Bolger, Ray(mond Wallace)

Bolger, Ray[mond Wallace] (1904–87), comic actor and dancer. Born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, he made his professional debut in 1922 with a musical comedy stock company in Boston. After several years of touring with similar small troupes and appearing in vaudeville, Bolger first came to Broadway in The Merry World (1926), followed by A Night in Paris (1926), a tour of The Passing Show of 1926, and Heads Up (1929). His first important assignment was as principal dancer in George White's Scandals of 1931, then he was billed as one of the stars of Life Begins at 8:40 (1934), in which he introduced “You're a Builder‐Upper.” A high point of his career was the role of Phil Nolan in On Your Toes (1936) succeeded by Sapiens in By Jupiter and, his most fondly remembered performance, Charley Wykeham in Where's Charley? (1948), with his nightly showstopper, “Once in Love with Amy,” which he persuaded audiences to sing along with him; it virtually became his theme song. Bolger's last stage appearances were in short runs: as Professor Fodorski in the collegiate musical All American (1962) and as Phineas Sharp in Come Summer (1969). For all his stage successes, he is unquestionably best remembered as the Scarecrow in the film The Wizard of Oz. The nimble, loose‐jointed performer was the best and most loyal “eccentric” dancer of his age. Of his performance as Charley, David Ewen wrote: “In a ladies' room, in an athletic love scene with a vigorous man, while fussing around with an affected feminine air, Bolger always succeeded in being amusing without stooping to Varsity Show vulgarity or offending good taste.”