Ray Girardin

Raymond George Girardin Jr. (January 23, 1935^[2][3] – February 28, 2019) was an American film, stage, and television actor.

Girardin was born in Wakefield, Massachusetts,^[2][3] the son of Raymond Sr. and Mildred Girardin.^[4] He attended and graduated from Wakefield High School, which after graduating, he served in the United States Marine Corps for two years, which after his discharge, he attended Boston University, studying theatre.^[2][3] He acted on summer stock theaters and Off-Broadway plays.^[5]

Girardin began his career in 1967, appearing in the spy fiction television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. In the same year, he appeared in Judd, for the Defense, starring Carl Betz and Stephen Young. He played Howie Dawson^[6] in the soap opera television series General Hospital from 1968 to 1974.^[2][3]

Later in his career, Girardin guest-starred in numerous television programs such as Barney Miller, The Rockford Files, Thunder, St. Elsewhere, The Greatest American Hero, Hart to Hart, Hardcastle and McCormick, Hill Street Blues,^[7] Newhart, Remington Steele, The Law & Harry McGraw, Married… with Children, The A-Team, What's Happening Now!!, Benson, Mork & Mindy, Happy Days, From Here to Eternity, Gunsmoke, The White Shadow, T.J. Hooker, Hooperman, The Magical World of Disney, Murder, She Wrote, Baywatch, New York Undercover, Capital News, and L.A. Law,^[2][3] and was a regular cast member of Flip Wilson's television sitcom Charlie & Co., playing Charles Richmond's boss Walter Simpson.^[8][9] He also appeared in films including Max Dugan Returns, The Lonely Guy, Star!, Scandal in a Small Town, Loverboy, The Executioner's Song, Midnight Offerings, Dad, Silence of the Heart, Badge of the Assassin, Love Affair, Gospa,^[10] Number One with a Bullet,^[11] and Hollywood Man,^[12] which he wrote with William Smith, Tom Farese and Dominic Gombardella.^[13]

Girardin retired from acting in 1999, afterwards directing at the Academy Theater in Orleans, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod.^[2][3]

Girardin died on February 28, 2019, from complications of Alzheimer's disease, in Amherst, Massachusetts, at the age of 84.^[3][14][15]

• Ray Girardin at IMDb
• Ray Girardin at the TCM Movie Database
• Rotten Tomatoes profile