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GEOI.CS RAIT vx' (Paramount Star)
The f our th career attested lay George Raft, that of a dra latic screen actor, is bringing him. the fame and international renown which the others failed to produce.
Before be coning an actor, Raft was a boxer, a professional baseball player and a dancer. Although he achieved fame as a dancer, his screen career has surpassed by far that success.
He care to the attention of Paramount executives as a result of his portrayal of the gangster in Howard Hughes' "Scarface" and was given a similar :cle in "Dancers in the Dark" with Miriam Hopkins and Jack Oakie. As a result of almost stealing this picture, he was placed under long-term contract.
Raft was born in Lew York, September 27, on Forty-first Street, between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, of German and Italian parentage. His German grandfather was in the entertainment business and introduced the merry-go-round into this country. He also prospected for gold in the early days of California, making several snail strikes.
In Hew York, Raft atterded Public School No. 169 and later went to St. Catherine's. During his school days andâ– during summer vacations he worked as an electrician's helper at the munificent salary of four dollars a week.
A retired pugilist named Bert i.eyes had a ring set up in a vacant lot near George's home and the boys of the neighborhood watched the professionals working out and often staged bouts of their own.
When he was fifteen George decided to become a boxer. He was a bantam weight and durin0 the next two years fought in the leading clubs of New York without particular success. In twenty-five bouts he x&s knocked out seven times, and after his last beating quit the game to avoid permanent mutilation.
George next tried professional baseball as a career. He was signed as an outfielder on tho Springfield (Hass.) Eastern Loague team but '..as dropped after two seasons because his batting average didn't compare favorably with his fielding average.