Ray Walston (December 2, 1914–January 1, 2001) was a stage, television and feature film character actor who played the title character on the situation comedy My Favorite Martian and Judge Henry Bone on the drama series Picket Fences.

Early life

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He was born Herman Walston in New Orleans, Louisiana, to middle-class parents Harrie and Mittie Walston. He started acting at an early age, beginning his tenure as a "spear carrier" rounding out productions at many New Orleans theaters. He mostly played small roles with stock companies, where he not only starred in travelling shows but also worked at a movie theater, selling tickets and cleaning the stage floors. His family moved to Houston, Texas, where he joined the Houston Civic Theater's repertory company under Margo Jones, debuting in 1938.

Stage work

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Walston was very popular with Margo Jones's team of actors before he travelled to Cleveland, Ohio, where he spent three years with the Cleveland Playhouse. He then traveled to New York City, where he made his Broadway debut in a 1945 production of Hamlet and would later work in shows directed by Jose Ferrer and George Abbott. Abbott cast Walston as Satan in Damn Yankees! (complete with red socks), with dancer Gwen Verdon as his sexy aide, Lola. The chemistry between Verdon and Walston was such that they both garnered critical success and won awards for their roles. After a decade in New York theater, he won a Tony Award, and he and Verdon were invited to reprise their roles in the movie version of Damn Yankees! (1958).

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