Age, Biography and Wiki
| Who is it? | Actor, Stunts, Soundtrack |
| Birth Day | February 14, 1902 |
| Birth Place | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States |
| Ray Corrigan age | 118 YEARS OLD |
| Died On | August 10, 1976(1976-08-10) (aged 74)\nBrookings, Oregon, U.S. |
| Birth Sign | Pisces |
| Resting place | Inglewood Park Cemetery, California |
| Other names | Raymond Benard Ray Benard Gorilla |
| Years active | 1932–1958 |
| Spouse(s) | Rita Jane Smeal (m. 1920; div. 1954) Elaine DuPont (m. 1956; div. 1967) |
| Children | 3 |
Net worth
Ray Corrigan, a renowned actor, stuntsman, and soundtrack artist from the United States, is projected to have a net worth ranging between $100K and $1M by 2024. Ray Corrigan has earned recognition for his exceptional skills in the entertainment industry, displaying his versatility across various roles. Whether it's bringing characters to life on screen, performing daring stunts, or contributing his talents to soundtracks, Corrigan has proven himself to be a valuable asset in the world of entertainment. As his net worth continues to grow, so does his reputation as a talented and multifaceted artist.
Some Ray Corrigan images
Biography/Timeline
1930Corrigan's Hollywood career began as a physical fitness instructor and physical culture trainer to the stars. In the early 1930s he did Stunts and bit parts in several films, billed as Ray Benard. Many of his early roles were in ape costumes, for Example, as a gorilla in Tarzan and His Mate (1934) and an "orangopoid" in the first Flash Gordon serial.
1936On the basis of this, Republic signed him to their standard Term Player Contract, running from May 25, 1936 to May 24, 1938. He was cast as one of the trio in the Three Mesquiteers series of westerns, starring in 24 of the 51 "3M" films made by the studio. He later left Republic in 1938 over a pay dispute. Over at Monogram Pictures, Corrigan began a new series of feature westerns, The Range Busters, cheap knock-offs of The Three Mesquiteers, with a series character that used his name; between 1940 and 1943, he starred in 20 of the 24 films in this series.
1937In 1937 Corrigan was on a hunting trip with Clark Gable when he had an idea to purchase land in Simi Valley, California and use it as a Western ranch similar to Iverson Movie Ranch. He paid a $1,000 down payment, then a thousand dollars a month until the $11,354 price was paid. He developed this into Corriganville, a location used for many Western movies and TV shows. The location featured many different types of terrain for producers such as lakes, mountains, and caves. As opposed to merely set fronts, Corriganville contained actual buildings where film crews could live and store their equipment to save the time and expense of daily travel from studios to an outdoor location.
1943Following this, his on-screen work largely returned to appearing in ape costumes, such as the roles in Captive Wild Woman (1943), Nabonga (1944), White Pongo (1945) and as a prehistoric sloth in Unknown Island (1948). The original gorilla "mask" seen in films like The Ape (1940) was replaced with a subtler design with a more mobile jaw. Corrigan later sold his gorilla suits in 1948 and provided training in using them to their new owner, Steve Calvert, a Ciro's bartender. Calvert stepped into Corrigan's paw prints starting with a Jungle Jim film. Despite reports to the contrary, Calvert and Corrigan never appeared together on-screen in an ape costume. Since both Corrigan and Calvert eschewed screen credit playing gorillas, their film credits are often confused; any appearance of the "Corrigan suit" after 1948 is by Calvert.
1949Corrigan profited well from renting this location to film studios and from paying visitors. In 1949, Corrigan opened his ranch to the public on weekends for Western-themed entertainment. The weekend attractions included stuntmen shows throughout the day, a Cavalry fort set, an outlaw shack, a full western town with saloon, jail and hotel, live western music, Indian crafts, stagecoach rides, pony rides, and boating on the ranch's artificial lake. It was Common for movie and TV personalities to appear in person for photos and autographs, attracting as many as 20,000 people on those weekends.
1950In 1950 he had a television show called Crash Corrigan's Ranch. He also planned a television series called Buckskin Rangers with his old associate Max Terhune. His final theatrical film was playing the title role in the science fiction film It! The Terror from Beyond Space, according to bio information given to visitors at the Thousand Oaks, California, Corrigan Steak House and Bar that he once owned.
1959The origin of the "Crash" nickname is from his football-playing days. This was verified by Corrigan himself when he was a contestant on the June 11, 1959 episode of You Bet Your Life starring Groucho Marx. When asked how he got the name "Crash", Corrigan told Groucho, "When I would go to tackle somebody or instead of fighting them with my fists, I would just take off and dive at them head first and that's how I acquired the name 'Crash'."
1966Corriganville was eventually sold to Bob Hope in 1966, when it became Hopetown. Today, what remains is known as Corriganville Park and features some of the old landmarks. Signs along a hiking trail point out the historic features.
1976Following his death at age 74 on August 10, 1976 from a heart attack in Brookings Harbor, Oregon, Ray "Crash" Corrigan was interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California. More than four decades later, his grave still remains unmarked.
Tags:
1902 births 1976 deaths American male film actors Male Western (genre) film actors Male film serial actors Male actors from Milwaukee Wild West shows People from Simi Valley, California Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery 20th-century American male actorsncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qrDOpaWerKekv7W0jZympmeilsZur86rqaKfkaN6r7HTZq6oqqSdeneDj3Bo