Gene Raymond
Born
August 13, 1908
Died
May 2, 1998 (89 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
New York City, New York, USA
Gene Raymond, born Raymond Guion, was an American film, television, and stage actor of the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to acting, Raymond was also a composer, writer, director, producer, and decorated military pilot.
His screen debut was in Personal Maid (1931). Another early appearance was in the multi-director If I Had a Million with W. C. Fields and Charles Laughton. With his blond good looks, classic profile, and youthful exuberance — plus a name change to the more pronounceable "Gene Raymond" — he scored in films like the classic Zoo in Budapest with Loretta Young, and a series of light RKO musicals, mostly with Ann Sothern. He wrote a number of songs, including the popular "Will You?" which he sang to Sothern in Smartest Girl in Town. His wife, Jeanette MacDonald, sang several of his more classical pieces in her concerts and recorded one entitled "Let Me Always Sing".
His most notable films, mostly as a second lead actor, include Red Dust (1932) with Jean Harlow and Clark Gable, Zoo in Budapest with Loretta Young, Ex-Lady with Bette Davis, Flying Down to Rio with Dolores del Río, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, I Am Suzanne with Lilian Harvey, Sadie McKee with Joan Crawford, Alfred Hitchcock's Mr. and Mrs. Smith with Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery, and The Locket with Laraine Day, Brian Aherne, and Robert Mitchum. MacDonald and Raymond made one film together, Smilin' Through, which came out as the U.S. was on the verge of entering World War II.
After service in the United States Army Air Forces Raymond returned to Hollywood. He wrote, directed and starred in the 1949 film Million Dollar Weekend. In later years he appeared in only a few films. His last major film was The Best Man in 1964 with Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson.
In the 1950s he mostly worked in television, appearing in Playhouse of Stars, Fireside Theatre, Hollywood Summer Theater and TV Reader's Digest. In the 1970s he appeared on ABC Television Network's Paris 7000 and had guest roles in The Outer Limits, Robert Montgomery Presents, Playhouse 90, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Ironside, The Defenders, Mannix, The Name of the Game, Lux Video Theatre, Kraft Television Theatre and U.S. Steel Hour.
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Complicated Women
Self (archive footage)
2003
Nelson and Jeanette: America's Singing Sweethearts
Self
1992
The RKO Story: Tales From Hollywood
Self · (1 episode)
1987
McNaughton's Daughter
Emory Latimer Johns · (3 episodes)
1976
The Invisible Man
Sen. Albert Hanover · (1 episode)
1975
Emergency!
J.P. Dumont · (1 episode)
1972
Five Bloody Graves
The Voice of Death
1969
The Bold Ones: The New Doctors
Walter Markle · (1 episode)
1969
The Name of the Game
Senator Reeland · (1 episode)
1968
Mannix
Richmond Greene · (1 episode)
1967
Judd for the Defense
(1 episode)
1967
Hondo
(1 episode)
1967
Ironside
Marcus Weathers · (1 episode)
1967
Ironside
Charles Huff · (1 episode)
1967
The F.B.I.
Harlan Franciscus · (1 episode)
1965
Laredo
(1 episode)
1965
The Hanged Man
Whitey Devlin
1964
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Col. Allan Morgan · (1 episode)
1964
I'd Rather Be Rich
Martin Wood
1964
The Best Man
Don Cantwell
1964
Burke's Law
Arthur Wade · (1 episode)
1963
Channing
Matt Bellamy · (1 episode)
1963
The Outer Limits
Sawyer · (1 episode)
1963
Sam Benedict
(1 episode)
1962
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
Phil · (1 episode)
1960
Johnny Ringo
Silky Carter · (1 episode)
1959
Woman on the Run
1959
The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen
John Niles · (1 episode)
1958
Plunder Road
Eddie Harris
1957
Matinee Theater
(3 episodes)
1955
Hit the Deck
Wendell Craig
1955
TV Reader's Digest
(65 episodes)
1955
Climax!
Grady Lederer · (1 episode)
1954
Kraft Television Theatre
(1 episode)
1953
Letter to Loretta
Mark Colby · (1 episode)
1953
Medallion Theatre
(1 episode)
1953
The Ford Television Theatre
Stanley · (1 episode)
1952
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
US Army Major · (1 episode)
1951
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Mark Alexander · (1 episode)
1951
The Red Skelton Show
General · (1 episode)
1951
Tales of Tomorrow
(2 episodes)
1951
Lux Video Theatre
John Aldrid · (1 episode)
1950
Lux Video Theatre
Luke Drake · (1 episode)
1950
Fireside Theater
Host · (142 episodes)
1949
Studio One
Charles Sterling · (1 episode)
1948
Million Dollar Weekend
Nicholas Lawrence
1948
Sofia
Steve Roark
1948
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self · (2 episodes)
1948
Assigned to Danger
Dan Sullivan
1948
Kraft Television Theatre
Andy Clements · (1 episode)
1947
The Locket
John Willis
1946
Smilin' Through
Kenneth 'Ken' Wayne / Jeremy 'Jerry' Wayne
1941
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Jeff
1941
Cross-Country Romance
Lawrence Smith
1940
Stolen Heaven
Carl
1938
She's Got Everything
Fuller Partridge
1937
The Life of the Party
Barry Saunders
1937
There Goes My Girl
Jerry Martin
1937
That Girl from Paris
Windy McLean
1936
Smartest Girl in Town
Richard Stuyvesant Smith
1936
Walking on Air
Pete Quinlan / Count Pierre Louis de Marsac
1936
The Bride Walks Out
Michael Martin
1936
Love on a Bet
Michael MacCreigh
1936
Seven Keys to Baldpate
William Magee
1935
Hooray for Love
Douglas Tyler
1935
Transient Lady
Carey Marshall
1935
The Woman in Red
John 'Johnny' Wyatt
1935
Behold My Wife!
Michael Carter
1934
Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round
Jimmy Brett
1934
Sadie McKee
Tommy
1934
Coming Out Party
Chris Hansen
1934
I Am Suzanne!
Tony Malatini
1933
The House on 56th Street
Monte Van Tyle
1933
Flying Down to Rio
Roger Bond
1933
Brief Moment
Rodney Deane
1933
Ann Carver's Profession
Bill
1933
Ex-Lady
Don Peterson
1933
Zoo in Budapest
Zani
1933
If I Had a Million
John Wallace (uncredited)
1932
Red Dust
Gary Willis
1932
The Night of June 13
Herbert Morrow
1932
Forgotten Commandments
Paul Ossipoff
1932
Ladies of the Big House
Standish McNeil
1931
Personal Maid
Dick Gary
1931