George Raft

George Raft was a famous movie star.

He grew up in New York City. He worked many jobs as a boy. He even fought in boxing matches.

George was a very fast dancer. He loved to do the Charleston. People called him a gifted dancer.

He became a big star in movies. He often played tough men. He was known for flipping a coin.

He acted in many films for a long time. He was a very stylish man. He is still remembered today.

George Raft was a famous American movie star.

He grew up in New York City. As a boy, he worked many jobs. He worked as an errand boy and a fishwrapper. He also fought in professional boxing matches. He even played baseball in a minor league.

George was a very gifted dancer. His mother taught him how to dance. He won a Charleston competition. The Charleston is a fast dance style. He was known as a very fast dancer. One famous dancer called him lightning-fast. He helped make the tango dance popular in many cities.

He became a big star in films. He often played tough men or gangsters. He was a stylish leading man. In the movie Scarface, he played a character who flipped a coin. This became a famous move in movies. He appeared in many films like Quick Millions and Some Like It Hot.

George Raft lived a long life. He died in 1980 at the age of 85. He is still remembered for his skill on the dance floor and the screen.

George Raft was a famous American actor and dancer. He was best known for playing tough gangsters in movies. People loved him because he was a very stylish leading man. He appeared in many popular films during the 1930s and 1940s. These movies were often crime dramas with lots of excitement. Raft became a star that many people recognized instantly. His talent on the screen helped make him a legend.

Before he was an actor, Raft tried many different jobs. He grew up in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan. As a young boy, he worked as an errand boy. He also worked as a fishwrapper after his school ended. He spent time as an apprentice electrician for one year. Raft also worked as a professional boxer for two years. He fought many matches under the name Dutch Rauft. He even played minor-league baseball as an outfielder for Springfield.

Dancing was a huge part of his early life. His mother taught him how to dance well. He once won a competition for the Charleston dance. This is a very fast and energetic style of dance. Raft became a professional dancer in New York City nightclubs. He traveled to cities like Paris, Rome, and London. He even helped make the tango dance popular in those places. The famous dancer Fred Astaire called him a lightning-fast dancer.

His big break in movies came with the film Scarface.

This movie was released by United Artists in 1932. In the film, Raft played a character named Guino Rinaldo. He became famous for flipping a coin in his movies. This became a very famous move for gangster characters. Raft also appeared in movies like Quick Millions and Some Like It Hot.

He worked with many stars like Spencer Tracy and Marilyn Monroe.

Life was not always easy for George Raft. He had some trouble because of his links to crime figures. This led to a ban from Great Britain in 1967. He also had a hard time with some movie roles. He once refused a part because he wanted his characters to be good. Raft died in 1980 at the age of 85. He is still remembered for his unique dancing and acting. His life shows how much a person can change through hard work.

George Raft was a prominent American film actor and professional dancer. He became a major star during the 1930s and 1940s. Raft was most famous for his roles in crime melodramas. In these films, he often portrayed stylish and tough gangsters. His unique screen presence helped define the image of the cinematic mobster for a generation.

Before his film career, Raft explored several different paths to earn a living. He grew up in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York. As a child, he worked as an errand boy and a fishwrapper. He later spent one year as an apprentice electrician. Raft also pursued professional boxing for two years starting at age 15. Fighting under the name Dutch Rauft, he recorded nine victories in 14 bouts, though some accounts suggest he fought as many as 25 matches. He also played minor-league baseball as an outfielder for Springfield in the Eastern League, but he was eventually dropped due to poor batting.

Dancing provided Raft with his first real professional success. His mother taught him to dance, and he performed at carnivals and amusement parks. After his baseball career, he worked as a taxi dancer in New York. He eventually won a Charleston competition, which launched his professional career. Raft became a celebrated stylist in New York City nightclubs. He performed exhibition dances at venues like Rector's and Churchill's. He even traveled internationally, helping to popularize the tango in cities like Paris, Vienna, Rome, and London. The legendary dancer Fred Astaire once described Raft as a lightning-fast dancer who performed the fastest Charleston he had ever seen.

Raft moved to Hollywood in 1927 to pursue motion pictures. He initially worked in clubs to pay his bills before appearing in stage shows. His film debut was in the movie Queen of the Night Clubs, though his scenes were eventually cut. His dancing skills caught the attention of director Rowland Brown. Brown cast him in a significant supporting role in the 1931 film Quick Millions. In this movie, Raft played the sidekick to a character portrayed by Spencer Tracy. This role helped establish his reputation for "menacing suavity."

His major breakthrough came in the 1932 film Scarface, produced by United Artists. Raft played the character Guino Rinaldo, the second-in-command to the lead, Tony Camonte. During filming, Raft invented a specific habit of flipping a coin. This mannerism became an iconic trope in many later gangster films. The success of Scarface made Raft a true star. He began receiving massive amounts of fan mail and secured a contract with Paramount Pictures in March 1932.

Throughout his career, Raft maintained specific views on his acting craft. He practiced a form of method acting where he would visualize real emotions. For example, if a scene required hatred, he would think of someone he truly disliked. He also refused certain roles based on moral grounds. In 1933, he refused to play a sadist in The Story of Temple Drake. Raft stated that he wanted his characters to have a "ray of warmth" or a redeeming quality. This refusal led to a brief professional suspension from Paramount.

Raft's life was often marked by controversy due to his real-life associations with organized crime figures. He had friendships with men like Enoch Johnson and Larry Fay, and he once drove for Owney Madden. These connections had lasting consequences. In 1967, Raft was banned from entering Great Britain. Despite these challenges, he continued to work in many famous films. These included the comedy Some Like It Hot in 1959, where he starred alongside Marilyn Monroe.

George Raft's career bridged the worlds of professional dance and intense dramatic acting. He transitioned from a high-speed Charleston dancer to a leading man in crime dramas. His ability to blend style with a tough persona left a lasting mark on Hollywood. He passed away from emphysema in November 1980 at the age of 85. His journey from the streets of Manhattan to the heights of stardom remains a notable part of film history.