With years of hard work, Charles Ray became the most expensive actor, after becoming poor overnight, people also forgot his contribution in films.

In the initial period of silent films, one name of Hollywood was in every heart and that was ‘Charles Ray’. With innocence on his face, simplicity in acting and depth in his characters, he was an expert in bringing alive the stories of America’s small towns on the big screen. The audience saw him as their own—an ordinary boy who could become great in the world of dreams. Charles Ray truly became great, but his journey was as wonderful as it was painful.

A boy from an ordinary family became a ‘country boy’
Coming from a humble family in Illinois, when Charles arrived in Hollywood, there was glitter, pomp, and the fear of getting lost in the rush of opportunity. But such a flame of confidence was burning within him, which gave him a new identity in silent cinema – the identity of ‘Country Boy’. He made everyone laugh, cry, and won hearts with his simplicity. Producers embraced him, and the press called him ‘America’s innocent hero’. But behind every height there is a risk hidden. Charles Ray took that risk and opened his own studio. He not only wanted to be a star but also wanted to be a storyteller.

Actor’s dream badly broken
The ambition was big, and his biggest film was ‘The Courtship of Miles Standish.’ He put his entire savings, trust and name at stake on this film. But, alas, the world decorated in his dreams was rejected by the audience. The film flopped miserably and with it so did Charles’s fate. Those whose name used to make theaters full house, now started yearning for work. Debt, neglect and broken relationships became their fate. The artist whom Hollywood embraced was forgotten just as quickly. While at one time the newspapers were filled with his smiling photographs, within a few years his photographs were limited only to the list of heroes of the bygone era.

Even after comeback, luck did not support him
Also tried to return. He did small roles, tried his hand at writing and directing – but could not regain the shine that was once his identity. On 23 November 1943, this star said goodbye to the world. So quietly that Hollywood was late in doing even the gore. There was neither noise nor light in the farewell of the man who gave laughter and hope to the audience. It got buried in the pages of history, like an old reel, which should never be played.