Nicholas Ray was born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle in 1911, in small-town Galesville, Wisconsin, to Lena , which was supposed to be about a painter dying of cancer and trying to sail to China to find a cure, but instead it became a sad documentary about Ray's last days. Nicholas Ray died on June 6th, 1979 of lung cancer, but before his death he left the world some of the most painfully realized and contemporary motion pictures ever put on celluloid, and shared a fully realized vulnerability that will never be duplicated. 30 years after his death, the cinema still is Nicholas Ray.
Children: producer Anthony Ray , cameraman Timothy Ray (mother is Gloria Grahame ), actress Nica Ray , and Julie Ray.
Was voted the 36th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
He worked with principally younger cast members throughout his career and always preferred hanging out with them, sharing beers with James Dean.
Went to the same high school in La Crosse, Wisconsin, as Joseph Losey.
Had a severe heart attack during the filming of 55 Days at Peking in 1962, bringing his career in movies to a premature finish.
Member of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1961
Prior to entering the film business, he studied architecture under Frank Lloyd Wright. As a result, many critics note his brilliant use of geography and space.
Influenced a younger generation of directors, especially in Europe, such as Jean-Luc Godard and Wim Wenders.
The marriage of his ex-wife Gloria Grahame and his son Anthony Ray caused a big scandal in Hollywood and led to a battle over custody.
In August 2007, Total Film ranked him as the 56th greatest director of all time, citing his best film as Bigger Than Life .
He was a good friend and protg of Elia Kazan. They were both members of the Group Theater in the 1940s.
Is the subject of the song "Nicholas Ray" by Sea Ray, from their album "Stars at Noon".
Though rarely credited with a screenwriters credit, Ray often re-wrote large portions of his scripts, usually with feedback and support from his actors. He also greatly encouraged improvisation.
Of his own films, his personal favorite was Rebel Without a Cause , which is also easily his most commercially successful film. Ray was also proud of his work on They Live by Night , and the fact that he had been able to "wing it" on The Lusty Men (1952) . He admitted that In a Lonely Place was "a very personal film".
To honor the centennial of Rays birth, the Venice International Film Festival screened his experimental film We Cant Go Home Again in August of 2011.
In July of 2011 the University of Texas Harry Ransom Center in Austin announced it bought Rays voluminous archives from his widow, Susan.
The closer I get to my ending, the closer I am getting to rewriting my,beginning.
The imagination is a pretty precious source of protection.
The imagination is a pretty precious source of protection. .
