Rags Ragland

Rags Ragland

Born: August 23, 1905
Died: August 20, 1946
in Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Rags Ragland was a boxer, then a burlesque comedian and then a Broadway performer before ending up in Hollywood to repeat his stage role as the boisterous sailor in Panama Hattie (1942), in which Ann Sothern played on film the part that had been played on Broadway by Ethel Merman. Ragland, typecast as a good-natured oaf with a knack for fracturing the English language, had as his sole movie employer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, in some two dozen of whose lighter vehicles he appeared, in the company of such MGM luminaries as Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Judy Garland and Gene Kelly.

Date of Birth 23 August 1905, Louisville, Kentucky

Date of Death 20 August 1946, Los Angeles, California (uremic poisoning)

Movies for Rags Ragland...

The Hoodlum Saint
Title: The Hoodlum Saint
Character: Fishface
Released: April 4, 1946
Type: Movie
A former reporter comes back home after serving in the army during World War I and finds that it's much more difficult to find work than he expected. Desperate, one day he crashes a wedding attended by many of the city's rich and powerful, meets a beautiful girl named Kay who turns out to be his ticket to meeting those rich and powerful people, and he soon manages to land a job on a newspaper. He gets caught up in the "make money at all costs" game but receives a rude awakening when the stock market crashes in 1929.
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Her Highness and the Bellboy
Title: Her Highness and the Bellboy
Character: Albert Weever
Released: November 11, 1945
Type: Movie
In a fictional European country, a beautiful princess meets a handsome American reporter and falls in love with him. On a trip to New York, she hopes to find him again. While staying at one of the city's finest hotels she meets a kind-hearted bellhop who mistakes her for a maid. She invites him to be her escort, not realizing that he believes he has fallen in love with her. Every nice thing the princess does encourages him to believe that she feels the same way he does.
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Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood
Title: Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood
Character: Himself
Released: October 5, 1945
Type: Movie
When two bumbling barbers act as agents for a talented but unknown singer, they stage a phony murder in order to get him a plum role.
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Anchors Aweigh
Title: Anchors Aweigh
Character: Police Sergeant
Released: August 13, 1945
Type: Movie
Two sailors, Joe and Clarence have four days shore leave in spend their shore leave trying to get a girl for Clarence. Clarence has his eye on a girl with musical aspirations, and before Joe can stop him, promises to get her an audition with José Iturbi. But the trouble really starts when Joe realizes he's falling for his buddy's girl.
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The Canterville Ghost
Title: The Canterville Ghost
Character: Big Harry Waters
Released: July 20, 1944
Type: Movie
The descendent of a ghost imprisoned for cowardice hopes to free the spirit by displaying courage when under duress.
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Meet the People
Title: Meet the People
Character: Mr. Smith
Released: June 1, 1944
Type: Movie
A idealistic shipyard worker interests a beautiful Hollywood star in staging a musical tribute to the war industry, but they disagree on some important issues.
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3 Men in White
Title: 3 Men in White
Character: Hobart Genet
Released: May 25, 1944
Type: Movie
Gillespie has to finally choose his official assistant, or Red and Lee are going to kill themselves in competition. So, it's another diagnosis competition. Lee's assignment is a small girl who falls ill whenever she eats candy. Red has to cure a girl's mother of a debilitating case of arthritis. But when Red needs Lee's help, will either one live with Gillespie's choice?
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Whistling in Brooklyn
Title: Whistling in Brooklyn
Character: Chester Conway
Released: December 1, 1943
Type: Movie
Radio crime show host "The Fox" finds himself on the trail of a serial killer while a suspect himself.
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Girl Crazy
Title: Girl Crazy
Character: 'Rags'
Released: November 26, 1943
Type: Movie
Rich kid Danny Churchill has a taste for wine, women and song, but not for higher education. So his father ships him to an all-male college out West where there's not supposed to be a female for miles. But before Danny arrives, he spies a pair of legs extending out from under a stalled roadster. They belong to the Dean's granddaughter, Ginger Gray, who is more interested in keeping the financially strapped college open than falling for Danny's romantic line. At least at first...
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Du Barry was a Lady
Title: Du Barry was a Lady
Character: Charlie / Dauphin
Released: August 13, 1943
Type: Movie
Hat check man Louis Blore is in love with nightclub star May Daly. May, however, is in love with a poor dancer but wants to marry for money. When Louis wins the Irish Sweepstakes, he asks May to marry him and she accepts even though she doesn't love him. Soon after, Louis has an accident and gets knocked on the head, where he dreams that he's King Louis XV pursuing the infamous Madame Du Barry.
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Whistling in Dixie
Title: Whistling in Dixie
Character: Chester Conway / Sylvester 'Lester' Conway
Released: December 31, 1942
Type: Movie
Radio sleuth Wally 'The Fox' Benton travels to Georgia with his fiancé Carol to be married; and to help Carol's college chum, Ellamae Downs, solve a mystery involving a murdered man, old Fort Dixon, and buried treasure.
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Panama Hattie
Title: Panama Hattie
Character: Rags (as 'Rags' Ragland)
Released: September 30, 1942
Type: Movie
Sailors and spies mingle in between the acts at Hattie's nightclub in the Canal Zone.
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Somewhere I'll Find You
Title: Somewhere I'll Find You
Character: Charlie
Released: August 27, 1942
Type: Movie
Journalist brothers feud over a woman they both fall for while covering World War II in the far east.
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The War Against Mrs. Hadley
Title: The War Against Mrs. Hadley
Character: Louie
Released: August 7, 1942
Type: Movie
Wealthy American society matron, Stella Hadley refuses to sacrifice her material comforts to aid the war effort until she realizes that her selfishness is cheating the boys overseas who are fighting for her freedom.
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Maisie Gets Her Man
Title: Maisie Gets Her Man
Character: Ears Cofflin
Released: June 1, 1942
Type: Movie
Struggling performers, Sothern and Skelton's lives are thrown off gear when they are caught with a bagful of hard cash robbed by a goon. With Skelton in prison, how will Sothern prove their innocence?
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Sunday Punch
Title: Sunday Punch
Character: 'Killer' Connolly
Released: May 8, 1942
Type: Movie
Ma Galestrum (Connie Gilchrist) is a boardinghouse owner whose tenants are a group of aspiring boxers. When her young niece, Judy (Jean Rogers), comes to stay for a visit, college dropout Ken Burke (William Lundigan) and Swedish janitor Ole (Dan Dailey Jr.) immediately fall for her charms. Ken considers going back to college for Judy, but his fight promoter is less than thrilled with this idea. Meanwhile, Ole is determined to meet Ken in the ring to vie for Judy's heart.
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Born to Sing
Title: Born to Sing
Character: 'Grunt'
Released: February 18, 1942
Type: Movie
A group of children put on a show in order to prove that a down and out musician was the real composer of a Broadway show's songs.
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Whistling in the Dark
Title: Whistling in the Dark
Character: Sylvester
Released: August 8, 1941
Type: Movie
The operators of 'Silver Haven', a cultish group bilking gullible rich people out of money, is set to inherit a large sum after the deceased woman's heir also dies. Leader Joesph Jones decides to hurry the process along and kidnaps Wally Benton, his fiancé, and a friend, to further this goal. Wally, 'The Fox', is a radio sleuth who solves murders on the air. Jones wants him to devise a perfect murder, and isn't above killing others sloppily along the way to get his foolproof murder plot.
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Ringside Maisie
Title: Ringside Maisie
Character: Vic
Released: August 1, 1941
Type: Movie
Young undefeated boxer Terry Dolan, who's been lying to his invalid mother about his career, confides to Maisie that he hates and is terrified by boxing and wants out. Not wanting to let down his best friend and manager Skeets Maguire, who has hopes of him becoming the next champion, he is reluctant to bring up the subject with him. Maisie convinces Terry to tell Skeets, whose unexpected reaction induces him to step into the ring again.