Film Career
His career in Hollywood began as a physical fitness instructor and physical culture trainer to the stars. In the early 1930s he did stunts and bit-parts. Many of his early roles were in ape costumes - for example, as a Gorilla in Tarzan and His Mate (1934) and an "Orangopoid" in the original Flash Gordon serial. In 1936 he got his break with roles in two Republic serials, The Vigilantes Are Coming and Undersea Kingdom in the main starring role where Benard adopted his character's name "Crash Corrigan" (that evoked memories of "Flash Gordon") as his own.
On the basis of this, Republic signed him to a Term Player Contract, running from May 25, 1936 to May 24, 1938. He was cast as one the trio in the Three Mesquiteers series of films and starred in 24 in all. He left Republic in 1938 in a dispute over pay.
At Monogram Pictures, he began a new series of films - The Range Busters (a cheap copy of the Three Mesquiteers) - with a character of his own name. Ray starred in 20 of the 24 films in this series between 1940 and 1943.
Following this, his on screen work largely returned to appearing in ape costumes - for example, the title roles in Nabonga (1944), White Pongo (1945) and as a prehistoric sloth in Unknown Island (1948). The original gorilla "mask" seen in films like The Ape (1940) was replaced with a subtler design with a more mobile jaw. In 1948 he sold his gorilla suits and provided training to Steve Calvert a Ciro's bartender. Calvert stepped in Corrigan's pawprints beginning with a Jungle Jim film. Despite reports to the contrary, Calvert and Corrigan never appeared together in ape costume. Since both Corrigan and Calvert eschewed screen credit as gorillas, credits are often confused. Any appearance of the "Corrigan suit" after 1948 is Calvert.
In 1950 Corrigan had a television show called Crash Corrigan's Ranch and was planning a television series with his old associate Max Terhune called Buckskin Rangers.
Corrigan's last film was playing the title role of It! The Terror from Beyond Space. According to bio information given to visitors at the Thousand Oaks, California Corrigan Steak House and Bar that he once owned, the origin of his "Crash" nickname is from his stunt work where he would often crash through saloon windows onto the street outside.
Read more about this topic: Ray "Crash" Corrigan
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