Robert E. Bray (October 23, 1917 â€" March 7, 1983) was an American
film and television actor probably best remembered for his role as the
forest ranger Corey Stuart in the CBS series Lassie. He also starred
in Stagecoach West.Bray was born to homesteading parents in Kalispell,
Montana. The family moved to Seattle, Washington, where Bray attended
Lincoln High School. After graduation, he was for a time a lumberjack,
a cowboy, and a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps. In 1942,
Bray joined the United States Marine Corps and saw action in the South
Pacific during World War II. He finished the war at the rank of master
sergeant and then aspired to become a taxidermist or the owner of a
hunting/fishing lodge.Instead, Bray entered films in 1946 under
contract to RKO. He was marketed as the "next Gary Cooper" but
appeared in B Westerns like 1949's Rustlers. In the 1950s, the then
freelancing actor appeared in a varied number of roles including the
1952 episode "Thunder Over Inyo" of the syndicated western television
series The Adventures of Kit Carson.In 1954, he portrayed bandit
Emmett Dalton in an episode of Jim Davis's syndicated western Stories
of the Century. That same year, he guest-starred in Reed Hadley's CBS
crime drama, The Public Defender. On December 4, 1955, he was cast as
petroleum pioneer Pattillo Higgins in "Spindletop â€" The First Great
Texas Oil Strike (January 10, 1901)" on the CBS history series, You
Are There, the story of the origin of the Texas oil industry.
film and television actor probably best remembered for his role as the
forest ranger Corey Stuart in the CBS series Lassie. He also starred
in Stagecoach West.Bray was born to homesteading parents in Kalispell,
Montana. The family moved to Seattle, Washington, where Bray attended
Lincoln High School. After graduation, he was for a time a lumberjack,
a cowboy, and a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps. In 1942,
Bray joined the United States Marine Corps and saw action in the South
Pacific during World War II. He finished the war at the rank of master
sergeant and then aspired to become a taxidermist or the owner of a
hunting/fishing lodge.Instead, Bray entered films in 1946 under
contract to RKO. He was marketed as the "next Gary Cooper" but
appeared in B Westerns like 1949's Rustlers. In the 1950s, the then
freelancing actor appeared in a varied number of roles including the
1952 episode "Thunder Over Inyo" of the syndicated western television
series The Adventures of Kit Carson.In 1954, he portrayed bandit
Emmett Dalton in an episode of Jim Davis's syndicated western Stories
of the Century. That same year, he guest-starred in Reed Hadley's CBS
crime drama, The Public Defender. On December 4, 1955, he was cast as
petroleum pioneer Pattillo Higgins in "Spindletop â€" The First Great
Texas Oil Strike (January 10, 1901)" on the CBS history series, You
Are There, the story of the origin of the Texas oil industry.
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.