Addie’s OTR Celebrities Podcast

Born George Ranft September 26, 1895(1895-09-26) New York City, New York, U.S. Died November 24, 1980 (aged 85) Los Angeles, California, U.S. As a young man he showed aptitude in dancing, and with his elegant fashion sense, this enabled him to gain employment as a dancer in New York City nightclubs. He became part of the stage act of Texas Guinan and his success led him to Broadway where he again worked as a dancer. He worked in London as a chorus boy in the early 1920s. In 1929, Raft relocated to Hollywood and took small roles. His success came in Scarface (1932), and Raft’s convincing portrayal led to speculation that Raft was a gangster. He was one of the three most popular gangster actors of the 1930s, with James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson. The years 1940 and 1941 proved to be Raft’s career peak. He went into professional decline over the next decade, in part due to turning down some of the most famous roles in movie history, notably High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon; Casablanca (1942) and Double Indemnity (1944), (Whether or not he was actually offered Casablanca is a matter of rumour only though-a.). Fred Astaire, in his autobiography Steps in Time (1959), says Raft was a lightning-fast dancer and did “the fastest Charleston I ever saw.” Raft has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for contributions to Motion Pictures, at 6150 Hollywood Boulevard, and for Television at 1500 Vine St. Raft died from leukemia at age 85 in Los Angeles, California, on November 24, 1980. He was interred in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. –Wiki

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