
Person
Rags Ragland
Acting · 1905–1946 · Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Biography
Rags Ragland was a boxer, then a burlesque comedian and then a Broadway performer before ending up in Hollywood to repeat his stage role as the boisterous sailor in Panama Hattie (1942), in which Ann Sothern played on film the part that had been played on Broadway by Ethel Merman. Ragland, typecast as a good-natured oaf with a knack for fracturing the English language, had as his sole movie employer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, in some two dozen of whose lighter vehicles he appeared, in the company of such MGM luminaries as Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Judy Garland and Gene Kelly. Date of Birth 23 August 1905, Louisville, Kentucky Date of Death 20 August 1946, Los Angeles, California (uremic poisoning)
Known for

Anchors Aweigh
Police Sergeant

Her Highness and the Bellboy
Albert Weever

Ringside Maisie
Vic

Du Barry Was a Lady
Charlie / Dauphin

The Canterville Ghost
Big Harry Waters

Girl Crazy
'Rags'

Born to Sing
'Grunt'

The Hoodlum Saint
Fishface

Somewhere I'll Find You
Charlie

Whistling in Brooklyn
Chester Conway
Filmography
- 1946The Hoodlum SaintFishface
- 1945Her Highness and the BellboyAlbert Weever
- 1945Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in HollywoodSelf
- 1945Anchors AweighPolice Sergeant
- 1944The Canterville GhostBig Harry Waters
- 1944Meet the PeopleMr. Smith
- 19443 Men in WhiteHobart Genet
- 1943Whistling in BrooklynChester Conway
- 1943Girl Crazy'Rags'
- 1943Du Barry Was a LadyCharlie / Dauphin
- 1942Whistling in DixieChester Conway / Sylvester 'Lester' Conway
- 1942Panama HattieRags (as 'Rags' Ragland)
- 1942Somewhere I'll Find YouCharlie
- 1942The War Against Mrs. HadleyLouie
- 1942Maisie Gets Her ManEars Cofflin
- 1942Sunday Punch'Killer' Connolly
- 1942Born to Sing'Grunt'
- 1941Whistling in the DarkSylvester
- 1941Ringside MaisieVic
- 1938Hats and DogsRags
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