Gene Anthony Ray

He came across as hyper sexual on screen. Like a hot fuck but a bit crazy

He must have been a great fuck in real life. His obituary hints strongly that he was gay. "Flamboyantly camp, he brushed aside questions about his sexuality. He never married." Spill the bean, girls!

Lean in close, this is extremely personal.

GIYF.

Google is pretty sparse for somebody who was a star at some point, R3. I just wondered whether anybody knew him personally. I knew some extras from "Fame" but lost touch.

R2 Ummm, he died of HIV and was a known homosexualist.

As his Telegraph obituary describes:

"Ray remained a "frantic partygoer'"with a self-confessed weakness for drink and drugs. As his life fell apart, he slept on park benches, and during a failed attempt to launch a Fame-style dance school in Milan, shared a flat there with a porn actress. In 1996 he was diagnosed HIV positive. He suffered a stroke in 2003."

That's sad, R6. I thought he was just great I the movie. Never saw the TV series.

I remember a funny moment during a Men On skit on In Living Color. Antwon says the word firecracker and Blaine says "Is that Gene Anthony Ray's new movie?"

Remembah

Remembah

Remembah his name!

r3 "GIYF"

Does that mean "Gay In Your Face?"

He was incredible. A total star. Dancing ability, looks and so much charm.

Valerie Landsburg ruined the series, overacting like a simpleton.

Valerie who?

R12, she was my favorite, not sure why. Danny (Carlo Imperato) was the sexiest but I loved Ray Anthony as well. He was an awesome dancer.

*Gene Anthony Ray obviously.

It’s. a shame he couldn’t live forever.

Google Is Your Friend

Great body...well, back then.

And here I thought it was "Google It Yourself, Fuckhead".

[quote] but I loved Ray Anthony as well.

Mmmmm.....me too! And he's still alive at 98!

Coincidentally, Miss Mamie is on TCM right this very minute! ("Untamed Youth.")

MASSIVE penis and very handsome.

He had a tough upbringing.

Gene’s Fame character was not that far off from who he was in real life. Just like his character, “Leroy,” Gene was an untrained dancer who learned how to dance, by battling at neighborhood block parties. He grew up in a then rough neighborhood in Harlem, NY and was in the streets a lot.

In 1984, Ray’s mother was arrested in a drug raid along with 14 others, including his grandmother, three aunts, and three uncles. Ray’s mother, 46-year-old Jean Ray, was charged with dealing heroin and cocaine. His grandmother, 66-year-old Viola (Lilly) Ward, was carrying six ounces of cocaine and a loaded .38-caliber pistol when she was taken into custody. In March 1984, after a two-week trial, Ray’s mother was convicted. According to police, she sold heroin and cocaine to undercover officers in several buys in 1983 that took place in Harlem bars. In April 1984 she was sentenced to at least 15 years, with parole eligibility in 1999.

Although Ray, who remained very loyal to his mother, was never implicated in the drug dealings, he was under tremendous stress. After failing to show up for Fame rehearsals 100 times and self-admittedly using drugs between shoots, he was fired from the show in 1984. Ray’s use of drugs and alcohol continued unabated. In 1992, with his use of alcohol out of control, Ray stole a bottle of wine from a Milan supermarket and used it to attack two men who were taunting him. He was arrested, although the charges were later dropped. Having squandered his wealth to feed his drug habit, Ray was unemployed.

I read an article once in which Debbie Allen described working with him. It was sad. I am too lazy to search for it, however.

I am a complete loss for why you posted, r24, if you're not even going to describe what it said. "Sad" tells us next to nothing.

He was really well cast in the film because he basically WAS the part he was playing (though the film never explained how he got through grades 10 and 11 if he was illiterate all the way through senior year). I'm sorry his life turned out so shitty.

He had the talent and the body to do amazing things as a dancer, but he didn't have the background or the family support to allow him to keep up the discipline needed for him to succeed.

He was the object of desire in this Weather Girls video.

He had a beautiful, expressive face, in addition to a beautiful body.

[quote]He was really well cast in the film because he basically WAS the part he was playing (though the film never explained how he got through grades 10 and 11 if he was illiterate all the way through senior year).

The same way Donald Trump got through college.

"Wicked!" Leroy was about the sexiest fuckin thing I'd ever seen when that movie came out. I think I saw it four times in the theater. I'd never done repeat viewings like that with any movie before Fame.

Funny that there's not even the tiniest hint of rapping in this movie, guess that's cause it was written and produced and directed by old white people who had no idea about up any up and coming forms of street music and dance.

Leroy's and all the dancing in Fame, is so wholesome, with some physical distance maintained between people's bodies. Leroy only rubs up on himself! The ubiquitous booty grinding of the last X number of years isn't there at all.

Despite what the article said, I wonder if Gene was actually just suspended from the series and not fired. He was a regular for all 6 seasons. He missed several episodes later on but was still in most of them. (Leroy was a teacher in the last 2 years.)

[quote] Funny that there's not even the tiniest hint of rapping in this movie,

Macaroni and baloney.

Tuna fish, our favorite dish.

Hot lunch, hey.

If it's yellow, then it's jello.

If it's blue it could be stew oo, oo.

He was young and single and loved to mingle. But not any more.

It's all subjective but....gorgeous? Really?

Sexy....definitely.

Yeah, r30. I didn't know he was fired or suspended from the show. I think you're right - must have been suspended because I remember him being on the show throughout the series.

Gene was excellent as Leroy in the movie and series. The series watered down Leroy but it watered down everything from the movie. He had so much charisma and sex appeal (especially in the film). I love his relationship with Anne Meara's character in the film.

He was cute and sexy definitely. Also had an ass that could stop traffic. If he had been the same age now and not had the same upbringing and issues, he could've been a contender

He was eventually fired after missing more than 100 days of work. Big drug problem.

OP here. I am so happy this caught on. You made my day, gurls! I want to marry each one of you.

Video quality ain't great, but you can still see his FINE ASS...

There are two pictures of him on the live album that I spent a lot of spunk on.

Wasn't the whole DL meme 'He (or she) had a fine ass, but couldn't live forever' start with Ray?

Fame COSTS!!!!

He had beautiful eyes, R33 and a very nice smile. And I thought he wasn’t too queeny either, at lest in the fIlm. Btw I briefly dated another dancer from Fane who would up in the cast o Cats in Vienna. Very sexy too...

I found a better quality version of your video, r38.

Has anybody had him?

sizemeat verificata?

OP's photo of him is incredibly ugly.

He actually could be quite beautiful.

Here's a nice photo of his face:

It's amazing to see how rough he looked at the end and yet to realize he never was older than 41. The hard living really took its toll.

[quote]Despite what the article said, I wonder if Gene was actually just suspended from the series and not fired. He was a regular for all 6 seasons. He missed several episodes later on but was still in most of them. (Leroy was a teacher in the last 2 years.)

Interesting given that this was not the story I remember. From what I recall, Gene Anthony Ray had simply grown tired of the role and planned to exit the series of his own volition at the end of season 6. And because Debbie Allen and Carlo Imperato had also announced their intention to leave at the same time, the producers of the show decided to end the series rather than try to continue without three of its biggest original stars. Now whether or not that was true who knows (and I'm not suggesting he didn't have drug/other issues on set) but that was what I remember hearing at the time. IIRC, the final episode (when they brought back former co-stars from previous seasons) revolved around Leroy's decision to leave the School of the Arts and strike out on his own.

Looking back, I frankly was not surprised to hear that either of them was leaving. Even though all three were still billed in the opening credits each week along with all the other principal actors, by the time the sixth season came around, their appearances on the show had become few and far between.

He was the Billy Porter of his time.

I actually like OP's photo R46. That's the look you want to give b4 you get LUSTY!

R31--Irene Cara SANG Hot Lunch. That was not rapping by any stretch.

I thought the '"Hot Lunch Jam" in "Fame." was ridiculous. The students are in the cafeteria and instead of eating they're performing; singing, playing instruments, dancing on tables. Yeah, I REALLY sure that happened all the time in the goddamn lunch room.

Looks like it's time for you to go back to Ridgemont, Mr. Hand.

Thanks R43. I can still remember that ass...even though it's been almost 40 years...

[quote]sizemeat verificata?

As I'm sure you've been told numerous times, the word is VERIFICATIA, you fat stupid whore!

[quote] I thought the '"Hot Lunch Jam" in "Fame." was ridiculous. The students are in the cafeteria and instead of eating they're performing; singing, playing instruments, dancing on tables. Yeah, I REALLY sure that happened all the time in the goddamn lunch room.

That didn't bother me so much that the kids would want to do that, since it was the first day of classes and they all wanted to show off. What bothered em more was that all the cafeteria and maintenance staff would stand back, clapping and admiring, instead of screaming for them to shut the fuck up and stop dancing unhygienically on the tables (which is absolutely what would have happened in real life).

But it's the least realistic moment in the movie, and it's also it's signature scene, and the one everyone thinks of when they think of the movie--it's ridiculous to think there would be a piano in the cafeteria in the first place (that's something Carol Burnett would have made fun of on her show), but it allowed Alan Parker to express the idea that these kids are just filled with tons of talent and ability and want to express it however they can. I took it more in the spirit of a dance and song number in a traditional musical--everyone feels so intensely at this moment that they have to let it out in spontaneous song, even though it's not very realistic.

This is a film I think about more than just about other film from its era, even "Raging Bull," which came out the same year and was much more controlled and even more beautifully filmed. It's a messy film, with tons of plotholes and moments that don't make much sense; but it's really got a vision of the world it wants to express, and it stays with you. I wish the subsequent TV series had been better (it focused too much on the teachers than on the students, and Debbie Allen was not a strong actor even though she was a good dancer), but the movie is still remarkable.

Shirley stole the movie!

What happened to Irene Cara? I remember reading stories years ago about her being a complete bitch to everyone.

I once saw him at The Rage in West Hollywood, circa the late 80’s. He was dancing with a group of friends and was hyper and a bit effeminate. He was also much shorter than I would have expected, maybe 5’7”.

He was in the musical version of CARRIE. That pretty much makes him gay royalty.

Top, bottom, in between?

I can see a piano in the cafeteria. At the school for performing arts!

He was the first sexy gay man I saw on TV and it was transfixing watching him and watching others respond to his beautiful body. Sad to hear how it ended for GAR.

Fame was a musical. People spontaneously burst out into songs and musical numbers in a musical. That's how they work.

[quote] What happened to Irene Cara?

She now works tirelessly as a spokeswoman for the Hideous Breasts Awareness Foundation. She is doing so much to fight this terrible affliction.

R67 The Ugly Itty Bitty Titty Committee.

R66, the film is actually quite stark and realistic, the tv show was more like a proper musical. I was a kid when I started watching the tv show and only later saw the film. The film's realism hit me in the face like a ton of bricks and I wasn't sure if I liked it. It's been years since I last saw it and only vaguely remember the scene in question but I certainly do get why some people would think it's a bit over the top. That said, yes, the film is still a semi-musical and I buy the scene totally.

BTW, I went to a high school of arts and we did have a piano in our cafeteria. The school didn't have dancing or acting programs so there weren't any impromptu dancing scenes happening but since we had many rockers as students they did sometimes have jam sessions out of the blue.

Cara's titties looked like 2 pancakes with a Hershey's Kiss on each one.

"Fame was a musical."

Not really. It was a drama about kids going to a performing arts school and it featured scenes of the kids singing and dancing. I suppose at times the kids in the school would flaunt their talents, but I seriously doubt they did things like dance in the streets and burst into song and dance on the tables in the school cafeteria.