John Emmet Raitt (/reɪt/;[1] January 29, 1917[2] – February 20, 2005)[3] was an American actor and singer best known for his performances in musical theatre.

[10][11] He is best known for his stage roles in the musicals Carousel, Oklahoma!,[12] The Pajama Game, Carnival in Flanders, Three Wishes for Jamie, and A Joyful Noise, and, in 1957, he and Mary Martin starred in the national touring version of Annie Get Your Gun.

A clip of a television performance of Raitt singing the final section of the song "Soliloquy" from Carousel is included in the documentary film Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There.

On September 29, 1953, he joined Jackie Gleason and Phil Foster in an appearance on the CBS panel discussion This Is Show Business.

Raitt appeared in the 1960 episode, "The Man on the Road", on the syndicated anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews.

He was cast as Jim Dandy, an itinerant peddler who befriends a boy, Pete Rawson (Kevin Jones), whose father, played by House Peters, Jr., has been jailed falsely for horse theft.

Raitt appeared in a 1996 cameo role in Season 1 (episode 12, "Frozen Dick") of 3rd Rock from the Sun in which he sings a portion of the title song from Oklahoma!

Steve played in bands and then switched to designing high-end home entertainment systems in Eden Prairie in Hennepin County, Minnesota.

Raitt died on February 20, 2005, at his home in Pacific Palisades, California, from complications due to pneumonia, aged 88.