Lightweight American leading man Ray Walker moved from stage work to films in 1933. While he would occasionally earn a lead in a big-studio film -- he was Alice Faye's vis-à-vis in Music is Magic (1935) -- Walker could usually be found heading the cast of programmers filmed at Hollywood's B-picture outfits. One of Walker's best screen roles was in Monogram's The Mouthpiece (1935), in which he was ideally cast as a swell-headed radio personality, brought down to earth by the loss of both his sponsor and his girlfriend (Jacqueline Wells). By the early '40s, Walker had eased into minor and supporting roles, even accepting the occasional short subject (he shows up as Vera Vague's ex-husband in the 1946 two-reeler Reno-Vated). Still, Ray Walker's previous reputation assured him a comfortable living; for his single scene as luggage shop proprietor Joe in Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life, Walker received his standard asking price of 1,000 dollars per day.
by Hal Erickson
biography
