George Raft (née Ranft; September 26, 1901[1] [2][3] – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s.

A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is remembered for his gangster roles in Quick Millions (1931) with Spencer Tracy, Scarface (1932) with Paul Muni, Each Dawn I Die (1939) with James Cagney, Invisible Stripes (1939) with Humphrey Bogart, and Billy Wilder's comedy Some Like It Hot (1959) with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon; and as a dancer in Bolero (1934) with Carole Lombard and a truck driver in They Drive by Night (1940) with Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino and Bogart.

[6] Most obituaries cited Raft's year of birth as 1895, which he stated was correct when he appeared on The Mike Douglas Show seven months prior to his death.

"[24] During this time, Raft befriended a number of gangsters, including Enoch Johnson and Larry Fay, and he would occasionally drive for Owney Madden.

[25] A boyhood friend of gangster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, and later a "wheel man" for the mob, Raft acknowledged having narrowly avoided a life of crime.

[10] His stage performances included The City Chap (October 1925) (with music by Jerome Kern),[27] Gay Paree, Madhattan, Palm Beach Nights (also known as No Foolin') and Padlocks of 1927 (1927).

"[28] Raft later starred in the film Broadway (1942), a fictionalized account of his life when he was working the Paramount-Publix circuit and performing in stage shows that were presented before movies.

His dancing skills were noticed by director Rowland Brown, who cast him in a substantial supporting gangster role as Spencer Tracy's character's sidekick in Quick Millions (1931).

[11] Raft's appearances in these films were followed by Goldie with Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow, Hush Money with Joan Bennett, and the Eddie Cantor musical Palmy Days.

He appeared in the studio's first film, Raoul Walsh's highly popular and energetic period piece The Bowery, as Steve Brodie, supposedly the first man to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge and survive.

[48] Raft was meant to appear in It's a Pleasure to Lose, based on the life of Nick the Greek, but instead was slated to star in Bolero (1934), playing a dancer with Carole Lombard.

[17][49] The New York Times wrote: "Raft is a vivid and pictorially interesting type, rather than an actor in the technical sense, and consequently he proves unequal to the full implications of the fame-hungry dancer.

[63] Raft was offered a part opposite the studio's top male star Gary Cooper in Souls at Sea (1937), directed by Henry Hathaway.

[67] Paramount announced Raft for Millions for Defense with Ray Milland and Frances Farmer, a film about the Barbary War, but the picture was not made.

[68] Instead, Raft appeared with Sylvia Sidney in Fritz Lang's drama You and Me (1938), and was next reunited with Hathaway to star in another adventure story, Spawn of the North (1938), with Henry Fonda and John Barrymore playing supporting roles.

Raft next rejected the lead role in All Through the Night (1942), refusing to appear on the first day of filming because he did not want to play a heel,[85] and Bogart once again replaced him.

[35] In November 1942, Raft bought himself out of his Warner Bros. contract in order to appear in Hell's Kitchen, a story of his life, on stage,[90] but the play never materialized.

20th Century Fox hired him to a contract so that he could appear in Henry Hathaway's hit musical Nob Hill (1945), replacing Fred MacMurray.

[95] Raft next appeared in director Edwin Marin's Johnny Angel (1945) for RKO,[96] an unexpected hit that realized a profit of more than a million dollars.

Ace (1946), with Sylvia Sidney and director Marin for producer Benedict Bogeaus, was a flop, but it did lead to a rather successful radio series starring Raft entitled The Cases of Mr.

[100] However, the following year, Hedda Hopper wrote that Raft was "going stronger than ever today" adding that "he has made millions, but hasn't got 'em due to a fondness for gambling and a loyalty to helping old friends.

The lengthy period of shooting for Johnny Allegro caused him to miss the chance to star in The Big Steal (1949), and he was replaced by Robert Mitchum.

In the summer of 1951, Raft took the title role in the radio adventure series Rocky Jordan, playing "the owner of a cabaret in Cairo whose life is steeped in intrigue."

[104] Raft appeared in two Lippert Pictures low-budget thrillers, Escape Route (1952), shot in England with Sally Gray, and Loan Shark (1952).

Also popular was Black Widow (1954), a film noir with Ginger Rogers, but A Bullet for Joey (1955), which reunited Raft with Edward G. Robinson, was a flop.

In 1971 he twice appeared on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In comedy show, and in one episode of the sitcom The Chicago Teddy Bears, which was his last TV acting role.

In Britain, he appeared in Two Guys Abroad (1962), a film intended as a pilot for a television series, and back in Hollywood had small roles in For Those Who Think Young and The Patsy (both 1964).

[citation needed] In the early 1970s, Raft appeared in an Alka-Seltzer television commercial as a prison inmate, worked as a goodwill ambassador for the Riviera in Las Vegas[13] and sold his house to move into an apartment in Century City.

The pair separated soon thereafter, but the devoutly Catholic Mulrooney refused to grant a divorce, and Raft officially remained married to her and continued to support her until her death in 1970.

A romantic figure in Hollywood, Raft had love affairs with Hilda Ferguson, Betty Grable, Marlene Dietrich, Tallulah Bankhead, Carole Lombard and Mae West.