George Raft was born on September 26, 1895 in New York City. On November 24, 1980 George Raft passed away in Los Angeles, California from leukemia. Raft died two days after his NIGHT AFTER NIGHT and SEXTETTE co-star Mae West.

George Raft often played a gangster or convict. The believability with which he played these, together with his lifelong associations with many real-life gangsters like Owney Madden and Bugsy Siegel, added rumors that Raft also was a gangster growing up in HELLS KITCHEN. SCARFACE in 1932 was George Raft's first big role as the coin-tossing henchman.

George was the second actor to portray the title role for CBS Radio's THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY JORDAN (1951-1953).

In the 1950s, George Raft had a self-owned, syndicated TV series, I AM THE LAW. In 1966 Britian banned George Raft from entering Britain because of his Mafia connections. In 1982 the made for TV movie MAE WEST, George Raft was portrayed by Nicholas Mayer.

During George Raft's period of financial duress, he sold movie rights to his life, which was filmed as THE GEORGE RAFT STORY (1961), with Ray Danton in the title role. Raft was played on-screen by Joe Mantegna in Barry Levinson's BUGSY (1991).

George Raft's other notable credits include...

 

THE MAN WITH BOGART'S FACE (1980)
SILENT TREATMENT (1968)
OCEAN'S ELEVEN (1960)
SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)
AROUND THE WOULD IN EIGHTY DAYS (1956)
LOAN SHARK (1952)
JOHNNY ANGEL (1945)
EACH DAWN I DIE (1939)
SCAREFACE (1932)
QUEEN OF THE NIGHT CLUBS (1929)