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Ray Collins

Actor

Ray Collins

Born December 10, 1889 in Sacramento, California, USADied July 11, 196585 films

Ray Bidwell Collins (December 10, 1889 – July 11, 1965) 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.

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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 irascible Lieutenant Arthur Tragg on the television series Perry Mason.

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The best way into Ray Collins's work
Citizen Kane posterFirst watchCitizen Kane19418.0as Jim W. GettysNewspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he…View film

Essential films

Ranked by acclaim and reach
Touch of Evil poster7.7Touch of Evil1958The Best Years of Our Lives poster7.7The Best Years of Our Lives1946The Magnificent Ambersons poster7.3The Magnificent Ambersons1942The Heiress poster7.8The Heiress1949Leave Her to Heaven poster7.5Leave Her to Heaven1945The Desperate Hours poster7.0The Desperate Hours1955The Fountainhead poster6.8The Fountainhead1949The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer poster6.9The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer1947

Filmography

85 films as actor
  1. 1980Viva la clase media
  2. 1960I'll Give My LifeJohn Bradford
  3. 1958Touch of EvilDistrict Attorney Adair
  4. 1957Spoilers of the ForestEric Warren
  5. 1957Invitation to a GunfighterHarris Clayton
  6. 1956The Solid Gold CadillacAlfred Metcalfe
  7. 1956Never Say GoodbyeDr. Bailey
  8. 1956The Go-GetterJ.P. Miller (sometimes called J.B. Miller)
  9. 1955The Miracle on 34th StreetJudge Harper
  10. 1955Texas LadyMica Ralston (rancher)
  11. 1955The Desperate HoursSheriff Masters
  12. 1954AthenaMr. Tremaine
  13. 1954Rose MarieInsp. Appleby
  14. 1953Bad for Each OtherDan Reasonover
  15. 1953The Kid from Left FieldFred F. Whacker
  16. 1953The Desert SongGen. Birabeau
  17. 1953Column SouthStorey
  18. 1952Ma and Pa Kettle on VacationJonathan Parker
  19. 1952DreamboatTimothy Stone
  20. 1952Young Man with IdeasEdmund Jethrow
  21. 1952InvitationWarren Pritchard
  22. 1951I Want YouJudge Kenneth Turner
  23. 1951The RacketMortimer Welsh
  24. 1951Reunion in RenoJudge Thomas Kneeland
  25. 1951Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the FarmJonathan Parker
  26. 1951You're in the Navy NowRear Adm. L. C. Tennant
  27. 1951Vengeance ValleyArch Strobie
  28. 1950Summer StockJasper G. Wingait
  29. 1950The Reformer and the RedheadCommodore Parker
  30. 1950Kill the UmpireJonah Evans
  31. 1950Paid in FullDr. Fredericks
  32. 1950FrancisColonel Hooker
  33. 1949Free For AllA B Blair
  34. 1949The HeiressJefferson Almond
  35. 1949The FountainheadRoger Enright
  36. 1949It Happens Every SpringAlfred Greenleaf
  37. 1949Red Stallion In The RockiesMatthew 'Matt' Simpson
  38. 1949The Price of FreedomThomas Vollmer
  39. 1949HideoutArthur Burdett, alias Philip J. Fogarty
  40. 1948Command DecisionMaj. Desmond Lansing
  41. 1948Good SamRev. Daniels
  42. 1948For the Love of MaryHarvey Elwood
  43. 1948The Man from ColoradoBig Ed Carter
  44. 1948HomecomingLt. Col. Avery Silver
  45. 1948The SwordsmanMacCoppin
  46. 1947The Senator Was IndiscreetFred Houlihan
  47. 1947A Double LifeVictor Donlan
  48. 1947The Bachelor and the Bobby-SoxerBeemish
  49. 1947The Red StallionPerry Barton
  50. 1947Trail StreetOpening Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
  51. 1946The Return of Monte CristoEmil Blanchard
  52. 1946The Best Years of Our LivesMr. Milton
  53. 1946Two Years Before the MastGordon Stewart
  54. 1946Three Wise FoolsJudge Watson
  55. 1946Crack-UpDr. Lowell
  56. 1946Boys' RanchDavis Banton
  57. 1946Badman's TerritoryColonel Farewell / Narrator
  58. 1946Night in ParadiseLeonides
  59. 1946Miss Susie Slagle'sDr. Elijah Howe
  60. 1946Up Goes MaisieMr. Floyd Henderickson
  61. 1945Leave Her to HeavenGlen Robie
  62. 1945The Hidden EyePhillip Treadway
  63. 1945Roughly SpeakingJohn Chase Randall
  64. 1944Can't Help SingingSenator Frost
  65. 1944Barbary Coast GentJohnny Adair
  66. 1944The Seventh CrossWallau
  67. 1944The Eve of St. MarkDeckman West
  68. 1944The Hitler GangCardinal von Faulhaber
  69. 1944Main Street TodayOtis Bird
  70. 1944See Here, Private HargroveBrodie S. Griffith
  71. 1943Madame CurieLecturer (voice) (uncredited)
  72. 1943Whistling in BrooklynGrover Kendall
  73. 1943Salute to the MarinesCol. John Mason
  74. 1943Crime DoctorDr. John Carey
  75. 1943Slightly DangerousSnodgrass
  76. 1943The Human ComedyMr. Macauley
  77. 1942Commandos Strike at DawnJohan Bergesen
  78. 1942The Navy Comes ThroughCapt. McCall
  79. 1942Highways by NightBen Van Steel, Tommy's Uncle
  80. 1942The Big StreetProfessor B
  81. 1942The Magnificent AmbersonsJack Amberson
  82. 1941Citizen KaneJim W. Gettys
  83. 1932The Trans-Atlantic MysteryWaite
  84. 1931Words & MusicMr. Lambert (uncredited)
  85. 1931One Way OutPolice Sergeant on Bicycle (uncredited)