Robert Bray
Robert E. Bray (October 23, 1917 – March 7, 1983) was an American film and television actor probably best remembered for his role as the forest ranger Corey Stuart in the CBS series "Lassie", He also starred in "Stagecoach West" and as Mike Hammer in the movie version of Mickey Spillane's novel "My Gun Is Quick" (1957). Life and career. Bray entered films in 1946 under contract to RKO. He was marketed as the "next Gary Cooper" but appeared in B Westerns like 1949's "Rustlers". In the 1950s, the then freelancing actor appeared in a varied number  of roles including the 1952 episode "Thunder Over Inyo" of the syndicated western television series "The Adventures of Kit Carson". In 1954, he portrayed bandit Emmett Dalton in an episode of Jim Davis's syndicated western "Stories of the Century". That same year, he guest-starred in Reed Hadley's CBS crime drama, "The Public Defender". On December 4, 1955, he was cast as petroleum pioneer Pattillo Higgins in "Spindletop – The First Great Texas Oil Strike (January 10, 1901)" on the CBS history series, "You Are There", the story of the origin of the Texas oil industry. In 1958, he  starred in "Never Love a Stranger", a film adaptation of a Harold Robbins novel. Bray guest-starred in the episode "Obituary" of NBC's western series, "Jefferson Drum", starring Jeff Richards, and in the 1959 episode "The Trouble with Tolliver" of the ABC western drama, "The Man from Blackhawk". He appeared twice on ABC's "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp". Bray was cast as Carl the Bus Driver in "Bus Stop" with Marilyn Monroe (1956) and as detective Mike Hammer in "My Gun Is Quick" (1957). Other roles were on NBC's western anthology series, "Frontier" and on  the syndicated series "City Detective" and "State Trooper". Early in 1960, Bray was cast as Tom Byson in the episode "Three Graves" of the NBC western series, "Riverboat". In the 1960–1961 television season, Bray played Simon Kane in the ABC series "Stagecoach West" The Western comprised 38 one-hour episodes. He starred in three episodes of NBC's western "Laramie" between 1960 and 1963. He appeared in three episodes of CBS's "Perry Mason". In 1959 he played private detective and murder victim Carl Davis in "The Case of the Foot-Loose Doll." In the 1962 episode, "The Case of  the Angry Astronaut," he had the role of title character and defendant Mitch Heller; and in 1963 he portrayed wealthy murder victim Martin Walden (Episode 180, "The Case of the Potted Planter"). He also guest-starred in NBC's "Temple Houston (TV series)", "Overland Trail", and "The Loretta Young Show". He appeared in four episodes of CBS's anthology suspense series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" between 1958 and 1961. In 1958, Bray was offered a supporting role in director Joshua Logan's film adaptation of "South Pacific", but he decided instead to star in low-budget films for Allied Artists. It  was a strategic error in his career, for "South Pacific" became a smash success. Bray portrayed forest ranger Corey Stuart in Season 11 of "Lassie" because of his affinity for animals and their reciprocity toward him. The relationship continued for two more seasons. He was written out of the series as a victim of a forest fire, and his character was sent away to a hospital never to return. Bray and his wife, Joan, retired to Bishop, California, in the Sierra Nevada. He was often seen in his Winnebago in Bishop with his dog "Lady". Bray was a fly fisherman , hunter, model duck carver, and all-around sportsman. Death. He spent his last years in the High Sierras where he had made many of his early western films. Bray died of a heart attack. His ashes were scattered over Zuma Beach in Malibu, California.