Ray Mala (December 27, 1906 – September 23, 1952) was one of the first Native American movie stars. Mala was recently named a "Top Ten Alaskan" by TIME Magazine. He starred in MGM's Academy Award-winning Eskimo, directed by Woody Van Dyke.
Ray Mala was born Ray Wise in the small village of Candle, Alaska to a Russian Jewish immigrant father and a Native Alaskan mother. He was born during a unique period in Alaskan history. At that time Alaska was still a territory of the United States and still a mystery to many Americans. In 1921 an explorer named Captain Frank Kleinschmidt went to Alaska on an expedition to film a picture called Primitive Love in which Mala makes his film debut at age 14. Not only does Mala act in front of the camera but he serves as a cameraman as well for the picture. From here young Mala accompanied Knud Rasmussen, the Danish Arctic explorer and writer on his trip called The Great Sled Journey from 1921 to 1924 to collect and describe Inuit songs and legends as the official cameraman.
(Sugar plum fairy)
I read the news today oh boy
about a lucky man who made the grade
and though the news was rather sad
well I just had to laugh
I saw the photograph
He blew his mind out in a car
he hadn't noticed that the lights had changed to a shade of gray
A crowd of people stood and stared
they'd seen his face before
nobody was really sure if he was from the House Of Lords
I saw a film today oh boy
the US army had just dropped some peace on the Middle East
a crowd of people turned away
but I just had to look
having read the book
I'd love to turn you on...
Woke up, got out of bed
wiped the blood off of my head
found my way upstairs and I did a shot
and looking up I noticed I was late
found my coat, grabbed my hat
I made the bus in seconds flat
I found my way upstairs and I did a snort
and somebody spoke and I went into a dream
I read the news today oh boy
three thousand holes at New York's ground zero
and though the holes were rather small
we had to count them all
now we know how many holes it takes to make the towers fall