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Ray Rayner (born Raymond M. Rahner; July 23, 1919 – January 21, 2004) was an American television presenter, actor and author. He was a staple of
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...
in the 1960s and 1970s on
WGN-TV WGN-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the local outlet for The CW. It is owned and operated by the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is sister station, sister to the company ...
.


Early life and education

Rayner (the name was initially spelled "Rahner" but pronounced "Rayner") grew up in Queens, New York. He attended the
College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...
in
Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...
. Rayner's first media job was for WGBB radio in Freeport on
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
while he was attending night school at
Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...
.


World War II service

He enlisted in the Army Air Forces, serving as the navigator of a B-17 during World War II, when he was shot down over
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
on April 3, 1943. During years as a POW in
Stalag Luft III Stalag Luft III (; literally "Main Camp, Air, III"; SL III) was a ''Luftwaffe''-run prisoner-of-war (POW) camp during the Second World War, which held captured Western Allied air force personnel. The camp was established in March 1942 near th ...
, he helped prepare the escape depicted in the film '' The Great Escape''—though he was transferred to another camp before the escape took place. It was during his time as a POW that he discovered his talent for entertaining, namely through his fellow prisoners and his German captors. He was interviewed in a documentary titled "Stalag Luft III", produced by RDR Productions of Glenview, Illinois.


Chicago

After briefly working in radio at
WOOD Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...
in
Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...
, as well as in New York and
Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...
following the war, Rayner joined what was then WBKB, later to become
WBBM-TV WBBM-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's CBS network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, the station maintains studios on West Washington St ...
in Chicago as a staff announcer; he also worked on a local morning program called ''Rayner Shine'' in 1953. This was Rayner's first work with puppets, who were provided for the show by the Mulqueens. He got a noontime program called ''The Ray Rayner Show'' in 1953, he and his co-host Mina Kolb hosted a somewhat free-form show that featured music, comedy skits,
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
and
pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...
. The show, geared towards teens, ran for five years. WBBM asked Rayner to switch to a children's program in 1958, though reluctant at first, he did so with ''The Little Show'', which was very much like ''Ray Rayner and His Friends''; on this version, the duck he worked with had the name of Havelock. It ran two years; he also hosted ''Popeye's Firehouse'' (as Chief Abernathy) for another two. He moved to
WGN-TV WGN-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the local outlet for The CW. It is owned and operated by the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is sister station, sister to the company ...
in 1961.


WGN-TV Channel 9

His first role on WGN was as Sergeant Pettibone, the host of ''
The Dick Tracy Show ''The Dick Tracy Show'' is an American animated television series based on Chester Gould's Dick Tracy, comic strip crime fighter. The series was produced from 1961 to 1962 by United Productions of America, UPA. In the show, Chief of Detectives ...
''. He joined the cast of '' Bozo's Circus'' as country bumpkin clown Oliver O. Oliver. By 1965, Rayner's clown character, along with "Sandy", played by Don Sandburg, were added to Larry Harmon's Bozo coloring books. Rayner left the show in 1971 because he wanted more time for other projects. After that, he occasionally appeared on the show as Oliver and filled in for Ned Locke as "Mr. Ray" when needed. Following the cancellation of ''The Dick Tracy Show'', a new afternoon program called ''Rocket to Adventure'' ran until 1968; this featured early appearances by Gigantor and Tobor the Eighth Man. Rayner hosted the show appearing as an
astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...
. In 1968, he also appeared in television commercials for
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...
as
Ronald McDonald Ronald McDonald is a clown character used as the primary mascot of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain. He inhabits the fictional world of McDonaldland, with his friends Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird, an ...
. At one point, WGN-TV had enough hope in being able to syndicate Rayner's scenes alongside ''The Dick Tracy Show'' to produce a pilot for that purpose.


''Ray Rayner and His Friends''

Starting in 1962, Rayner began hosting his own long-running ''Ray Rayner and His Friends'', which had the title ''Breakfast With Bugs Bunny'' when he became its host; it was renamed in 1964. The show featured old
cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...
s such as various
Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
character cartoons, arts-and-crafts, which often ended up as a gluey mess, and animals such as Chelveston the Duck who was named after RAF Chelveston where Rayner was stationed during World War II. Chelveston occasionally bit and Rayner was notably wary. During these segments, Chelveston walked around the set, ate, or bathed while a then-current top 40 song was played. Rayner later said he put duck feed in the cuffs of his coveralls so Chelveston nipped at them, then save himself from the duck by giving him a head of lettuce to pick apart. What was not known to the public until after the program was no longer on the air was that Chelveston was actually played by four different ducks over the years. Rayner also had a talking dog puppet, Cuddly Dudley, created and voiced by Roy Brown, a.k.a. "Cooky the Cook" from '' Bozo's Circus'' and ''
The Bozo Show ''The Bozo Show'' is a children's television program that aired on WGN-TV in Chicago and nationally on its WGN America, superstation feed (now NewsNation) from 1960 to 2001. It was based on a children's record-book series, ''Bozo the Clown'' by ...
''. The segment highlighted viewer mail which included many hand-drawn pictures submitted by children. The segment was often humorous as it was a chance for Rayner and Brown to interact and use comedic ad-libs. He always wore a jumpsuit, covered with small pieces of paper that held reminders of what to do next on the program (a cartoon, a
commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...
, a visit from Chelveston, etc.). He would also
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...
traffic reports from sister station WGN Radio over stock footage of traffic moving along the Chicago-area Interstates. During
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
season, he showed and narrated highlights of the Cubs and
White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The club plays its home games at Rate Fie ...
games from the previous day, wearing a custom-sewn ball cap that had the front half of each team's cap, resulting in a two-billed cap which he spun around, depending on which team's highlights were being shown. Rayner would do the same thing for the
Bears Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout most o ...
during football season. The arts-and-crafts was a regular segment that always began with a finished version prepared in advance by someone "behind the scenes" (often the wife of Producer Dick Flanders) that was displayed to the audience, followed by Rayner's attempts to demonstrate the process in an amusing, all-thumbs effort, also set to music, that resulted in a comically sub-par facsimile that more resembled a random collection of felt, construction paper and glue. Rayner's version would then be displayed alongside the original further emphasizing his comical ineptitude regarding crafts. Rayner contended that his failure at crafts made the show successful as the work of his young viewers was much better than the crafts he did on-air. He held an annual jellybean contest where viewers were to submit guesses of the quantity in a large jar displayed for a period of time on the show. Every Christmas he had an
Advent calendar An Advent calendar, from the German word ''Adventskalender'', is used to count the days of Advent in anticipation of Christmas. Since the date of the Advent Sunday, First Sunday of Advent varies, falling between November 27 and December 3 inclusi ...
and would reveal a date each day until the Christmas holiday. Another bit was a lip-synching sketch Rayner usually did to an older
novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...
such as " Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh" by Allan Sherman. However he also performed serious songs while actually singing. Another feature on the show was ''Ark in the Park'', a taped segment of a trip to the
Lincoln Park Zoo Lincoln Park Zoo, also known as Lincoln Park Zoological Gardens, is a zoo in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois. The zoo was founded in 1868 and is the second oldest zoo in the United States. It is also one of a small number of zoos to offer fr ...
featuring the then-director of the zoo, Dr. Lester Fisher. The introductory music for this segment was " The Unicorn" by The Irish Rovers. Rayner also featured a "How and Why" segment on his shows with J. Bruce Mitchell of Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, as did ''
Garfield Goose and Friends ''Garfield Goose and Friends'' is a children's television show produced by WGN-TV in Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1955 to 1976. The show was known as ''Garfield Goose and Friend'' from 1952 to 1955 when it aired on WLS-TV, WBKB and WBB ...
''. Along with '' Bozo's Circus'', a video game was added to Rayner's show that viewers could play by phone called '' TV Powww''. Rayner hosted this show until his 1980 retirement from WGN. During his time at Channel 9, starting in 1974, Rayner also hosted a Thursday night broadcast of the Illinois State Lottery's then-weekly drawings, which featured a top prize of $300,000 ("Weekly Bonanza") and a second prize of $50,000 to a field of about a dozen contestants who had won a special lottery game over the preceding seven-day period. The show aired at 7:00 PM CT.


Cartoon segments

The cartoons on the program contain mostly
Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...
/
Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated comedy short film series distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was part of the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise and featured many of the same characters. Originally running from August 2, 1931, to Septem ...
cartoons from their
Golden Age of American animation The golden age of American animation was a period that began with the popularization of Sound film, sound synchronized cartoons in 1928 and gradually ended in the 1960s when theatrical animated shorts started to lose popularity to the newer medi ...
, including some syndicated cartoon and action segments such as Flash Gordon and Superman. After each cartoon, a view of a clock will display on-screen with a background drawing of a sun.


Actor and author

During his years in Chicago, he also frequently appeared in live theater, including plays at the Forum Dinner Theater in suburban Summit; receiving a Jefferson award nomination for one of his roles. Rayner also did directing for student productions at
Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...
. He received an M. A. in Humanities from the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
in 1970, writing his thesis about children's television's first goal being to entertain. He was a member of the Silver Circle of the Chicago chapter of the
National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), also known as the National Television Academy until 2007, is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of televisio ...
and received many local
Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...
s for his television work. Rayner also wrote a book titled ''The Story of Television'' published in 1972. It is basically an industry guide to how a television show is made featuring many photos of Rayner from his ''Ray Rayner and Friends'' show. The book is quite rare and commands a high price, when available, from on-line auction sites. One copy was donated to the Museum of Broadcast Communications about seven months after Rayner's passing.


Later years and legacy

He moved to KGGM-TV, the CBS affiliate in
Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...
, in 1981, before retiring from television in 1989. He cited the harsh Chicago winters as the motivating factor. Rayner was the station's weatherman, complete with notes pinned to his jacket as they were to his coveralls in Chicago; he also hosted the local '' PM Magazine'' in Albuquerque. He returned to Chicago for the 25th and 30th anniversary shows for ''Bozo's Circus''. Rayner continued to accept some Chicago theater roles and took some time to patiently answer children's questions about his work even after moving to Albuquerque. He did a week-long stint filling in at weather and other duties at Chicago's ''Fox Thing in the Morning'' on
WFLD WFLD (channel 32) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is owned and operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network through its Fox Television Stations division alongside Gary, Indiana–licensed WPWR-TV (channe ...
in May 1995. Rayner took some courses at the
University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...
, did some teaching and wrote a column for a local newspaper there. Rayner moved to
Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...
, after his wife, Jeanne, a former nurse, died of
lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...
in 1995. "Jeanne Rahner, 67, the wife of former WGN-TV performer Ray Rayner, died Tuesday in Presbyterian Hospital, Albuquerque, N.M. She was working as a nurse in Brooklyn when she met and married her husband. In 1953, they came to the Chicago area. Mrs. Rahner resumed her nursing career in the late 1960s at Highland Park Hospital. She left there in the mid-1970s. In 1981, fed up with Chicago winters, the couple left Northbrook to move to New Mexico, where her husband worked as a weather reporter for Albuquerque television station KRQE-Channel 13. Mrs. Rahner was born in Brooklyn. She was a graduate of Long Island..." (pay-per-view) His activities there included reading to the blind, Grant A Wish (for terminally ill children), and delivering Meals on Wheels. He died on 21 January 2004, of complications from
pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
in
Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 86,395; it was estimated to have grown to 95,949 in 2022, making it the List o ...
, at the age of 84. He is survived by his second wife, Marie, a daughter and a son, and four grandchildren. Clips from Rayner's shows are featured in the WGN Christmas special, '' Bozo, Gar and Ray: WGN TV Classics''. In 2005, the
Museum of Broadcast Communications The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) is an American museum that showcases historic and contemporary radio and television content. It is headquartered in Chicago. Museum locations (1987–present) The Museum of Broadcast Communications wa ...
awarded WGN-TV's Studio 1 a plaque to commemorate the forty years of children's television broadcast from the studio. ''Ray Rayner and Friends'' with a likeness of Rayner and Chelveston, is on the plaque along with Frazier Thomas and ''
Garfield Goose and Friends ''Garfield Goose and Friends'' is a children's television show produced by WGN-TV in Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1955 to 1976. The show was known as ''Garfield Goose and Friend'' from 1952 to 1955 when it aired on WLS-TV, WBKB and WBB ...
'' and Bob Bell and '' Bozo's Circus''. Rayner's coveralls, complete with notes, is part of the museum's collection. Cuddly Dudley and his doghouse from ''
The Bozo Show ''The Bozo Show'' is a children's television program that aired on WGN-TV in Chicago and nationally on its WGN America, superstation feed (now NewsNation) from 1960 to 2001. It was based on a children's record-book series, ''Bozo the Clown'' by ...
'' are also part of the museum's collection. A photo of Rayner on the set of his television show with two guests was chosen as the cover photo for ''Chicago Television'', published for the Museum of Broadcast Communications in 2010.


See also

*
The Bozo Show ''The Bozo Show'' is a children's television program that aired on WGN-TV in Chicago and nationally on its WGN America, superstation feed (now NewsNation) from 1960 to 2001. It was based on a children's record-book series, ''Bozo the Clown'' by ...


References


Bibliography

* via Project MUSE *


External links

*
Ray Rayner WGN Photo Gallery
''Chicago Tribune''
Ray Rayner - Find A Grave Memorial
;Videos
Various Salvaged Clips of Ray Rayner and Friends
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayner, Ray 1919 births 2004 deaths Television personalities from New York City People from Albuquerque, New Mexico Military personnel from Chicago People from Fort Myers, Florida Mass media people from Queens, New York Fordham University alumni United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II American prisoners of war in World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Germany University of Chicago alumni Stalag Luft III prisoners of World War II Shot-down aviators College of the Holy Cross alumni