Ray "Crash" Corrigan

Raymond Benard (according to some sources - Benitz ) was born on February 14, 1902 in the city of Milwaukee ( Wisconsin , USA ).

He began working in Hollywood as a fitness and physical education instructor for movie stars. Once, while working with Dolores del Rio , Raymond was seen by her husband, MGM art director Cedric Gibbons , who suggested that the athletic young man himself be shot in the movie ^[4] . Raymond agreed, and since 1932 he began acting in films: both as a full-fledged actor, and as a stunt stunt double without an indication in the credits.

About the origin of his nicknameCrash Corrigan himself in the 1959 television game " " said it was taken from a youth when he was fond of playing football . In 1936, Corrigan played a major role in the film "The ". His character in this picture was also called Crash Corrigan - and this name became his creative pseudonym until the end of his career ^[5] .

In 1958, Corrigan played the role of the Martian monster in the film “ It! Horror from space ”, after which the 56-year-old actor retired to retire.

Ray Corrigan died on August 10, 1976 from a myocardial infarction in , Oregon . He was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery ( Inglewood (California) city). According to a 2006 photo, the actor’s grave has neither a monument nor a tombstone, and does not stand out among hundreds of such.

In 1937, Corrigan for $ 11,354 ^{[6] [7]} (about $ 196,000 in 2017 prices ^[8] ) acquired a plot of land of 0.77 km² at the foot of the Mountains in the ( California ) and equipped it as the so-called " " under the name . There was a lake with a bunker for underwater shooting, mountains, caves, rocky ledges, boulders, a small artificial waterfall, mines ^[4] . On the territory was built a town in the spirit of the Wild West Silvertown , where there were all the main locations for shooting westerns ^[9] : a saloon , a hotel , a prison , a stable , a coral , a forge , trading shops, a bank , a church. In 1966, this ranch was acquired by the famous actor Bob Hope , who renamed it Hopetown and converted it to a motorcycle racing track ^[10] . In the mid-1970s, the ranch was almost completely destroyed by fire, and at the end of the same decade, a second fire destroyed the remaining structures. In 1988, the land was bought by the city of Symi Valley , which converted the territory into a public park under the original name “Corriganville” ^[11] .
In Corriganville, the main scenes of such famous films and TV shows as “ Fort Apache ” (1948), (1949-1957), “ ” (1951-1962), and “ Shroud ” were shot. 1953), “ ” (1954-1959), (1956-1957), Star Trek (1966-1969) ^{[12] [13]} .

During his film career of 26 years, Corrigan as an actor starred in 93 films, including 30 without an indication in the credits and in 3 short films. Also in the piggy bank of the actor 24 of 51 tapes of the western series en: The Three Mesquiteers ^[14] .