George Raft: Movies & Box Office

George Raft (born George Ranft on 1901-09-26) was an American actor, dancer, and film producer whose career spanned the golden age of Hollywood. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, the son of German‑immigrant Eva Glockner and Conrad Ranft, and left school at twelve to work a series of odd jobs ranging from errand boy to professional boxer. By his mid‑teens he was already a seasoned carnival performer, a taxi dancer, and a champion Charleston competitor, which led to nightclub gigs in New York and eventually a European tour that popularized the tango. After befriending notorious gangsters such as Owney Madden, Raft moved to Los Angeles in 1927 and broke into film with a small, later cut, part in Queen of the Night Clubs. His breakthrough came with a supporting gangster role in Quick Millions (1931) and was cemented by his iconic turn as Guino Rinaldo in Howard Hawks’ Scarface (1932), where his habit of flipping a coin became a lasting cinematic trope. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s he starred in dozens of classics – Bolero, The Glass Key, Each Dawn I Die, They Drive by Night and the beloved comedy Some Like It Hot (1959) – often playing the suave, morally ambiguous tough‑guy that audiences adored.

Despite a reputation for being difficult, walking out on several high‑profile projects, and numerous alleged ties to organized crime, Raft remained a Hollywood fixture for over five decades, transitioning from leading man to character actor and even to television host. His later years saw him manage casino interests in Las Vegas, Havana, and London, though legal and immigration troubles curtailed many of these ventures. He died of emphysema in Los Angeles on 1980-11-24, leaving behind two Hollywood Walk‑of‑Fame stars and a legacy that influenced future on‑screen gangsters such as Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney.