Gary Raymond

Born in Brixton, England on April 20, 1935, robust and good-looking Gary Raymond came from an acting family. He was born Gary Barrymore Raymond and was the youngest of three sons (he and his brother Robin are twins) born to music hall entertainers. Gary won a scholarship at the age of 11 to Gateway School in Leicaster, then graduated five years later and took on assorted odd jobs as a furrier and clerk while studying drama through the auspices of the London County Council. Gary was accepted by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and trained there until he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in the mid-50s. His healthy repertoire of Shakespearean characters included the roles of "Horatio," "Claudius," "Macbeth," "Oberon," "Benedick," "Orlando" and "Antonio." The darkly handsome youth was a natural for movies. He earned quite a few formidable parts for his young age, most notably that of "Prince Charles Stuart" in The Moonraker (1958); "Cliff Lewis" in Look Back in Anger (1959), which was originally played by Alan Bates on stage; "George" in Tennessee Williams' Suddenly, Last Summer (1959); the title role (and, arguably, in finest) in the Irish classic The Playboy of the Western World (1962)]; "Prince Acastus" in Jason and the Argonauts (1963); and "St. Peter" in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). These well-acted film credits soon caught the eyes of Hollywood and Gary won a co-starring role opposite the equally rugged and handsome Christopher George on the TV war series The Rat Patrol (1966) as "British Sergeant Jack Moffitt". The show, though running only two seasons, remains popular in reruns. A focused stage player throughout his career, Gary made an impressive dent on the London musical scene over the years, originating the role of "Georg" in "She Loves Me" (1964), as well as appearing in "Irma La Douce" (1958), "Treasure Island" (1973), "The Sound of Music" (1985), "Sunday in the Park with George" (1990), "A Little Night Music" (1995), "JFK: A Musical Drama" (1997), "Finian's Rainbow" (1999), "Grand Hotel" (2004) and "Follies" (2017). Noteworthy non-musical theatre credits include "Treasure Island," "The Complaisant Lover," "The Crucifer of Blood," "Lysistrata," "Electra," "The World of Susie Wong," "Peer Gynt," "The Beaux Stratagem," "Bent" and "The Wind in the Willows." British TV roles continued to roll in from the late 60's on, including recurring roles on episodes of Who-Dun-It (1969), The Doctors (1969) and Harriet's Back in Town (1972), as well as guest appearances on such popular series as "The Persuaders," "And Mother Makes Three," "New Scotland Yard," "The New Avengers," "The Omega Factor," "Spy," "Coronation Street," "Casualty," "Ellington" and "Victoria & Albert." Gary also played the featured roles of Kraler in the TV movie The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank (1988), and Daniel O'Hara in the mini-series sequel to "Gone With the Wind." Scarlett (1994), which also featured his actress/wife Delena Kidd. Gary and his wife, who specialized in Shakespeare and Shaw, performed together often on stage. Married since 1961, they have three children, one of whom, Emily Raymond, is also an actress.