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IMDbPro

George Raft(1901-1980)

  • Actor
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeter
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George Raft
Trailer for the classic comedy Some Like It Hot, starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, and Marilyn Monroe
Play trailer2:17
Some Like It Hot (1959)
10 Videos
99+ Photos
George Raft was born and grew up in a poor family in Hell's Kitchen, at the time one of the roughest, meanest areas of New York City. He was born George Ranft, and was the son of Eva (Glockner) and Conrad Ranft, a department store deliveryman. His parents were both of German descent. In his youth, he showed a great interest in, and aptitude for, dancing. That, combined with his dark good looks and sharp dressing, made him a local favorite at such spots as the El Fey Club with Texas Guinan. In 1928, Raft went to Hollywood to try his luck at acting. His first big role was as the coin-tossing henchman in Scarface (1932). His career was marked by numerous tough-guy roles, often a gangster or convict. The believability with which he played these, together with his lifelong associations with such real-life gangsters as Owney Madden and Bugsy Siegel, added to persistent rumors that he was also a gangster. The slightly shady reputation may have helped his popularity early on, but it made him somewhat undesirable to movie executives later in his career. He somewhat parodied his gangster reputation in Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot (1959).
BornSeptember 26, 1901
DiedNovember 24, 1980(79)
BornSeptember 26, 1901
DiedNovember 24, 1980(79)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Awards

Photos416

Ethel Griffies, George Raft, and Helen Vinson in Midnight Club (1933)
Carole Lombard and George Raft in Bolero (1934)
William Bakewell, Neely Edwards, Helen Foster, Albert Gran, Armand Kaliz, Winnie Lightner, Nick Lucas, Lee Moran, Ann Pennington, George Raft, Gertrude Short, Lilyan Tashman, Conway Tearle, Nancy Welford, Judith Wood, and Dorothy O'Connell in Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929)
A.S. 'Pop' Byron and George Raft in If I Had a Million (1932)
George Raft and Morgan Wallace in If I Had a Million (1932)
William V. Mong and George Raft in If I Had a Million (1932)
Richard Bennett and George Raft in If I Had a Million (1932)
George Raft in If I Had a Million (1932)
George Raft and Kent Taylor in If I Had a Million (1932)
Sally Gray and George Raft in I'll Get You (1952)
George Raft in Loan Shark (1952)
George Raft in Race Street (1948)

Known for

Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon in Some Like It Hot (1959)
Some Like It Hot
8.2
  • Spats Colombo
  • 1959
Humphrey Bogart, Ida Lupino, George Raft, and Ann Sheridan in They Drive by Night (1940)
They Drive by Night
7.2
  • Joe Fabrini
  • 1940
Ann Dvorak, Paul Muni, and Osgood Perkins in Scarface (1932)
Scarface
7.7
  • Rinaldo
  • 1932
Signe Hasso, George Raft, and Claire Trevor in Johnny Angel (1945)
Johnny Angel
6.2
  • Johnny Angel
  • 1945

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • The Man with Bogart's Face (1980)
    The Man with Bogart's Face
  • Sextette (1977)
    Sextette
  • Hammersmith Is Out (1972)
    Hammersmith Is Out
  • Deadhead Miles (1972)
    Deadhead Miles
  • The Chicago Teddy Bears (1971)
    The Chicago Teddy Bears
  • Dan Rowan and Dick Martin (aka Rowan & Martin) 1975
    Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
    • (uncredited)
  • Skidoo (1968)
    Skidoo
  • Christopher Lee, Brian Donlevy, Dan Duryea, and George Raft in Five Golden Dragons (1967)
    Five Golden Dragons
  • Casino Royale (1967)
    Casino Royale
  • Batman (1966)
    Batman
    • (uncredited)
  • The Upper Hand (1966)
    The Upper Hand
  • Peter Lorre, Ina Balin, John Carradine, Jerry Lewis, Phil Harris, Everett Sloane, and Keenan Wynn in The Patsy (1964)
    The Patsy
  • Tina Louise, Nancy Sinatra, James Darren, and Pamela Tiffin in For Those Who Think Young (1964)
    For Those Who Think Young
    • (uncredited)
  • Ed Sullivan in The Ed Sullivan Show (1948)
    The Ed Sullivan Show
  • Two Guys Abroad (1962)
    Two Guys Abroad

Soundtrack

  • The Jimmy Durante Show (1954)
    The Jimmy Durante Show
    • (uncredited)
  • Ed Sullivan in The Ed Sullivan Show (1948)
    The Ed Sullivan Show
    • (uncredited)
  • Marlene Dietrich, Orson Welles, W.C. Fields, Laverne Andrews, Maxene Andrews, Patty Andrews, Susanna Foster, Grace McDonald, Donald O'Connor, George Raft, Peggy Ryan, Dinah Shore, Vera Zorina, and The Andrews Sisters in Follow the Boys (1944)
    Follow the Boys
  • Henry Fonda, Dorothy Lamour, and George Raft in Spawn of the North (1938)
    Spawn of the North
    • (uncredited)
  • Ben Bernie, Grace Bradley, Adele Cutler Jerome, and George Raft in Stolen Harmony (1935)
    Stolen Harmony
  • Ann Dvorak, Paul Muni, and Osgood Perkins in Scarface (1932)
    Scarface
  • James Cagney and Loretta Young in Taxi (1931)
    Taxi
    • (uncredited)
  • Matt Moore, Owen Moore, and Tom Moore in Side Street (1929)
    Side Street
    • (uncredited)

Videos10

Trailer
Trailer 2:37
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:09
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 1:59
Official Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:32
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:07
Official Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:53
Official Trailer
Some Like It Hot
Trailer 2:17
Some Like It Hot
Each Dawn I Die
Trailer 1:43
Each Dawn I Die
They Drive By Night
Trailer 1:51
They Drive By Night
Follow The Boys
Trailer 1:08
Follow The Boys

Personal details

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    • September 26, 1901
    • New York, New York, USA
    • November 24, 1980
    • Los Angeles, California, USA(emphysema)
    • 1923 - 1970 (her death)
  • Other works
    Stage: Appeared (as "George Spelvin"; Broadway debut) in "The City Chap" on Broadway. Musical comedy. Music by Jerome Kern. Book by James Montgomery. Lyrics by Anne Caldwell. Based on a play by Winchell Smith. Music orchestrated by Robert Russell Bennett. Musical Director: Victor Baravalle. Choreographed by David Bennett. Directed by R.H. Burnside. Liberty Theatre: 26 Oct 1925-26 Dec 1925 (72 performances). Cast: Charles S. Abbe (as "Sam Graham"), Betty Block, Bobbie Breslaw, Constance Brown, Katherine Burnside, Phyllis Cleveland, Betty Compton (as "Betty"), Myrtle Cox, Ursula Dale, Frisco Devere, Frank Doane (as "Blinkey Lockwood"), Peggy Dolan, Francis X. Donegan, Irene Dunne (as "Grace Bartlett"), Pearl Eaton (as "Pearl"), Helyn Eby Rock, Jeanne Edwards, Kathleen Erroll, Rita Farrell, Patricia Fitzpatrick, Edythe Flynn, Georges Fontanna, 'Richard "Skeets' Gallagher' (as "Nat Duncan"), Eddie Girard, Danzi Goodell, Ona Hamilton, Muriel Harrison, Beatrice Hughes, Mary Jane, Nell Kincaid, Katherine Kohler, Gladys Lake, Jane Lane, Fred Lennox, Joan Lindsay, Hallie Manning, Jerry Markham, Beth Meakins, Lucy Monroe, Margaret Morris, Marjorie Moss, Bessie Mulligan, Robert Emmett O'Connor (as "Pete"), Mary Pierce, Nickie Pitell, John Rutherford, Autumn Sims, Mildred Sinclair, Blossom Vreeland, Ina Williams, Hansford Wilson, Betty Winslow. Produced by Charles B. Dillingham.
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Biographical Movie
    • 5 Print Biographies
    • 7 Portrayals
    • 7 Articles

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    According to James Cagney's autobiography Cagney By Cagney, (Published by Doubleday and Company Inc 1976), a Mafia plan to murder Cagney by dropping a several hundred pound klieg light on top of him was stopped at the insistence of George Raft. Cagney at that time was President of the Screen Actors Guild and was determined not to let the mob infiltrate the industry. Raft used his 'many' mob connections to cancel the hit.
  • Quotes
    [on his acting] I'm afraid to look, because I'm probably awful.
    • In films, he frequently tossed a coin with one hand, while looking straight-on.
    • Loan Shark
      (1952)
      $25,000 plus 25% of the profits

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