre. He operated his own stock company for five years at his own theatre, the Empress Theatre in Vancouver. Collins toured in vaudeville and made his way to New York.
Collins worked prodigiously in his youth. Between the ages of 17 and 30, he was said to have been out of work as an actor for a total of five weeks. In 1924, he and Margaret Marriott divorced. That same year, he opened in Conscience and, after that, he was almost continually featured in Broadway plays and other theatrical productions until the Great Depression began. In 1926 he married Joan Uron. At the start of the Depression, Collins turned his attention to radio, where he was involved in 18 broadcasts a week, sometimes working as many as 16 hours a day. He also played parts in short films starting in 1930, notably in a Vitaphone Varieties series based on Booth Tarkington's Penrod stories.
In 1934, Collins began a long association with Orson Welles that led to some of his most memorable roles. They met when Welles joined the repertory cast of The American School of the Air, his first job on the radio. In 1935, Welles won a place in the prestigious company that presented the news dramatization series The March of Time—an elite corps of actors that included Collins, Agnes Moorehead, Everett Sloane, Paul Stewart, and others who would soon form the core of Welles's Mercury Theatre.
On radio, Collins was in the distinguished repertory cast of the weekly historical drama Cavalcade of America for six years. Collins and Welles worked together on that series and others, including Welles's serial adaptation of Les Misérables and The Shadow.
Collins became a member of the repertory company of Welles's CBS Radio series The Mercury Theatre on the Air and its sponsored continuation, The Campbell Playhouse. Through the run of the series, Collins played many roles in literary adaptations, from Squire Livesey in "Treasure Island", to Dr. Watson in "Sherlock Holmes", to Mr. Pickwick in "The Pickwick Papers". Collins' best known work on this series, however, was in "The War of the Worlds", the celebrated broadcast in which he played three roles, most notably the rooftop newscaster who describes the destruction of New York.
Along with other Mercury Theatre players, Collins made his feature film debut in Citizen Kane, in which he portrayed ruthless political boss Jim W. Gettys. He appeared in Welles's original Broadway production of Native Son and also played a principal role in Welles's second film, The Magnificent Ambersons. His ongoing radio work included Welles's wartime series, Ceiling Unlimited and Hello Americans, and the variety show, The Orson Welles Almanac.
Having returned to his native California, Collins appeared in more than 75 major motion pictures, including Leave Her to Heaven, The Best Years of Our Lives, Crack-Up, A Double Life, two entries in the Ma and Pa Kettle series, and the 1953 version of The Desert Song, in which he played the non-singing role of Kathryn Grayson's father. He displayed comic ability in The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, and The Man from Colorado, and played a supporting role in Welles's Touch of Evil.
On television, Collins was a regular in The Halls of Ivy, starring Ronald Colman. He appeared as Judge Harper in a 1955 TV adaptation of the holiday classic, Miracle on 34th Street, starring Thomas Mitchell, Teresa Wright, and MacDonald Carey. In 1957 Collins joined the cast of the CBS-TV series Perry Mason and gained fame as Los Angeles police homicide detective Lieutenant Arthur Tragg.
By 1960, Collins found his physical health declining and his memory waning, problems which in the next few years brought an end to his career. On the difficulty he was beginning to encounter in remembering his lines, he commented, "Years ago, when I was on the Broadway stage, I could memorize 80 pages in eight hours. I had a photographic memory. When I got out on the stage, I could actually — in my mind — see the lines written on top of the page, the middle, or the bottom. But then radio came along, and we read most of our lines, and I got out of the habit of memorizing. I lost my natural gift. Today it's hard for me. My wife works as hard as I do, cueing me at home."
In October 1963, Collins filmed his last Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Capering Camera", broadcast January 16, 1964. Although clearly Collins would not return to work on the series, his name appeared in the opening title sequence through the eighth season, which ended in May 1965. Executive producer Gail Patrick Jackson was aware that Collins watched the show every week and did not wish to discourage him.
On July 11, 1965, Collins died of emphysema at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California, at age 75. Masonic services were held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills.

Personal life

Collins supported Thomas Dewey in the 1944 United States presidential election.

Theatre credits

Ray Collins played 900 roles on the legitimate stage.
DateTitleRoleNotes
June 23 – July 1924The Blue BandannaGentleman Jim DelanoVanderbilt Theatre, New York
September 11, 1924 – January 1925ConscienceJeff StewartBelmont Theatre, New York
March 26, 1925 –Eve's LeavesTheodore CorbinWallack's Theatre, New York
September 28 – October 1925The Bridge of DistancesCaptain Aylmer HerryotMorosco Theatre, New York
August 30 – December 1926The Donovan AffairNelsonFulton Theatre, New York
September 18 – October 1928The Big FightMajestic Theatre, New York
November 9, 1928 – January 1929On CallJohn Q. SmithWaldorf Theatre, New York
September 16 – October 1929A Strong Man's HouseAllenAmbassador Theatre, New York
February 26–28, 1931Paging DangerKenneth HoldenBooth Theatre, New York
March 24 – June 28, 1941Native SonPaul MaxSt. James Theatre, New York

Radio credits

Film and television credits

YearTitleRoleNotes
1930Scotch LoveShort
1930'Short
1930'Short
1930MasqueradeShort
1931Snakes AliveMr. SchofieldPenrod short
1931'Mr. SchofieldShort
1932His Honor, PenrodMr. SchofieldPenrod short
1932Hot DogMr. SchofieldPenrod short
1932'Short
1932Murder in the PullmanShort
1932'Short
1932Lonesome ManorShort
1932If I'm ElectedShort
1932You're Killing MeShort
1940Citizen Kane trailerHimself, Jim W. GettysShort
1941Citizen KaneJim W. GettysFeature film debut
1942'Jack Amberson
1942'Professor B
1942Highways by NightUncle Ben
1942'Captain McCall
1943Commandos Strike at DawnBergesen
1943'Mr. Matthew Macauley
1943Slightly DangerousSnodgrass
1943Crime DoctorDr. John Carey
1943Salute to the MarinesColonel Mason
1943Whistling in BrooklynGrover Kendall
1944Madame CurieLecturer's voice
1944See Here, Private HargroveBrodie S. Griffith
1944'Cardinal Faulhaber
1944'Deckman West
1944'Ernst Wallau
1944Barbary Coast GentJohnny Adair
1944Can't Help SingingSenator Martin Frost
1945Roughly SpeakingMr. Randall
1945'Phillip Treadway
1945Leave Her to HeavenGlen Robie
1946Up Goes MaisieMr. Floyd Hendrickson
1946Miss Susie Slagle'sDr. Elijah Howe
1946Badman's TerritoryColonel Farewell
1946A Night in ParadiseLeonides
1946Boys' RanchDavid Banton
1946Three Wise FoolsJudge Watson
1946Crack-UpDr. Lowell
1946'Mr. Milton
1946Two Years Before the MastMr. Gordon Stewart
1946'Emil Blanchard
1947'Barton
1947'Dr. Matt Beemish
1947'Fred Houlihan
1948'Mac-Ian MacArden
1948HomecomingLt. Col. Avery Silver
1948Good SamReverend Daniels
1948For the Love of MaryHarvey Elwood
1948Command DecisionMajor Desmond Lansing
1949The Man from ColoradoBig Ed Carter
1949HideoutArthur Burdette
1949Red Stallion in the RockiesMatthew Simpson
1949It Happens Every SpringProfessor Greenleaf
1949'Enright
1949Free for AllMr. A. B. Blair
1949'Jefferson Almond
1950FrancisColonel Hooker
1950Paid in FullDr. Fredericks
1950'Commodore John Balwind Parker
1950Summer StockJasper G. Wingait
1950Kill the UmpireJonah Evans
1951Vengeance ValleyArch Strobie
1951You're in the Navy NowRear Adm. L. E. Tennant
1951Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the FarmJonathan Parker
1951Reunion in RenoJudge Thomas Kneeland
1951'Mortimer X. Welsh
1951I Want YouJudge Turner
1952InvitationDr. Warren Pritchard
1952Young Man with IdeasEdmund Jethrow
1952DreamboatTimothy Stone
1953Ma and Pa Kettle on VacationJonathan Parker
1953'Gen. Birabeau
1953Column SouthBrig. Gen. Storey
1953'Fred F. Whacker
1953Bad for Each OtherDan Reasonover
1953Cavalcade of AmericaDaniel WebsterTV episode "The Last Will of Daniel Webster"
1954Rose MarieInspector Appleby
1954AthenaMr. Tremaine
1954Lux Video TheatreBarton KeyesTV episode "Double Indemnity"
1954–1955'MerriweatherTV series
1955'Sheriff Masters
1955Texas LadyMicah Ralston
1955Climax!Jerome HarrisTV episode "The Champion"
1955You Are ThereP. T. BarnumTV episode "P. T. Barnum Presents Jenny Lind"
1955Science Fiction TheatreMilton OtisTV episode "The Frozen Sound"
1955Science Fiction TheatreHugh FredericksTV episode "Target Hurricane"
1955'Judge HarperTV episode "The Miracle on 34th Street"
1956Ford Star JubileeOliver WebbTV episode "Twentieth Century"
1956Front Row CenterCrockerTV episode "The Challenge"
1956Never Say GoodbyeDr. Bailey
1956'Alfred Metcalfe
1956Science Fiction TheatreDr. Paul SinclairTV episode "Sound That Kills"
1956Zane Grey TheatreEvan GracieTV episode "The Long Road Home"
1956Alfred Hitchcock PresentsHerbert BrennerTV episode "Conversation Over a Corpse"
1956'CorbettTV episode "The Trial of Mary Surratt"
1957Spoilers of the ForestEric Warren
1957Playhouse 90Harris ClaytonTV episode "Invitation to a Gunfighter"
1957–1964Perry MasonLieutenant Arthur TraggTV series
1958Touch of EvilAdair
1960I'll Give My LifeJohn Bradford