(Courtesy of Minard Coons) | On the left is Ray in his famous gorilla costume. Corrigan had the gorilla suit made to his specs. It was constructed with human hair, and to add some realism, the nostrils even pulsated. Corrigan's gorilla impersonation also included the required grunts, chest beating and kicking dust into the air, and this was all done while perspiring under the hairy costume. He performed this role in many films over a span of twenty or more years including Three Mesquiteers adventures THREE TEXAS STEERS (Republic, 1939) and COME ON, COWBOYS! (Republic, 1937). Visit the Internet Movie Database and you'll find references to some of his other ape appearances - examples are KILLER APE (1953), one of the 'Jungle Jim' adventures with Johnny Weissmuller as well as the serial THE MONSTER AND THE APE (Columbia, 1945). Competing against Corrigan for gorilla roles in the 1940s was Emil Van Horn who was the ape named 'Satan' in the cliffhanger PERILS OF NYOKA (Republic, 1942) as well as other films. In addition to the gorilla outfit, Corrigan also wore some other 'costumes' in various movies, and an example is below. |
(Courtesy of Minard Coons) Above - Ray with pretty Gloria Winters (Penny in the SKY KING TV show) at the 1959 Sheriff's Rodeo, Sunnyside, California. | (Courtesy of Minard Coons) Ray Corrigan - 1976 photo. (Courtesy of Donn & Nancy Moyer) Ray and his son, Tommy Corrigan. |
IN SEARCH OF RAY 'CRASH' CORRIGAN, RAY BENARD/BERNARD, RAY BENITZ ...
Biographies on Corrigan have indicated that his real last name was Benard, Bernard, Bernhard or another variation. Recent information indicates that is incorrect. Where did self and other researchers get that last name? The trail is confusing, but the following might help. The Family Search website (free), Ancestry.com (subscription), and the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) have information on Corrigan:
But there's always a mystery or a surprise twist. The Hollywood Gorilla Men website has a photo of Corrigan with a saluation on the back. It reads:
Above is a opening cast and credit screen from NIGHTLIFE which shows Ray billed as Raymond Benard. Speculation: Based on the Wisconsin Birth Index, it appears he was born Raymond Benitz. And in the early 1930s in Hollywood, he changed the last name to Benard/Bernard (which was either a variation of his father's real first name, or perhaps Benard/Bernard was Ray's middle name). When he signed on with Republic Pictures, the name change to Ray 'Crash' Corrigan occurred. 74 year old Tom Corrigan, Ray 'Crash' Corrigan's son and owner of Corrigan's Steakhouse in Thousand Oaks, California, passed away at his home on March 14, 2018: https://www.theacorn.com/articles/corrigan-rides-off-into-the-sunset/ After Tom Corrigan's death, his Corrigan's Steakhouse restaurant was sold and renovations made. This website has some photos: https://www.conejovalleyguide.com/local-buzz/progress-slow-but-steady-at-the-former-corrigans-steakhouse-in-thousand-oaks |
Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on Ray Corrigan and Monogram producer George W. Weeks. Click below:
Ray Corrigan: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0181003/
George W. Weeks - Producer: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0917316/
In the prior text on Corrigan, there was mention of some battles and court cases involving Ray, his ex-wife Rita, and the ownership of Corriganville. There was also their divorce and custody of their three children. The Google News Archive has articles from 1954 about those issues:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=860&dat=19640624&id=O5IKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BUwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2233,6828139
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19640629&id=_hpQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7VYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4542,4962862
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1338&dat=19640624&id=CVZYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lPcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5979,5617586
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19541222&id=W6shAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PpoFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5905,3941726
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19541221&id=7IxWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dkENAAAAIBAJ&pg=6866,5708577
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1913&dat=19541221&id=vgtHAAAAIBAJ&sjid=t_MMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1279,5562753
Jerry L. Schneider's Movie-Making Locations Guide website on Hollywood film locations is at: http://www.movielocationsplus.com/
and Jerry's expanded site on Ray Corrigan's Corriganville is at: http://www.corriganville.net/
Author Stephen Lodge worked at Corriganville and reminisced about Crash Corrigan's movie ranch in several articles:
"And Meanwhile...Back A The Ranch: Can You Remember Corriganville": http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=12206&id=8414
"Ken Maynard: One of the Good Guys": http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewArticle.asp?id=26883
The Museum of Musical Instruments website had a lengthy writeup on Corrigan and his Gibson SJ-200 Super Jumbo flat-top guitar. That website is no longer operational, but the Internet Archive Wayback Machine has an archived copy of the webpages:
https://web.archive.org/web/20190102185328/www.themomi.org/museum/singcowboys/1936GibsonSJ-200CrashCorrigan.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20190102185141/http://www.themomi.org/museum/articles/singingcowboys/3.html
The Astounding B Monster website mentions Corrigan wearing a rubber suit and portraying the titled monster in IT, THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE (1958): http://www.bmonster.com/scifi16.html
The Three Stooges Net website lists several shorts with Corrigan doing his gorilla thing: http://www.threestooges.net/cast/actor/1050
Don't forget to check out the Cowboy Trios section on the Old Corral. There, you'll find more info on Ray Corrigan under the Three Mesquiteers and Range Busters. Make sure to checkout Dennis Landadio's reviews of the Mesquiteer films. And there's info and photos on Corriganville in the section marked Corriganville Movie Ranch.