John Griffith Wray (August 30, 1881 – July 15, 1929)[1][2][3] was an American stage actor and director who later became a noted Hollywood silent film director. He worked on 19 films between 1913 and 1929 that included Anna Christie (1923) and Human Wreckage (1923), Dorothy Davenport's story about her husband Wallace Reid's drug addiction and death.

John Griffith Wray
Wray in 1924
BornAugust 30, 1881
Minneapolis, Minnesota
DiedJuly 15, 1929
Los Angeles, California
Spouses
(m. 1915; div. 1927)
(m. 1928)

Biography

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Wray was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and died in Los Angeles, California. By 1912 Wray was a leading actor and stage director with the World's Fair Stock Company's yearlong Hawaiian tour.[4] He married actress Virginia Brissac in Santa Ana, California, on June 29, 1915,[5] and became the step-father of screenwriter Ardel Wray.[6] The couple divorced in 1927. In October 1928, less than a year before his death, Wray married Bradley King, a Hollywood screenwriter.[7]

Selected filmography

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References

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  1. ^ "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KZVY-111 : accessed 25 Jan 2014), John Griffith Wray, 1917-1918; citing San Diego City no 2, California, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d); FHL microfilm 1543758
  2. ^ Deaths, Los Angeles Times, July 16, 1929.
  3. ^ John G. Wray Dies; Director Of Movies. New York Times, July 16, 1929, p. 18; the Associated Press reported erroneously that Wray was 33 at the time of his death.
  4. ^ Big Stock Company Coming Here. Honolulu Star-Bulletin, December 10, 1912, p. 5
  5. ^ "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K8DJ-J4L : accessed 25 Jan 2014), John Wray and Virginia Brissac, 1915
  6. ^ Movie Director and Writer Wed. Syracuse Herald, October 8, 1928, Syracuse, New York, p. 10
  7. ^ John G. Wray Marries. New York Times, October 8, 1928, p. 15
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