Career
Bolger's film career began when he signed a contract with MGM in 1936. His best-known film appearance prior to The Wizard of Oz was The Great Ziegfeld (1936), in which he portrayed himself. He also appeared in Sweethearts, (1938) the first MGM film in Technicolor, starring Nelson Eddy, Jeanette MacDonald, and Bolger's future Oz co-star, Frank Morgan, as well as the 1937 Eleanor Powell vehicle Rosalie, which also starred Eddy and Morgan. Following Oz, Bolger moved to RKO.
In 1941, he was a featured act at the Paramount Theatre in New York, working with the Harry James Band. He would do tap dance routines, sometimes in a mock challenge dance with the band's pianist, Al Lerner. It was during that time period, that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and Bolger's performance was interrupted by President Roosevelt announcing the news of the attack. Bolger toured in USO shows with Joe E. Lewis in the Pacific Theater during World War II, and was featured in the United Artists war-time film Stage Door Canteen.
In 1946 he returned to MGM for a featured role in The Harvey Girls. Also that year he recorded a children's album, The Churkendoose, featuring the story of a misfit fowl ("part chicken, turkey, duck, and goose") who teaches kids that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it all "depends on how you look at things".
Bolger's Broadway credits included Life Begins at 8:40, On Your Toes, By Jupiter, All American, and Where's Charley?, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical and in which he introduced "Once in Love with Amy", the song often connected with him. He repeated his stage role in the 1952 film version of the musical.
Bolger appeared in his own ABC television sitcom with a variety show theme, Where's Raymond? (1953–1954), renamed the second year as The Ray Bolger Show (1954–1955). His co-stars on the series included Richard Erdman, Allyn Joslyn, Betty Lynn, Sylvia Lewis, Marjie Millar, Christine Nelson, Verna Felton, Gloria Winters, and Ray Teal. He continued to star in several films, including Walt Disney's 1961 remake of Babes in Toyland.
Bolger made frequent guest appearances on television, including the episode "Rich Man, Poor Man" of the short-lived The Jean Arthur Show in 1966. In the 1970s he had a recurring role as the father of Shirley Partridge (Shirley Jones) on The Partridge Family, and appeared in Little House On The Prairie as Toby Noe. Bolger's last television appearance was on Diff'rent Strokes in 1984.
In his later years, he danced in a Dr Pepper television commercial, and in 1985, he and Liza Minnelli, the daughter of his Oz co-star Judy Garland, starred in That's Dancing, a film also written by Jack Haley, Jr., the son of Tin Man actor Jack Haley.
In 1998, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.
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