Marguerite Ray

Marguerite Ray (March 18, 1931[1] – November 18, 2020) was an American television actor, known for originating the role of Mamie Johnson in the soap opera The Young and the Restless; she was the first black regular on the show. In a career that lasted from the 1960s until 2001, she also appeared in Sanford and had a recurring role in Dynasty.[2][3]

Biography

Ray was born March 18, 1931 in New Orleans, to African American parents, Walter Ray, Sr. and his spouse Jeannette.[4] She had two sisters, Verna (Peters) and Jacqueline (Jackson), and four brothers, Walter, Jr., Ronald, Henry, and Burt.[5] She attended the University of California, Berkeley, gaining a degree in Recreation and Theatre Arts.[3] She started acting in television in the 1960s, gaining a regular part in Sanford (1980–81), playing a widow who is the girlfriend of the lead.[2][3] She originated the role of Mamie Johnson in the soap opera The Young and the Restless, playing the character from 1980 to 1990. She was the first Black regular on the show,[2][3] which was the soap opera with the highest ratings among African-American viewers in 1988.[6]

She had a recurring role in Dynasty (1989), and her many other television credits include roles in Bewitched, The Bill Cosby Show, The Odd Couple, Quincy, M.E., The Rockford Files and Ironside.[2][3] Ray also had minor roles in films including Blood's Way (1973), Cheech and Chong's Next Movie (1980) and To Sleep with Anger (1990).[7] Her final television appearance was in 2001.[2]

She died on November 18, 2020 in Los Angeles.[2][3] She had no children.

References
  1. Tatiana Wakam (December 10, 2020), "Les Feux de l'amour en deuil : Marguerite Ray est morte à 89 ans", Gala, retrieved December 11, 2020
  2. Abid Rahman (December 10, 2020), "Marguerite Ray, 'The Young and the Restless' Actress, Dies at 89", The Hollywood Reporter, retrieved December 11, 2020
  3. Tom Grater (December 10, 2020), Marguerite Ray Dies: 'The Young And The Restless' Actress Was 89, Deadline Hollywood, retrieved December 11, 2020
  4. "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VYPY-8YZ : 27 July 2019), Walter Ray, Ward 14, New Orleans, New Orleans City, Orleans, Louisiana, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 36-376, sheet 3B, line 61, family 57, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 1433.
  5. "Marguerite Ray Obituary (1931 - 2020) - Los Angeles Times". www.legacy.com. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  6. Dalton Narine (1988), "Blacks on soaps: From domestics to interracial lovers", Ebony (November): 94
  7. Marguerite Ray, BFI, retrieved December 11, 2020
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