Trivia

At age 21, Gray met Connie Stevens for the first time when they appeared in the teen drama The Party Crashers (1958). Stevens recalled: "He said, 'I know you - you were president of my fan club.' I was absolutely stunned and shocked that he remembered me." Gray turned out to be everything she had expected when she watched him on screen during her teenage days - "kind, sweet, sparkly eyes and all.".

Had 19 grandchildren (10 granddaughters and 9 grandsons).

Trained in gymnastics, he also became an accomplished trick rider, learning from Redd Russell, well-known trick rider and stunt man.

Long before she became an actress, Connie Stevens was president of the Gary Gray Fan Club. He and Connie later worked together in The Party Crashers (1958).

In 1947 he and Robert Mitchum recorded the songs from Rachel and the Stranger (1948) for Delta Records' soundtrack album. In 1998, these and other songs were used on the CD "Robert Mitchum Sings."

Was the son of Hollywood business manager Bill Gray, whose clients included Bert Wheeler of the comedy team "Wheeler and Woolsey" and Jack Benny, both of whom encouraged the elder Gray to get Gary and his younger sister, Arlene Gray, into the movies.

Gray made his film debut at 3, playing the uncredited role of a boy in a sailor suit in a park in the George Cukor melodrama, A Woman's Face (1941), starring Joan Crawford.

He later recalled that Crawford tended to him when he fell and hurt his knee on the set. "Before my mother could get to me, Joan Crawford picked me up, took me to her dressing room and was feeding me chocolates", he told the Columbian newspaper in Vancouver, Wash., in 1998. Gray's role in The Next Voice You Hear... (1950) in 1950 led to a contract at MGM, where he appeared with the original Lassie in the 1951 family western The Painted Hills (1951). At the end of filming, Lassie's trainer, Rudd Weatherwax, gave Gray one of Lassie's puppies, which Gray named Laddie.

Like many former child actors, he found it tougher to land roles as he grew older. He successfully transitioned himself into a long career in the swimming pool business while still an actor.

He believes that his mother and her best friend came up with the name Gary Gray after seeing the movie Brand of the Outlaws (1936) starring Bob Steele as a character named Gary Gray.

He was a member of the Air National Guard for six years, the U.S. Air Force for one year and the Air Force Reserve for two years.

While shooting The Great Lover (1949) at Paramount with Bob Hope and Rhonda Fleming, Gary was elected president of the Rhonda Fleming Fan Club.

Father of four daughters: Cindy Jean, April Lyn, Kimberly Ann, and Carrie Elizabeth.

Older brother of actress Arlene Gray.

Interviewed in "Earth vs. the Sci-Fi Filmmakers" by Tom Weaver (McFarland, 2005).

Interviewed in "Growing Up on the Set: Interviews with 39 Former Child Actors of Classic Film and Television" by Tom Goldrup and Jim Goldrup (McFarland, 2002).

Honoree at the 2005 Golden Boot Awards.