Ray Heatherton (June 1, 1909 – August 15, 1997) was an American singer, Broadway musical theatre performer, and a New York City television personality in the early days of the medium.

[2] Heatherton appeared in the musicals Anniversary Waltz, The Desert Song, and Babes in Arms, in which he played the role of Val LaMar[3] the character about whom "My Funny Valentine" was sung.

[2] In 1938 Heatherton recorded two discs of songs for children on the Decca label, and in 1939 twice performed on the then-experimental medium of television, appearing on NBC's New York station W2XBS (now WNBC) in Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance (as Frederic) and H.M.S.

[7] Returning from the service, he worked in radio and began his full-time television career as the host, performer and interviewer of Heatherton House, a weekday-morning talk/variety series.

Station executives decided that one of the new venture's first showcases should be a quality children's program, and contacted Heatherton to audition as the host of a show that would appeal to the younger TV viewers.

The successful audition launched the long-running show that he created and shaped with radio and TV producer-director (and future major film producer) Sandy Howard.

[1] Every weekday afternoon and evening, as well as on Saturday afternoons, Ray Heatherton and his comedy assistants Chick Darrow, who played "The Topsey-Turvey Auctioneer", and Milt Moss would entertain and inform their studio audiences and kids at home with games, songs, stories, craftmaking, hobbies, comedy, puppet skits, magic tricks, interviews with guest performers and personalities, and informational segments.

As with virtually all children's shows of the 1950s and 60s, the format was structured so that the live segments were interspersed with cartoons—in this case, primarily the theatrical Terrytoons and the first made-for-TV animated series Crusader Rabbit.

(Information about Mr. Heatherton’s hosting the WOR-TV Channel 9 New York City edition of The Merry Mailman can be found in The NYC Kids’ Shows Roundup section of TV Party.Com.)

Comedy performers Pat Paulsen, Henny Youngman and Bob Einstein were supporting regulars and, by summer-show standards, the program received relatively good notices and ratings.

Dick Heatherton who, from the mid-1970s to the late 1980s was a drive-time DJ on one of New York's top FM stations, WCBS, worked on his father's final TV effort by signing on as the show's producer.

On Thursday night, October 11, 1984, Ray Heatherton appeared for the last time on WOR-TV, Channel 9 during the station's evening-long celebration of its 35th anniversary on the air.

[1] He retained his positions, held since the mid-1980s, on the Boards of Directors of The Long Island Lighting Company, known as LILCO, and The Garden City Hotel, but was no longer serving as of the early 1990s.