Vaudeville and Broadway had given McDonald his knack for show business, but movies never quite used him to his full ability. McDonald would have been a good competitor at MGM (or any other studio for that matter) to go up against the youthful musical vehicles that so many other studios were releasing (a la Donald O’Connor films). While MGM had Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, McDonald wasn’t a lesser carbon copy of either one of them, he was his own performer looked fresher, like he actually could be in high school or college (even though he was around the same age). Either way, MGM kept on pushing and pushing him to the background and while his dynamic tap performances might have stolen some shows, they didn’t give him the material he deserved despite his clear efforts.
Ray McDonald was born on June 27, 1920 in (properly enough) New York, New York. He was two years younger than his sister Grace, a bouncy dancer as well. The two danced on vaudeville together doing more energetic moves compared to the graceful Astaire siblings, but surely enough in a new age of dancing where fiery tap dancing became all the rage, they caught the attention of a Rodgers and Hart musical. The show was the musical hit ‘Babes in Arms’, which inspired youthful musicals for decades to come. The McDonalds weren’t the main attraction of the show, but they performed the hit song, ‘I Wish I Was in Love Again’. The show also starred former child star Mitzi Green and the incomparable Nicholas Brothers.
Soon enough Hollywood eyed them for some picture work. Grace worked for Universal pictures where her co-stars included Robert Paige, Dan Dailey, and Abbott and Costello. Ray, on the other hand, went to the more prestigious MGM. His first film was one of many films at the time that included a plot that related back to the war, Down in San Diego (1941). His leading lady was Bonita Granville and his co-star was Dan Dailey. Ray received second billing after Granville. While the film was routine entertainment, in his Classic Movie Guide, Leonard Maltin writes, “Former Broadway hoofer McDonald makes an inauspicious film debut”, this is probably due to the fact that the film is not the musical he deserved. MGM, however, was willing to give him more. He had a rather dramatic role in the usually lighthearted Andy Hardy series. This one was Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941). The series was used to try out new talent and Ray was a rare male version of this rule. He got to work with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, which brought Ray to working with them in Babes in Broadway (1941).
The film has a very impressive cast. Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland are the clear stars and get a great amount of screen time, but the other youthful talent on hand is nothing to sneeze at. Rooney and McDonald are a hopeful singing and dancing trio along with Richard Quine who would go on to direct such classics as The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956), Bell, Book and Candle (1959), and Sex and the Single Girl (1964). The other juvenile role goes to Virginia Weidler, the child star who lit up the screen in such films as The Women (1939), All This and Heaven Too, and The Philadelphia Story (both 1940). McDonald’s dancing partner is often Weidler and the studio reteamed them in Ray’s next film Born to Sing (1942). The film, however, instead of being an original, is attempting to be a Rooney-Garland musical without the two with the whole put-on-a-show plot that was no different from McDonald’s ‘Babes in Arms’. The film, however, did have the helpful hand of Busby Berkeley to give it some glamorous numbers.
After that, McDonald was most regulated to standard side roles. He plays Judy Garland’s would-be suitor in Presenting Lily Mars (1943) where he’s hardly given any scenes and given no dances, unfortunately. At 20th Century Fox, they used his dance skills but in an unbilled specialty number in Winged Victory (1944). He was also a specialty number in a film chuck full of them, Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), where he danced two numbers with June Allyson and got to sing the title song. That was enough to get him in Allyson’s up-and-coming musical Good News (1947) a remake of the roaring campus musical from the 20s. McDonald, however, doesn’t get to be Allyson’s leading man; instead he’s on the side again working with fellow-Broadway dancer Joan McCracken. The two do steal the show, though, with their spirited dancing to ‘Pass That Peace Pipe’, a song added to the film. Despite the rousing performance and stand-out number, after Good News was a string of second-rate movies and bit parts.
McDonald can be spotted in the Dane Clark film noir Whiplash (1948) and the David Brian film Inside Straight (1951). Among his unworthy film roles were Flame of Youth (1949) and a list of films he made with then-wife Peggy Ryan. The two were married in 1952 and had a nightclub act with her, but the films were unkind to both their undeniable talent even if they got to do a good dance here and there (McDonald was previously married to actress Elisabeth Fraser of such films as The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) and A Patch of Blue (1965)). His films with Ryan included Shamrock Hill, There’s a Girl in My Heart (both 1949), and All Ashore (1953), which re-teamed him with Mickey Rooney. McDonald and Ryan divorced in 1958.
The next year McDonald was in his hotel room where he was suddenly found dead on February 20th, 1959 at the age of 38. The reporters believed he committed suicide due to an ailing career because pills were found in his room. His daughter, Liza, says that it was not true, believing he would kill himself because he was making TV appearances that were getting him noticed. His death certificate actually says that he died from visceral congestion (or choking on food), making her right. Rumors circling around his death are now shown to not be true and even though his work as a dancer and on films is still in need for some recognition, the talent was there whether Hollywood would let him show it or not.
~Bianca
The Tinseltown Twins 
Ray McDonald was my my mother Grace’s younger brother, best friend, and long time dance partner. I met my uncle Ray and Aunt Peggy several times as a young boy during their performance stops pin Minneapolis. My last recollection of my Uncle occurred one evening when my mother was told that a gentleman named Jim McDonald was on the phone asking to speak to her about his cousin Ray. My mother was always suspicious of such calls since even in retirement she would still receive numerous crank calls and understandably assumed this to be one of the same.
My father, who had answered the call, asked her what she wanted to do. She said “first ask him the color of his hair.” The caller replied “red”. Then she knew that it must be the cousin Jim McDonald whose job was major police detective for the city of New Work. The news he was about to convey to my mother would be absolutely devastating.
He explained to her that coincidentally he had been staking out a major bust at the same hotel where Ray was staying when the hotel manager informed him that there had been an incident on the fifth floor and would he please go check it out. Jim entered the room and quickly identified the body as that of his first cousin Ray McDonald, someone he had not seen in years. After completing the usual police duties of identification, cause of death, and preparation for removal of the body, Jim managed to track down my mother in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, whom he had also not seen since childhood, to break the sad news and explain the grim circumstances of Ray’s death. I recall my mother dropping the phone and collapsing onto the floor barely able to say what had just happened, “Ray’s dead.”
Consistent with the premise of the article, my mother’s lifelong sadness for his loss was due not only to his absence in her life, but seemingly in equal amount, the reality that so much talent was wasted in a career of miscast parts, small appearances, or secondary roles when in reality he could have carried many a show on his own. Whether it was due to bad casting, bad agent, or just bad luck, we will never know. We do know that his was a star crossed life that, much to the disappointment for himself and to a vast audience of admiring movie goers, never seemed to find its proper place among the pantheon of brilliant entertainers in the era of the great Hollywood musical.
Thank you for the thoughtful, well researched article. (Although I am curious what made my Uncle stand out among countless other underrated actors in the musical industry as the subject for the article. Would love to know. Nevertheless, your doing so is greatly appreciated.
Richard Green
Golden Valley Mn.
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Thank you so much for your comment! It’s great to hear from someone who knew him and the son of the wonderful Grace McDonald! When I began getting into old movies, Good News was one of my favorites ones. The ‘Pass the Peace Pipe’ number was always my favorite moment of the film, so that was my introduction to your uncle. I’ve seen him in several things since, but it only appeared that he would do a number or two and I wanted more. He also always stuck out to me for his lovable voice. I just always enjoyed his work, being lucky enough to see it, and he always manages to stand-out. ~Bianca
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Ray McDonald was a terrific dancer and a charismatic actor. I’m grateful that there are a few clips of his dances of his for us to enjoy. Thank you for this brief biography. In an industry full of terrific dancers he was one of the very best.
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What a lovely tribute for a much underrated performer. Ray was an extraordinary talent and had such a charming screen presence. A thorough study of his life and career are in order.
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This is an interesting article into someone who was married to my dad’s cousin, Peggy Ryan. I have been researching information about Peggy, her family, and my family ancestry and this provides an abundance of information.
I am gathering that Richard Green and I are Tied by marriage to Peggy, and would like to converse by email!
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It’s worth noting that visceral congestion can refer to any sort of asphyxiation, so while none of us were there — including his daughter Liza — there is indeed a possibility that he died from something other than ‘choking on food’.
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