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Ray "Crash" Corrigan

January 29, 2023

See also: Corriganville Movie Ranch

Ray "Crash" Corrigan (born Raymond Benitz; February 14, 1902 – August 10, 1976) was an American actor most famous for appearing in many B-Western movies (among these the Three Mesquiteers and Range Busters film series). He also was a stuntman and frequently acted as silver screen gorillas using his own gorilla costumes.

Ray "Crash" Corrigan
Corrigan in The White Gorilla (1945)
Born
Raymond Benitz

(1902-02-14)February 14, 1902
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
DiedAugust 10, 1976(1976-08-10) (aged 74)
Brookings, Oregon, U.S.
Resting placeInglewood Park Cemetery, California
Other namesRaymond Benard
Ray Benard
Gorilla
OccupationActor
Years active1932–1958
Spouse(s)
Rita Jane Smeal
​
​
(m. 1920; div. 1954)​

Elaine DuPont
​
​
(m. 1956; div. 1967)​
Children3

In 1937, Corrigan purchased land in the Santa Susana Mountains foothills in Simi Valley and developed it into a movie ranch called "Corriganville". The movie ranch was used for location filming in film serials, feature films, and television shows, as well as for the performance of live western shows for tourists. Bob Hope later bought the ranch in 1966 and renamed it "Hopetown". It is now a Regional Park and nature preserve.[1]

Film career

 
In New Frontier (1939), L-R: Corrigan, Jennifer Jones and John Wayne

Corrigan's Hollywood career began as a physical fitness instructor and physical culture trainer to the stars. In the early 1930s he did stunts and bit parts in several films, billed as Ray Benard. Many of his early roles were in ape costumes, for example, as a gorilla in Tarzan and His Mate (1934) and an "orangopoid" in the first Flash Gordon serial.

Republic Pictures

In 1936, Corrigan had his screen breakthrough with the starring role in a Republic serial, The Undersea Kingdom, which evoked memories of Universal's first "Flash Gordon" serial. His character was known as Ray "Crash" Corrigan, and he adopted it as his screen name. He followed playing the role of John C. Fremont in the Western serial The Vigilantes Are Coming.

On the basis of this, Republic signed him to their standard Term Player Contract, running from May 25, 1936, to May 24, 1938. He was cast as one of the trio in the Three Mesquiteers series of westerns, starring in 24 of the 51 "3M" films made by the studio. He later left Republic in 1938 over a pay dispute. Over at Monogram Pictures, Corrigan began a new series of feature westerns, The Range Busters, cheap knock-offs of The Three Mesquiteers, with a series character that used his name; between 1940 and 1943, he starred in 20 of the 24 films in this series.

Gorilla Man

Following this, his on-screen work largely returned to appearing in ape costumes, beginning with The Strange Case of Doctor Rx (1942), followed by roles in Captive Wild Woman (1943), Nabonga (1944), White Pongo (1945) and as a prehistoric sloth in Unknown Island (1948). The original gorilla "mask" seen in films like The Ape (1940) was replaced with a subtler design with a more mobile jaw.

Corrigan sold his gorilla suits in 1948 and provided training in using them to their new owner, Steve Calvert, a Ciro's bartender. Calvert stepped into Corrigan's paw prints starting with a Jungle Jim film. Despite reports to the contrary, Calvert and Corrigan never appeared together on-screen in an ape costume. Since both Corrigan and Calvert eschewed screen credit playing gorillas, their film credits are often confused; any appearance of the "Corrigan suit" after 1948 is by Calvert.

His final theatrical film was playing the title role in the science fiction film It! The Terror from Beyond Space, according to bio information given to visitors at the Thousand Oaks, California, Corrigan’s Steak House and Bar that his son Tom once owned.

Television series

In 1950, he had a television show called Crash Corrigan's Ranch.[2] He also planned a television series called Buckskin Rangers with his old associate Max Terhune.[3]

Corriganville

In 1937, Corrigan was on a hunting trip with Clark Gable when he had an idea to purchase land in Simi Valley, California, and use it as a Western-themed ranch similar to Iverson Movie Ranch. He paid a $1,000 down payment, then a thousand dollars a month until the $11,354 price was paid.[4] He developed this into Corriganville, a location used for many Western films and TV shows. The location featured many different types of terrain for producers such as lakes, mountains, and caves.[5] Not merely set fronts, Corriganville contained actual buildings where film crews could live[6] and store their equipment to save the time and expense of daily travel from studios to an outdoor location.

Corrigan profited well from renting this location to film studios and from paying visitors. In 1949, Corrigan opened his ranch to the public on weekends for Western-themed entertainment. The weekend attractions included stuntmen shows throughout the day, a Cavalry fort set, an outlaw shack, a full western town with saloon, jail, and hotel, live western music, Indian crafts, stagecoach rides, pony rides, and boating on the ranch's artificial lake. It was common for film and TV personalities to appear in person for photos and autographs, attracting as many as 20,000 people on weekends.

Examples of feature films and TV shows that were filmed at Corriganville:

Hollywood cowboy stars who filmed there include: Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Buster Crabbe, John Wayne, Smiley Burnette, Clayton Moore, Jay Silverheels, Charles Starrett, Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson, Bob Steele, Tex Ritter, and Corrigan himself.

Corriganville was eventually sold to Bob Hope in 1966, becoming Hopetown. Today, what remains is known as Corriganville Park and features some of the old landmarks. Signs along a hiking trail point out the historic features.

Nickname

The origin of the "Crash" nickname is from his football-playing days. This was verified by Corrigan himself when he was a contestant on the June 11, 1959, episode of You Bet Your Life starring Groucho Marx. When asked how he got the name "Crash", Corrigan told Groucho, "When I would go to tackle somebody or instead of fighting them with my fists, I would just take off and dive at them head first and that's how I acquired the name 'Crash'".

His first starring role using the name professionally was in the Republic Pictures' serial The Undersea Kingdom (1936), in which his screen character was also named "Crash Corrigan". The serial was created to capitalize on the popularity of Universal Pictures' Flash Gordon serials, and the nickname may have been appropriated by Republic's publicity department to create a similarly named hero.[7]

Death

Following his death from a heart attack at age 74 on August 10, 1976, in Brookings Harbor, Oregon, Ray "Crash" Corrigan was interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California. More than four decades later, his grave still remains unmarked, without a headstone.

Filmography

References

Notes

  1. ^ "Corriganville Park", LAMountains.com; retrieved June 23, 2013.
  2. ^ Woolery, George W. (1985). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series. The Scarecrow Press. pp. 131–133. ISBN 0-8108-1651-2.
  3. ^ "New Series of Westerns Planned for Television." Long Beach Press-Telegram, October 8, 1950.
  4. ^ Gilpatrick 2002, p. 202.
  5. ^ Corrigan, Ray. "An Introduction to Corriganville." The Corriganville Gazette, Volume 1, Issue 3.
  6. ^ Schneider, Jerry L. (August 1, 2007). "Corriganville Movie Ranch". Lulu Press, Incorporated. Retrieved May 1, 2017 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Anderson, Chuck. B-Westerns, October 1, 2009.

Bibliography

  • Gilpatrick, Kristen. Famous Wisconsin Film Stars. London: Badger Books, 2002. ISBN 978-1-87856-986-8.
  • Schneider, Jerry L.Corriganville Movie Ranch. Raleigh, North Carolina: Lulu.com, 2007. ISBN 978-1-43031-224-6.

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ray Corrigan.
  • Ray Corrigan at IMDb
  • Official Corriganville Park website

January 29, 2023
crash, corrigan, also, corriganville, movie, ranch, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers. See also Corriganville Movie Ranch This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Ray Crash Corrigan news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message Ray Crash Corrigan born Raymond Benitz February 14 1902 August 10 1976 was an American actor most famous for appearing in many B Western movies among these the Three Mesquiteers and Range Busters film series He also was a stuntman and frequently acted as silver screen gorillas using his own gorilla costumes Ray Crash CorriganCorrigan in The White Gorilla 1945 BornRaymond Benitz 1902 02 14 February 14 1902Milwaukee Wisconsin U S DiedAugust 10 1976 1976 08 10 aged 74 Brookings Oregon U S Resting placeInglewood Park Cemetery CaliforniaOther namesRaymond BenardRay BenardGorillaOccupationActorYears active1932 1958Spouse s Rita Jane Smeal m 1920 div 1954 wbr Elaine DuPont m 1956 div 1967 wbr Children3In 1937 Corrigan purchased land in the Santa Susana Mountains foothills in Simi Valley and developed it into a movie ranch called Corriganville The movie ranch was used for location filming in film serials feature films and television shows as well as for the performance of live western shows for tourists Bob Hope later bought the ranch in 1966 and renamed it Hopetown It is now a Regional Park and nature preserve 1 Contents 1 Film career 1 1 Republic Pictures 1 2 Gorilla Man 1 3 Television series 2 Corriganville 3 Nickname 4 Death 5 Filmography 6 References 6 1 Notes 6 2 Bibliography 7 External linksFilm career Edit In New Frontier 1939 L R Corrigan Jennifer Jones and John Wayne Corrigan s Hollywood career began as a physical fitness instructor and physical culture trainer to the stars In the early 1930s he did stunts and bit parts in several films billed as Ray Benard Many of his early roles were in ape costumes for example as a gorilla in Tarzan and His Mate 1934 and an orangopoid in the first Flash Gordon serial Republic Pictures Edit In 1936 Corrigan had his screen breakthrough with the starring role in a Republic serial The Undersea Kingdom which evoked memories of Universal s first Flash Gordon serial His character was known as Ray Crash Corrigan and he adopted it as his screen name He followed playing the role of John C Fremont in the Western serial The Vigilantes Are Coming On the basis of this Republic signed him to their standard Term Player Contract running from May 25 1936 to May 24 1938 He was cast as one of the trio in the Three Mesquiteers series of westerns starring in 24 of the 51 3M films made by the studio He later left Republic in 1938 over a pay dispute Over at Monogram Pictures Corrigan began a new series of feature westerns The Range Busters cheap knock offs of The Three Mesquiteers with a series character that used his name between 1940 and 1943 he starred in 20 of the 24 films in this series Gorilla Man Edit Following this his on screen work largely returned to appearing in ape costumes beginning with The Strange Case of Doctor Rx 1942 followed by roles in Captive Wild Woman 1943 Nabonga 1944 White Pongo 1945 and as a prehistoric sloth in Unknown Island 1948 The original gorilla mask seen in films like The Ape 1940 was replaced with a subtler design with a more mobile jaw Corrigan sold his gorilla suits in 1948 and provided training in using them to their new owner Steve Calvert a Ciro s bartender Calvert stepped into Corrigan s paw prints starting with a Jungle Jim film Despite reports to the contrary Calvert and Corrigan never appeared together on screen in an ape costume Since both Corrigan and Calvert eschewed screen credit playing gorillas their film credits are often confused any appearance of the Corrigan suit after 1948 is by Calvert His final theatrical film was playing the title role in the science fiction film It The Terror from Beyond Space according to bio information given to visitors at the Thousand Oaks California Corrigan s Steak House and Bar that his son Tom once owned Television series Edit In 1950 he had a television show called Crash Corrigan s Ranch 2 He also planned a television series called Buckskin Rangers with his old associate Max Terhune 3 Corriganville EditIn 1937 Corrigan was on a hunting trip with Clark Gable when he had an idea to purchase land in Simi Valley California and use it as a Western themed ranch similar to Iverson Movie Ranch He paid a 1 000 down payment then a thousand dollars a month until the 11 354 price was paid 4 He developed this into Corriganville a location used for many Western films and TV shows The location featured many different types of terrain for producers such as lakes mountains and caves 5 Not merely set fronts Corriganville contained actual buildings where film crews could live 6 and store their equipment to save the time and expense of daily travel from studios to an outdoor location Corrigan profited well from renting this location to film studios and from paying visitors In 1949 Corrigan opened his ranch to the public on weekends for Western themed entertainment The weekend attractions included stuntmen shows throughout the day a Cavalry fort set an outlaw shack a full western town with saloon jail and hotel live western music Indian crafts stagecoach rides pony rides and boating on the ranch s artificial lake It was common for film and TV personalities to appear in person for photos and autographs attracting as many as 20 000 people on weekends Examples of feature films and TV shows that were filmed at Corriganville Drums of Fu Manchu 1939 Fort Apache 1948 The Lone Ranger 1949 1957 The Cisco Kid 1950 1956 The Adventures of Kit Carson 1951 1955 The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin 1954 1959 Have Gun Will Travel 1957 1963 Casey Jones 1957 Hollywood cowboy stars who filmed there include Gene Autry Roy Rogers Buster Crabbe John Wayne Smiley Burnette Clayton Moore Jay Silverheels Charles Starrett Ken Maynard Hoot Gibson Bob Steele Tex Ritter and Corrigan himself Corriganville was eventually sold to Bob Hope in 1966 becoming Hopetown Today what remains is known as Corriganville Park and features some of the old landmarks Signs along a hiking trail point out the historic features Nickname EditThe origin of the Crash nickname is from his football playing days This was verified by Corrigan himself when he was a contestant on the June 11 1959 episode of You Bet Your Life starring Groucho Marx When asked how he got the name Crash Corrigan told Groucho When I would go to tackle somebody or instead of fighting them with my fists I would just take off and dive at them head first and that s how I acquired the name Crash His first starring role using the name professionally was in the Republic Pictures serial The Undersea Kingdom 1936 in which his screen character was also named Crash Corrigan The serial was created to capitalize on the popularity of Universal Pictures Flash Gordon serials and the nickname may have been appropriated by Republic s publicity department to create a similarly named hero 7 Death EditFollowing his death from a heart attack at age 74 on August 10 1976 in Brookings Harbor Oregon Ray Crash Corrigan was interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery Inglewood California More than four decades later his grave still remains unmarked without a headstone Filmography EditTarzan the Ape Man 1932 Ape Stuntman uncredited Tarzan and His Mate 1934 Gorilla Stuntman uncredited Hollywood Party 1934 Ping Pong the Gorilla uncredited Murder in the Private Car 1934 Naba the Gorilla uncredited Tomorrow s Children 1934 Intern uncredited Romance in the Rain 1934 uncredited The Phantom Empire 1935 Serial Thunder Rider uncredited Night Life of the Gods 1935 Apollo She 1935 Guard uncredited Dante s Inferno 1935 Devil uncredited Mutiny on the Bounty 1935 Able Bodied Seaman uncredited The Singing Vagabond 1935 Private Hobbs uncredited Darkest Africa 1936 Serial Bonga Samabi uncredited The Leathernecks Have Landed 1936 Officer of the Day uncredited Flash Gordon 1936 Serial Orangopoid Stuntman uncredited Undersea Kingdom 1936 Serial Crash Corrigan Kelly the Second 1936 Fight Arena Doorman uncredited The Vigilantes Are Coming 1936 Captain John Charles Fremont US Army Captain uncreidted The Three Mesquiteers 1936 Tucson Smith Ghost Town Gold 1936 Tucson Smith Country Gentlemen 1936 Briggs Roarin Lead 1936 Tucson Smith Riders of the Whistling Skull 1937 Tucson Smith Join the Marines 1937 Lt Hodge Round Up Time in Texas 1937 Gorilla uncredited Hit the Saddle 1937 Tucson Smith Gunsmoke Ranch 1937 Tucson Smith Come on Cowboys 1937 Tucson Smith The Painted Stallion 1937 Clark Stuart Range Defenders 1937 Tucson Smith Heart of the Rockies 1937 Tucson Smith The Trigger Trio 1937 Tucson Smith Wild Horse Rodeo 1937 Tucson Smith The Purple Vigilantes 1938 Tucson Smith Call the Mesquiteers 1938 Tucson Smith Outlaws of Sonora 1938 Tucson Smith Riders of the Black Hills 1938 Tucson Smith Three Missing Links 1938 Short Naba the Gorilla Heroes of the Hills 1938 Tucson Smith Pals of the Saddle 1938 Tucson Smith Overland Stage Raiders 1938 Tucson Smith Santa Fe Stampede 1938 Tucson Smith Red River Range 1938 Tucson Smith The Night Riders 1939 Tucson Smith Three Texas Steers 1939 Tucson Smith Willie the Gorilla Wyoming Outlaw 1939 Tucson Smith New Frontier 1939 Tucson Smith The Range Busters 1940 Crash Corrigan The Ape 1940 Nabu the Gorilla uncredited Trailing Double Trouble 1940 Crash Corrigan West of Pinto Basin 1940 Crash Corrigan Trail of the Silver Spurs 1941 Crash Corrigan The Kid s Last Ride 1941 Crash Corrigan Tumbledown Ranch in Arizona 1941 Crash Corrigan Wrangler s Roost 1941 Crash Corrigan Fugitive Valley 1941 Crash Corrigan Saddle Mountain Roundup 1941 Crash Corrigan Tonto Basin Outlaws 1941 Crash Corrigan Underground Rustlers 1941 Crash Corrigan Thunder River Feud 1942 Crash Corrigan Rock River Renegades 1942 Crash Corrigan The Strange Case of Doctor Rx 1942 Nbongo the Gorilla uncredited Boot Hill Bandits 1942 Marshal Crash Corrigan Texas Trouble Shooters 1942 Crash Corrigan Arizona Stage Coach 1942 Crash Corrigan Dr Renault s Secret 1942 Ape uncredited Land of Hunted Men 1943 Crash Corrigan Cowboy Commandos 1943 Crash Corrigan Captive Wild Woman 1943 Cheela the Gorilla uncredited Black Market Rustlers 1943 Crash Corrigan Bullets and Saddles 1943 Crash Corrigan She s for Me 1943 Gorilla Man The Phantom 1944 Serial Brutus the Gorilla uncredited Nabonga 1944 Gorilla The Monster Maker 1944 Gorilla uncredited The Hairy Ape 1944 Goliath the Gorilla uncredited The Monster and the Ape 1945 Thor uncredited The White Gorilla 1945 Steve Collins Konga the White Gorilla Narrator White Pongo 1945 White Pongo uncredited Renegade Girl 1946 William Quantrill Miraculous Journey 1948 Gorilla uncredited Unknown Island 1948 Monster uncredited Crime on Their Hands 1948 Gorilla uncredited The Lost Tribe 1949 Simba the Gorilla uncredited Zamba 1949 Zamba the Gorilla The Adventures of Sir Galahad 1949 One Eye Innkeeper Stuntman Forbidden Jungle 1950 Gege the Gorilla uncredited Crash Corrigan s Ranch 1950 TV Series Host Trail of Robin Hood 1950 Crash Corrigan Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla 1952 Gorilla uncredited The Great Adventures of Captain Kidd 1953 Docklin uncredited Killer Ape 1953 Norley Man with the Steel Whip 1954 Serial Painted Stallion Character archive footage uncredited Apache Ambush 1955 Hank Calvin Zombies of Mora Tau 1957 Sailor Domino Kid 1957 Buck uncredited The Bride and the Beast 1958 Spanky the wife stealing gorilla uncredited It The Terror from Beyond Space 1958 ItReferences EditNotes Edit Corriganville Park LAMountains com retrieved June 23 2013 Woolery George W 1985 Children s Television The First Thirty Five Years 1946 1981 Part II Live Film and Tape Series The Scarecrow Press pp 131 133 ISBN 0 8108 1651 2 New Series of Westerns Planned for Television Long Beach Press Telegram October 8 1950 Gilpatrick 2002 p 202 Corrigan Ray An Introduction to Corriganville The Corriganville Gazette Volume 1 Issue 3 Schneider Jerry L August 1 2007 Corriganville Movie Ranch Lulu Press Incorporated Retrieved May 1 2017 via Google Books Anderson Chuck Ray Crash Corrigan B Westerns October 1 2009 Bibliography Edit Gilpatrick Kristen Famous Wisconsin Film Stars London Badger Books 2002 ISBN 978 1 87856 986 8 Schneider Jerry L Corriganville Movie Ranch Raleigh North Carolina Lulu com 2007 ISBN 978 1 43031 224 6 External links Edit Biography portal Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ray Corrigan Ray Corrigan at IMDb Official Corriganville Park website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ray 22Crash 22 Corrigan amp oldid 1117491684, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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