John Wray (actor)

John Wray (born John Griffith Malloy; February 13, 1887 – April 5, 1940) was an American character actor of stage and screen.

John Wray
Born
John Griffith Malloy

(1887-02-13)February 13, 1887
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedApril 5, 1940(1940-04-05) (aged 53)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Years active1929–1940
SpouseFlorence Miller
ChildrenJack Wray

Career

Wray was one of the many Broadway actors to descend on Hollywood in the aftermath of the sound revolution, and quickly appeared in a variety of substantial character roles, such as the Arnold Rothstein-like gangster in The Czar of Broadway (1930); Himmelstoss, the sadistic drill instructor in All Quiet on the Western Front (1930); and as the contortionist the Frog in the remake of The Miracle Man (1932), in the role previously played by Lon Chaney in the 1919 original.

Wray's roles grew increasingly smaller as the decade progressed but he was very visible as the starving farmer threatening to kill Gary Cooper's Longfellow Deeds in Frank Capra's classic Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and as the warden in Fritz Lang's You Only Live Once (1937).

On Broadway, Wray performed in Achilles Had a Heel (1935), Tin Pan Alley (1928), Nightstick (1927), Broadway (1926), The Enemy (1925), Silence (1924), Polly Preferred (1923), The Nightcap (1921), The Ouija Board (1920), Richelieu (1917), The Weavers (1915), When the Young Vine Blooms (1915), Hamlet (1913), and The Merchant of Venice (1913).[1]

Partial filmography

References
  1. "John Wray". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
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