RAHNER, Raymond M. 1919-2004 (Ray Rayner)

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born July 23, 1919, in New York, NY; died of respiratory failure, January 21, 2004, in Ft. Myers, FL. Actor and author. Rahner was best known for his television appearances on children's programs such as Bozo's Circus during the 1960s and 1970s. A B-17 navigator during World War II, he was captured and made a prisoner of war for two years. To alleviate the boredom, he and other prisoners would put on plays, and it was this experience that inspired Rahner to become an actor. Returning home, he earned a degree in philosophy from Fordham University in 1949, after which he began a career in radio as a newscaster and director for WONE-Radio in Dayton, Ohio. From 1950 to 1953, he was a disc jockey in Grand Rapids, Michigan, followed by a move to Chicago, where he started working for WBBM-TV as a staff announcer. Having changed his last name to Rayner, he was hired to host his own programs, including Rayner Shine, The Ray Rayner Show, The Little Show, and Popeye's Playhouse, during the 1950s. In 1961, Rahner continued to star in children's programs such as The Dick Tracey Show and Bozo's Circus, where he became Bozo's sidekick Oliver O. Oliver. A hard-working actor, Rahner earned a master's degree in humanities from the University of Chicago in 1970 while at the same time starring in Breakfast with Bugs Bunny and Ray Rayner and His Friends, which he continued to host until 1981. He then moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Though he continued to work in television, it is for his years in Chicago that Rahner is most remembered and for which he earned three Emmy Awards from the Chicago Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for his television work. Rahner was also active on the stage, performing in such plays as Fiddler on the Roof and The Crucible at such venues as the Forum Theatre and the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse. In 1971, Rahner published his only book, The Story of Television: Inside Creative Careers.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, January 22, 2004, section 1, p. 9.

Washington Post, January 23, 2004, p. B7.