Ray Bourbon in 1937 Columbia Short

Some time ago, I ran into a reference on pages 67-68 of James L. Neibaur's The Andy Clyde Columbia Comedies noting Ray in the cast of the 1937 Andy Clyde short, "He Done His Duty". Through the generosity of a film collector, I was finally able to view the short and confirmed that, indeed, Ray … Continue reading Ray Bourbon in 1937 Columbia Short →

Ray’s Childhood, Part 3: An Invented Past

In our previous posts [part 1 and part 2] in this series, we looked at new research by Charles Cage revealing Ray Bourbon’s real name and some basic facts about his family and where he grew up. In this last post in the series, we look at the stories Ray told about his own life, … Continue reading Ray’s Childhood, Part 3: An Invented Past →

New Candid Film Footage of Ray’s Friend, Egyptian Star Samia Gamal

A few months ago, I published a blog post telling the story of Ray's friendship with Egyptian movie star Samia Gamal. Gamal was declared the “The National Dancer of Egypt” by King Farouk in 1949, which led to a nightclub tour by her in the US the following year, setting off interest in "belly dancing" in … Continue reading New Candid Film Footage of Ray’s Friend, Egyptian Star Samia Gamal →

Ray Bourbon Images at the Los Angeles Public Library

Images of Ray Bourbon are fairly hard to come by. According to friends and people who knew him, Ray had a large collection of scrapbooks and even carried around a tape machine and used it to record or try out routines. But, when he was arrested for murder, all his personal effects were, quite literally, … Continue reading Ray Bourbon Images at the Los Angeles Public Library →