Raymond O'Connor (actor)

Raymond John O'Connor (September 13, 1952 - October 9, 2023) was an American character actor.

Life and career
Raymond John O’Connor was born September 13, 1952, in the Parkchester neighborhood of the South Bronx, New York. Born to a typical Irish Catholic family, his early life included attending Catholic schools and minor brushes with law enforcement. This path led Ray to attend Belmont Abbey College, a Benedictine monastery in North Carolina. Ray had no intentions of entering the monastery although it was a remarkable intellectual, emotional, and spiritual experience. During and after college he dabbled with many jobs including working as a hard rock miner, drilling and blasting 795 feet beneath New York. Ray flirted with theater in undergraduate school and began pursuing it more seriously in graduate school in the mid-1970’s eventually jumping into the deep end of the New York Theatre scene and finding his sea legs with the First Amendment Comedy group and Medicine Show Theatre, an off-off Broadway experimental troupe.

It was here that he met his wife of 38 years, Stephanie. They spent their early days together onstage at Medicine Show Theater and tending bar at Robert’s Restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen. They married in 1985 and moved to Los Angeles where Ray continued a successful acting career of nearly 40 years. Easily recognized, “Hey ain’t that the guy from….” were words frequently heard in his vicinity. His film and TV resume lists over one hundred productions not to mention his commercial work, for which TV Guide once dubbed him the “master of 60-second comedy.” Among others, Ray worked with such directors as Michael Bay, Mel Brooks and Blake Edwards. His notable film works include: The Rock, Off-Limits, Big Momma’s House, My Giant, Life Stinks, My Blue Heaven, Halloween 4, Just like Heaven, Inspector Gadget, and many other independent and big budget productions.

In addition to his success as an actor, Ray was a talented and dedicated writer, penning many screenplays, short stories, and poems. A selection of his poetry can be found in the Golden Pen Writers Guild anthologies “This and That (and everything else)”and “The Writer’s Brush.” More than anything, he was a family man and considered his family his greatest work of art.

O'Connor was in a number of films, some small roles and some larger. His first role was in the 1985 mini series Kane & Abel. He made guest appearances on several television shows, such as Seinfeld, Beverly Hills, 90210, Sister, Sister, Silk Stalkings and Babylon 5 (in the 5th-season episode "A View from the Gallery" as Mack).

O'Connor died on October 9, 2023 of Bladder Cancer.