Marguerite Ray (March 18, 1931 – November 18, 2020) was an American television actress, known for originating the role of

Mamie Johnson Mamie "Peanut" Johnson (September 27, 1935 – December 18, 2017) was an American professional baseball player who was one of three women, and the first female pitcher, to play in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues. Early life Johnson was ...

in the soap opera ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...

''; she was the first black regular on the show. In a career that lasted from the 1960s until 2001, she also appeared in '' Sanford'' and had a recurring role in ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

''.

Biography

Ray was born March 18, 1931 in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, to

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

parents, Walter Ray, Sr. and his spouse Jeannette. She had two sisters, Verna (Peters) and Jacqueline (Jackson), and four brothers, Walter, Jr., Ronald, Henry, and Burt. She attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, gaining a degree in Recreation and Theatre Arts. She started acting in television in the 1960s, gaining a regular part in '' Sanford'' (1980–81), playing a widow who is the girlfriend of the lead. She originated the role of

in the soap opera ''

'', playing the character from 1980 to 1990. She was the first Black regular on the show, which was the soap opera with the highest ratings among African-American viewers in 1988. She had a recurring role in ''

'' (1989), and her many other television credits include roles in ''

Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typic ...

'', ''

The Bill Cosby Show ''The Bill Cosby Show'' is an American sitcom television series, that aired for two seasons on NBC's Sunday night schedule from 1969 until 1971, under the sponsorship of Procter & Gamble. There were 52 episodes made in the series. It marked Bill ...

'', ''

The Odd Couple Odd Couple may refer to: Neil Simon play and its adaptations * ''The Odd Couple'' (play), a 1965 stage play by Neil Simon ** ''The Odd Couple'' (film), a 1968 film based on the play *** ''The Odd Couple'' (1970 TV series), a 1970–1975 televisi ...

'', ''

Quincy, M.E. ''Quincy, M.E.'' (also called ''Quincy'') is an American mystery medical drama television series from Universal Studios that aired on NBC from October 3, 1976, to May 11, 1983. Jack Klugman starred in the title role as a Los Angeles County med ...

'', ''

The Rockford Files ''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network from September 13, 1974 to January 10, 1980, and remains in syndication. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investigator ...

'' and '' Ironside''. Ray also had minor roles in films including ''Blood's Way'' (1973), ''

Cheech and Chong's Next Movie ''Cheech and Chong's Next Movie'' is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Tommy Chong and the second feature-length project by Cheech & Chong, following '' Up in Smoke'', released by Universal Pictures. Plot Cheech & Chong are on a mission t ...

'' (1980) and ''

To Sleep with Anger ''To Sleep with Anger'' is a 1990 American black comedy film written and directed by Charles Burnett. In 2017, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, h ...

'' (1990). Her final television appearance was in 2001. She died on November 18, 2020 in Los Angeles. In June 2021, Ray was misidentified during the "In Memoriam" segment of the

Daytime Emmy Awards The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

for living actress Veronica Redd. The Daytime Emmys released a statement apologizing for the mistake.

References

Wikipedia erroneously has photos of both Marguerite Ray and Veronica Redd in this article

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Marguerite 1931 births 2020 deaths Actresses from New Orleans American television actresses American soap opera actresses University of California, Berkeley alumni 21st-century American women

Biography

See also

References

External links