Biography

Ray Baker most recently appeared in the Feature Film “The Keeping Hours” (Winner, Audience Award, L.A. Film Festival), which premiered in June, 2017. He was a guest star on two episodes of the TNT series, “Animal Kingdom, in 2016.  Ray portrayed oil millionaire “Cal Manchester” in a 2015 episode of the Showtime series, House of Lies”, directed by star of the series, Don Cheadle. Also in 2015, Ray appeared onstage in the dramatic play, “BENT”, as “Freddie”, directed by Moises Kaufman, at the Taper in L.A.  …Later in 2015, Ray went to NYC to   star as “Norton” in the Off-B’way comedy, “The Hummingbird’s Tour”, directed by John Augustine.

Ray was born in Omaha, Nebraska. His father was a contractor, his mother, a homemaker. The family moved to Denver when Ray was 7 years old, and he spent most of his younger years there. He graduated from Denver University with a degree in Theater, and moved to New York City, hoping to make a career in acting.

In NYC, he studied acting at HB Studios with Carol Rosenfeld, Rita Gardner, and Stephen Strimpel. He did Improvisational Theatre with two groups: The Proposition, and War Babies,…and he even did Stand-Up comedy at The Comic Strip, and The Improv. Eventually, he got his Actors Equity card playing “Bogart” in “Play It Again, Sam” at a summer stock theater in Pennsylvania.

During 20 years in New York, Ray appeared in many Off-Broadway  shows including Larry Ketron’s “Character Lines” at the WPA, “Don’t Tell Me Everything” at Playwright’s Horizons, and “The King of the United States” at St. Clements.

He made his Broadway debut in 1978, playing Arthur Miller in Are You Now or Have You Ever Been…?” at the Paramount Theater. Other Broadway shows include: “Crimes  of the Heart” (original B’way cast as “Doc”), Is There Life After High School?” (original B’way cast, as “Danny”), and “Torch Song Trilogy” (B’way replacement, as “Ed”)

In 1989, Ray moved to L.A.  He has appeared in over 30 feature films: “Total Recall”, “Places in the Heart”, “RainMan”, “Silverado”, and many more. He has logged hundreds of hours on television in both series and TV movies. (Please go to IMDB.com for a complete list of credits.)Ray currently lives in L.A. He is married to Playwright and Director, Colleen Dodson-Baker. He is the proud father of 3 grown children: Henry and Joseph, who both live in Brooklyn, and Roxanne Baker, of Los Angeles.