Ford Rainey

Ford Rainey (August 8, 1908 – July 25, 2005) was an American film, stage and television actor.

Early life

Rainey was born in Mountain Home, Idaho, the son of Vyrna (née Kinkade), a teacher, and Archie Coleman Rainey. He first acted on the stage while in high school. Rainey graduated from Centralia Junior College in Washington state and the Cornish Drama School in Seattle. He then moved to Connecticut to study acting at the Michael Chekhov Theatre Studio. Growing up in the outdoors and learning to ride horses helped him in his career as a tough-guy film presence later in life. Like many young actors, he worked odd jobs including logger, fisherman, fruit picker, carpenter, clam digger and working on an oil tanker before becoming a successful actor. He worked as a radio actor as well as a touring stage actor before breaking into films. His Broadway debut was in a 1939 Chekhov production of The Possessed that had a run of 14 performances. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II. After the war he moved to Ojai, California, where he, Woodrow Chambliss and other actors who had studied under Chekhov founded the Ojai Valley Players.