Ray Teal
{{Short description|American actor (1902–1976)}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2012}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ray Teal
| image = Ray Teal in One-Eyed Jacks.jpg
| caption = Teal in One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
| birth_name = Ray Elgin Teal
| birth_date = {{birth date|1902|01|12}}
| birth_place = Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1976|04|02|1902|01|12}}
| death_place = Santa Monica, California, U.S.
| resting_place =
| other_names = Ray E. Teal
| education = University of California
| occupation = Actor
| years_active = 1937–1974
| spouse = Louise Laraway
}}
Ray Elgin Teal (January 12, 1902The book Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory gives Teal's birth date as January 12, 1908.{{cite book|last1=Ellenberger|first1=Allan R.|title=Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory|date=2001|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786450190|page=173|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZraJCgAAQBAJ&q=%22Ray+Elgin+Teal%22&pg=PA173|access-date=May 29, 2017|language=en}} – April 2, 1976) was an American actor. His most famous role was as Sheriff Roy Coffee on the television series Bonanza (1959–1972), which was only one of dozens of sheriffs on television and in movies that he played during his long and prolific career stretching from 1937 to 1970. He appeared in pictures such as Western Jamboree (1938) with Gene Autry, The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) with Fredric March and Myrna Loy, The Black Arrow (1948), Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole (1951) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) with Spencer Tracy and Burt Lancaster.
Early life
Teal was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A saxophone player, he worked his way through the University of California, Los Angeles as a bandleader before becoming an actor.{{cite news|last1=Metcalfe|first1=Jack|title=Hollywood Film Shop|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11324417/the_terre_haute_tribune/|work=The Terre Haute Tribune|agency=United Press|date=July 11, 1950|location=Indiana, Terre Haute|page=4|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = May 28, 2017}} {{Open access}}
Musical career
In the early 1930s Teal and his orchestra, the Floridians, played in southern cities in the United States, with full-house audiences in Atlanta, Chattanooga, Nashville, and other cities. The group had a 17-week stay at the Olympia Theater in Miami. Teal also was master of ceremonies at the Paramount Theatre in New York.{{cite news |title=Ray Teal And Floridians At The Carolina This Week |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/617229445/?match=1&terms=%22Ray%20Teal%22%20actor |access-date=September 13, 2024 |work=The Charlotte News |date=June 12, 1932 |page=7-B|via = Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription}} By the mid-1930s he had expanded his show to include a "Music Hall Varieties" segment that featured comedian Ben Blue.{{cite news |title=Ben Blue and Ray Teal At Tivoli Monday; 'Sequoia' Will Be Offered At State |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/603456709/?match=1&terms=%22Ray%20Teal%22%20 |access-date=September 13, 2024 |work=The Chattanooga News |date=April 6, 1935 |page=18|via = Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription }}
Acting career
His longest-running role was as Sheriff Roy Coffee, a law-enforcing sheriff on Bonanza. Teal was one of the most senior members of the crew having a permanent role. He had also played a sheriff in the Billy Wilder film Ace in the Hole (1951). Teal co-starred in numerous TV westerns throughout his career: he appeared five times on Cheyenne, four times on The Lone Ranger, on The Alaskans, three times in different roles on another long-running western series, Wagon Train, on NBC's Tales of Wells Fargo, on the ABC western series Broken Arrow, five times on the ABC western comedy Maverick, on the CBS western series The Texan, the NBC western series The Californians, twice on Colt .45, once on Wanted: Dead or Alive, and as "Sheriff Clay" for a single 1960 episode of the NBC western series Riverboat, and four times on a western series about the rodeo titled Wide Country.
After more than 15 years performing in films and in early television, Teal secured a recurring role as a police officer in the 1953–1955 ABC sitcom with a variety-show theme, Where's Raymond?, later renamed The Ray Bolger Show.{{cite web |url=https://nostalgiacentral.com/television/tv-by-decade/tv-shows-1950s/wheres-raymond/ | title=Where's Raymond? (The Ray Bolger Show) – Nostalgia Central | date=March 9, 2013 }}
In 1955, Teal appeared as McCanles, a ruthless cattle baron in the episode "Julesburg" of the ABC/Warner Bros. Western series, Cheyenne. Altogether, Teal appeared five times on Cheyenne. He later appeared in a guest-starring role in another ABC/WB Western series, The Alaskans. From 1957 to 1962, Teal was cast three times in different roles on the Western series, Wagon Train. He also appeared in a number of episodes of Bat Masterson, an episode of The Rifleman and later in Green Acres.
In 1957, Teal played a lawman, Captain McNelly, in the episode "Sam Bass" of NBC's Tales of Wells Fargo. Teal was cast as Fenster in "The Bounty Hunters" (1957) on the ABC Western series, Broken Arrow. In 1958, Teal guest-starred "No Tears for the Dead" on the CBS Western series, The Texan. He also later appeared in the CBS sitcom, Dennis the Menace.
On the Warner Bros. series Maverick starring James Garner and Jack Kelly, Teal played a crooked sheriff in the episode "The Day They Hanged Bret Maverick" (1958) and also starred as villains in the episodes "Stage West" (1957) based on a story by Louis L'amour and "Two Beggars on Horseback" (1958).
In 1960, Teal was cast as Sheriff Roy Coffee in Bonanza, a role he played until 1972, appearing in 98 episodes, occasionally as the lead character. He also portrayed judge/dentist/shoe repairman H.G. Cogswell in Bat Masterson starring Gene Barry.
Teal appeared twice in another ABC/WB Western, Colt .45, playing Mike O'Tara in the series finale, "The Trespassers" (1960). In 1960, he was cast as Sheriff Clay in the episode "Zigzag" of the NBC Western series Riverboat. In 1962, Teal portrayed Mr. Todd in the episode entitled "The Tall Shadow" of the NBC modern Western drama, Empire. That same year, he was cast as Sam Thorpe in the episode "Step Forward" of the NBC police drama 87th Precinct. He portrayed, in 1962, the character Alvin Greaves in "Unwanted: Dead or Alive" of the syndicated adventure series The Everglades. In 1962 and 1963, he was cast four times, three as the character Frank Higgins, on the Western series about the rodeo, Wide Country. In 1963, Teal appeared as murder victim Joe Downing in the CBS courtroom drama series Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Shifty Shoebox".
Teal was a bit-part player in Western films for several years before landing a minor role in Northwest Passage (1940). Another of his roles was as Little John in The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946). Notable film roles include playing one of the judges in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) with Spencer Tracy and an indulgent bar owner to Marlon Brando's motorcycle gang in The Wild One (1953). This was the second of three times that Teal appeared with Brando, having done so already as a drunk in Brando's debut in The Men (1950) and later in Brando's only directorial effort, One-Eyed Jacks (1961), as a bartender.
Teal appeared in three episodes of the 1955–1957 anthology series, Crossroads, a study of clergymen from different denominations.
Death
He died of undisclosed causes on April 2, 1976, at age 74 in Santa Monica, California.{{cite web | url=https://www.wideopencountry.com/ray-teal/ | title=Remembering Ray Teal, the Beloved Sheriff from 'Bonanza' | date=November 28, 2021 }}
Selected filmography
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Film ! Role ! Director ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1937
| Orchestra Leader | | uncredited |
| 1937
| Perkins | Serial; uncredited |
| 1937
| Henchman [Chs. 2–3] | Serial; uncredited |
| 1938
| Sailor Playing Clarinet | uncredited |
| 1938
| McCall | |
| 1939
| Crook | uncredited |
| 1940
| Bradley McNeil | | uncredited |
| 1940
| Guard | uncredited |
| 1940
| Stage Holdup Man | uncredited |
| 1940
| Florian | Soldier | uncredited |
| 1940
| New Moon | Bondsman | uncredited |
| 1940
| Henchman Shark [Chs. 1as2] | Serial |
| 1940
| Watchman | uncredited |
| 1940
| Wolf Tanner | |
| 1940
| Smokey Lovell | |
| 1940
| Cameraman in Ohio | uncredited |
| 1940
| Recognizes Emergency Code | uncredited |
| 1940
| Henchman | uncredited |
| 1940
| Claud Richards | | |
| 1940
| Deputy Sheriff | | uncredited |
| 1940
| The Green Hornet Strikes Again! | Chief Guard at Steel Mill | Serial; uncredited |
| 1940
| Clarinet Player | Sam Wood | uncredited |
| 1941
| Walt Burnett | | |
| 1941
| Pawnbroker | uncredited |
| 1941
| Sammy Axel | uncredited |
| 1941
| Private | uncredited |
| 1941
| Marching Soldier | uncredited |
| 1941
| Poker Player on Train | uncredited |
| 1941
| They Died with Their Boots On | Barfly | uncredited |
| 1941
| Cab Driver | uncredited |
| 1941
| Waiter | uncredited |
| 1942
| Saboteur Radio Operator [Chs. 4–12] | Serial; uncredited |
| 1942
| Sergeant | uncredited |
| 1942
| Officer Graves | uncredited |
| 1942
| Beadle | Credits |
| 1942
| Married Sports Reporter | uncredited |
| 1942
| Borgman- Henchman #8 | Serial |
| 1942
| Police Car #12 Driver | uncredited |
| 1942
| Motorcycle Cop | uncredited |
| 1942
| Detroit Policeman | uncredited |
| 1942
| Dude's Gang Member | uncredited |
| 1942
| Casey, the Motorcycle Cop | uncredited |
| 1942
| Phony Indian [Ch. 5] | Serial; uncredited |
| 1942
| Ed Cotton | with Lloyd Nolan and Donna Reed |
| 1942
| Poker Player | | uncredited |
| 1942
| Sergeant at Arms | uncredited |
| 1943
| Second Taxi Driver | uncredited |
| 1943
| Henchman Sam | uncredited |
| 1943
| Pedestrian Lifting Peggy Up | uncredited |
| 1943
| Cop | uncredited |
| 1943
| Joe Barton | |
| 1943
| Detective with Pipe | uncredited |
| 1943
| Ringmaster at Circus | uncredited |
| 1943
| Detective Charlie Temple | uncredited |
| 1943
| Policeman Joe | uncredited |
| 1943
| German Soldier with Binoculars and Grenade | uncredited |
| 1943
| Stagehand | uncredited |
| 1943
| Driver | uncredited |
| 1943
| Guard | uncredited |
| 1943
| Traded Beaver Baseball Player | uncredited |
| 1944
| Oremski | |
| 1944
| Motorcycle Rider | {{ubl|Gregory Ratoff|László Benedek (uncredited)}} | uncredited |
| 1944
| Public Relations Officer | uncredited |
| 1944
| Shipyard Worker | uncredited |
| 1944
| Adams Club Maitre d' at | uncredited |
| 1944
| Joe Burke | uncredited |
| 1944
| C.P.O. Shaw | | uncredited |
| 1944
| Executive Officer | uncredited |
| 1944
| Shipyard Worker | A. Edward Sutherland (as Eddie Sutherland) | uncredited |
| 1944
| Policeman | uncredited |
| 1944
| Policeman Ed | uncredited |
| 1944
| Truck Driver | | uncredited |
| 1944
| Henchman | uncredited |
| 1944
| Mine Personnel Clerk | uncredited |
| 1944
| Chief of Detectives at Line-Up | Budd Boetticher(as Oscar Boetticher Jr.) | uncredited |
| 1944
| Guard | uncredited |
| 1944
| Second Man Outside Barber Shop | uncredited |
| 1944
| Police Officer | uncredited |
| 1944
| Army Captain | uncredited |
| 1944
| Expressman on Train | uncredited |
| 1945
| Cop at Finale | uncredited |
| 1945
| Camouflage Leader | uncredited |
| 1945
| Police Officer Standing Next to Mounted Policeman | uncredited |
| 1945
| Sudan | Slave Trader | uncredited |
| 1945
| Policeman | |
| 1945
| Tough Customer at Footlight Club | uncredited |
| 1945
| Lieutenant Colonel Roberts | uncredited |
| 1945
| Opera Ticket Taker | uncredited |
| 1945
| Kriendler | with Gary Cooper and Loretta Young |
| 1945
| Assistant Movie Director | uncredited |
| 1945
| 2nd Subway Policeman ('Limehouse Blues') | uncredited |
| 1945
| Andy | uncredited |
| 1945
| State Investigator | uncredited |
| 1945
| Snafu | American Legionnaire | | uncredited |
| 1945
| Michael O'Shawn | uncredited |
| 1945
| Maritime Commissioner | uncredited |
| 1946
| Albert | uncredited |
| 1946
| Conductor | uncredited |
| 1946
| Cab Driver | uncredited |
| 1946
| The Bandit of Sherwood Forest | Little John | |
| 1946
| Detective Jones | uncredited |
| 1946
| Jeremiah P. Cagan | uncredited |
| 1946
| Plainclothesman | uncredited |
| 1946
| Frank | uncredited |
| 1946
| Captain Andrews | |
| 1946
| Neal Howison | uncredited |
| 1946
| Decoy | Policeman at Roadblock | uncredited |
| 1946
| Foreman | uncredited |
| 1946
| Duncan | uncredited |
| 1946
| Sign Painter | Edwin L. Marin | uncredited |
| 1946
| Mr. Mollett | |
| 1946
| Movie Studio Orchestra Conductor | uncredited |
| 1947
| Motorcycle Cop | | uncredited |
| 1947
| Sergeant | |
| 1947
| Ramrod | Ed Burma | |
| 1947
| Cattleman | uncredited |
| 1947
| Wolf at Union Station | uncredited |
| 1947
| Pursued | Army Captain | scenes deleted |
| 1947
| State Trooper Sergeant | uncredited |
| 1947
| Mr. Hudson | uncredited |
| 1947
| Cheyenne | Gambler | uncredited |
| 1947
| Wounded Trapper | uncredited |
| 1947
| Guard | uncredited |
| 1947
| Bus Driver | uncredited |
| 1947
| Prison Official | uncredited |
| 1947
| Clem Perkins | |
| 1947
| Soldier in the Gilded Beaver | uncredited |
| 1947
| | | |
| 1947
| State Police Captain | uncredited |
| 1947
| Weston | uncredited |
| 1947
| Police Lieutenant | uncredited |
| 1947
| Buck | uncredited |
| 1947
| Welsh's Bodyguard | uncredited |
| 1948
| Driver | uncredited |
| 1948
| Pete | uncredited |
| 1948
| Mounted Train Yard Guard | uncredited |
| 1948
| Mike | uncredited |
| 1948
| Koslick, a Miner | uncredited |
| 1948
| Nick Appleyard | | |
| 1948
| Sergeant | uncredited |
| 1948
| Raw Deal | Police Commanding Officer | uncredited |
| 1948
| Guard #1 | |
| 1948
| Hazard | Plainclothesman | uncredited |
| 1948
| Jim Mitchell | |
| 1948
| Bartender | uncredited |
| 1948
| Police Sergeant | uncredited |
| 1948
| George | uncredited |
| 1948
| Doctor | uncredited |
| 1948
| Bus Depot (uncredited) | with Ida Lupino and Richard Widmark) |
| 1948
| Bertrand de Poulengy | a squire |
| 1948
| The Countess of Monte Cristo | Charlie | Fred de Cordova | |
| 1948
| Dr. McDermott | uncredited |
| 1948
| Seagrue | |
| 1948
| Cop on Bike | uncredited |
| 1949
| Bad Boy | Police Officer | uncredited |
| 1949
| Henchman Cantrel | |
| 1949
| Policeman | uncredited |
| 1949
| Kazan | McCready | |
| 1949
| Cop at Accident Scene | uncredited |
| 1949
| Squad Car Police Officer | uncredited |
| 1949
| Patrolman | uncredited |
| 1949
| Gus | uncredited |
| 1949
| Truck Driver | |
| 1949
| Virgil Neeley | |
| 1949
| Policeman | uncredited |
| 1949
| Tax Collector | uncredited |
| 1950
| Captain McHale | |
| 1950
| Ambush | Captain J.R. Wolverson | Sam Wood | |
| 1950
| California Border Inspector | uncredited |
| 1950
| Sheriff Rand | |
| 1950
| Motorcycle Officer | |
| 1950
| Frank Leggett | |
| 1950
| Marshall Noonan | uncredited |
| 1950
| Cop in Car Barn Slugged by Dix | uncredited |
| 1950
| Sheriff Joe Borden | uncredited |
| 1950
| The Men | Man at Bar | |
| 1950
| Mr. Jim Lynch | |
| 1950
| Ned Moore | |
| 1950
| Day Deputy in Hospital Prison Ward | uncredited |
| 1950
| Policeman #1 | uncredited |
| 1950
| Steve | |
| 1950
| Cell Block / Yard Guard | uncredited |
| 1950
| Bunco Agent | |
| 1951
| Union Sergeant | uncredited |
| 1951
| Corporal at Gate | uncredited |
| 1951
| Brock | |
| 1951
| Deputy Lou Gray | |
| 1951
| Complaining Electrical Worker | uncredited |
| 1951
| Farmer Ridd | uncredited |
| 1951
| Sheriff Gus Kretzer | |
| 1951
| Gabe Clevenger | |
| 1951
| Sheriff Cromwell | uncredited |
| 1951
| Henry Dawson | |
| 1951
| Private Mohair | |
| 1952
| Ruger | |
| 1952
| Coconino County Sheriff | uncredited |
| 1952
| Chief Gillette | |
| 1952
| Dave Tracy | |
| 1952
| Brigadier General W.W. Timmons | with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis |
| 1952
| Carrie | Bondsman | |
| 1952
| Judd Hastings | |
| 1952
| Emmett Dalton | |
| 1952
| Clint, Police Captain | |
| 1952
| Quincey | |
| 1953
| Doc | |
| 1953
| Frank Bleeker | |
| 1954
| Dr. Trent | |
| 1954
| Lucky Me | Thayer Crony | uncredited |
| 1954
| Barney | |
| 1954
| Patrolman Mullins | |
| 1955
| Sheriff of Seymour | with Randolph Scott and Mala Powers |
| 1955
| Shep Bascom | |
| 1955
| Sheriff | |
| 1955
| Sergeant Tim O'Roarke | |
| 1955
| State Police Lieutenant Fredericks | with Humphrey Bogart and Fredric March |
| 1956
| Morgan | with Kirk Douglas and Walter Matthau |
| 1956
| Mr. Reed | uncredited |
| 1956
| Joe Sutton | |
| 1956
| Josh | uncredited |
| 1957
| Russ Nevers | |
| 1957
| Real Estate Broker | uncredited |
| 1957
| Sheriff Ned Riorden | |
| 1957
| Salt Pork | with Audie Murphy and Kathryn Grant Crosby |
| 1957
| Jason Stableman | with Joel McCrea |
| 1957
| Mr. Calloway | with Clark Gable and Sidney Poitier |
| 1957
| Sheriff | |
| 1957
| Morley Chase | with Randolph Scott |
| 1957
| Cap | |
| 1958
| Brick Larson | |
| 1958
| Jensen Sieverts | |
| 1958
| Lieutenant Harper | |
| 1960
| Dr. Reuben Carson | |
| 1960
| Jessie H. Dunlap | with Spencer Tracy and Fredric March |
| 1961
| Banker | Herbert Coleman | |
| 1961
| Man in Street Interviewee | uncredited |
| 1961
| Barney | |
| 1961
| Ada | Sheriff Kearney Smith | uncredited |
| 1961
| Judge Curtiss Ives | with Spencer Tracy |
| 1962
| Kyle Munce | |
| 1963
| Ed Winters | |
| 1964
| Sweeper | |
| 1964
| Taggart | Ralph Taggart | |
| 1970
| The Liberation of L.B. Jones | Chief of Police | |
| 1970
| Chisum | Justice J.B. Wilson | |
Television
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Police Lieutenant | Season 1 Episode 1: "Revenge" |
| 1956 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Warden Jacobs | Season 1 Episode 16: "You Got to Have Luck" |
| 1956 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Police Detective Sergeant | Season 1 Episode 32: "The Baby Sitter" |
| 1957 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Sheriff Briggs | Season 2 Episode 17: "My Brother, Richard" |
| 1957 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Chief of Detectives | Season 2 Episode 21: "Number Twenty-Two" |
| 1958 | The Restless Gun | Sheriff | Season 1 Episode 19: "Hang and be Damned" |
| 1958 | The Restless Gun | Sheriff Landers | Season 1 Episode 26: "The Hand is Quicker" |
| 1959 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Fire Chief | Season 4 Episode 17: "Total Loss" |
| 1959 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Ben Tulip | Season 5 Episode 11: "Road Hog" |
| 1961 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Jim Hale | Season 7 Episode 12: "A Jury of Her Peers" |
| 1961 | Rawhide | Hennegan | Season 4 Episode 4: "Judgment at Hondo Seco" |
| 1963 | Rawhide | Sheriff | Season 6 Episode 9: "Incident of the Prophecy" |
| 1963 | The Twilight Zone | Mr. Franklin | Season 4 Episode 9: "Printer's Devil" |
Notes
{{reflist|group=note}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
{{Portal|Biography|Film|Television|Michigan|California}}
- {{IMDb name|0853576}}
- [http://ponderosascenery.homestead.com/files/castbios/sheriff.html Bonanza cast biographies]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teal, Ray}}
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:20th-century American male musicians
Category:20th-century American saxophonists
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male saxophonists
Category:American male television actors
Category:Male Western (genre) film actors
Category:Male actors from Grand Rapids, Michigan
Category:Male actors from Santa Monica, California
Category:Musicians from Santa Monica, California