George Raft

There has been much debate over when George was born. Although most sources and articles have claimed over the years his birth year as 1895, including his gravestone, New York census reports suggest Mr. Raft was born in 1901. The latter year is also the one on Raft's Social Security Card.

According to both the 1900 and 1910 Censuses for New York City, Raft only had one sibling named Eva "Katie" Ranft, born on April 18, 1896 in Manhattan.

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.

According to The Lewiston Daily Sun newspaper June 1936, George was 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighed 155 pounds, had an olive complexion, black hair and brown eyes.

Mother, Eva, died of asthma at her 610 West 174th Street home in 1937, after a long illness, at the age of 62. Mr. Raft was at her bedside.

July 1939: Signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros. Studios.

He turned down High Sierra (1941), which gave Humphrey Bogart his big break, The Maltese Falcon (1941), and Double Indemnity (1944).

He played himself in ten films: Broadway (1942), Stage Door Canteen (1943), Nous irons à Paris (1950), The Ladies Man (1961), The Patsy (1964), Casino Royale (1967), Silent Treatment (1968), The Great Sex War (1969), Deadhead Miles (1972) and Sextette (1977).

Second actor to portray the title role for CBS Radio's "The Adventures of Rocky Jordan" (1951-1953).

A lifelong baseball fan, by 1955 he had attended the World Series for the past 25 years.

During the late-1950s, Raft was employed as a celebrity greeter at the Mafia-owned Hotel Capri casino in Havana, a job that played off his image as a movie mobster and tough guy. He was present on January 1, 1959 when rebels stormed Havana, overthrowing dictator Fulgencio Batista. According to Raft, as the rebels began looting the Capri, they recognized him and he was able to convince them not to hurt anyone.

Is portrayed by Ray Danton in The George Raft Story (1961), Nicholas Mayer in Mae West (1982) and by Joe Mantegna in Bugsy (1991).

Banned from entering Britain in 1966 because of his alleged Mafia connections.

Not much is known about his marriage to Mulrooney except that she was some years his senior. Although separated early, they were never divorced, and he continued to support her faithfully until her death in 1970.

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.

The part of Dixie Dwyer played by Richard Gere in The Cotton Club (1984) is partly based on George Raft's real life.

Featured in "Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir" by Karen Burroughs Hannsberry (McFarland, 2003).

On August 24, 2020, he was honored for the first time with a day of his filmography during the Turner Classic Movies Summer Under the Stars.