Constance Ray (born July 10, 1956) is an American actress and playwright. Among her highest-profile appearances are Thank You for Smoking (2006) and Stuart Little (1999), and the television drama ER (1997). She also appeared in Ice Princess (2005) and on George Lopez (2002).
Connie Ray | |
|---|---|
| Born | Constance Ray July 10, 1956 |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, playwright |
| Years active | 1991–present |
Biography
editConstance Ray was one of three children born to Betty Jean (Edmonds) and Shelton Ray and raised on the family's dairy farm in Orange County, North Carolina. At the age of ten, Ray wrote a play with her brother Lester for a 4-H club talent show that went on to win at county and district competitions.[1] She went on to study dance at East Carolina University and earned a Master of Fine Arts at Ohio University.[2]
Ray wrote the bluegrass gospel musicals Smoke On The Mountain, which opened off-Broadway in 1990, Sanders Family Christmas (1999),[3] and Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming (2006), three of the most produced musicals in the United States for the last 20 years.[4][5]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | A Very Brady Sequel | Flight Attendant | |
| Space Jam | Owner's Girlfriend | ||
| My Fellow Americans | Genny | ||
| 1997 | Speed 2: Cruise Control | Fran Fisher | |
| 1998 | Hope Floats | Bobbi-Claire Patterson | |
| 1999 | Idle Hands | Mrs. Tobias | |
| Stuart Little | Aunt Tina | ||
| 2000 | Lost Souls | Mother | |
| 2002 | The Time Machine | Teacher | |
| About Schmidt | Vicki Rusk | ||
| 2003 | How to Deal | Marion Smith | |
| 2004 | Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius | Clara Jones | |
| 2005 | Ice Princess | Mrs. Fletcher | |
| Thank You for Smoking | Pearl | ||
| 2006 | Flourish | Wendy Covner | |
| Flags of Our Fathers | Mrs. Sousley | ||
| 2007 | Welcome to Paradise | Patsy Nellis | |
| 2022 | American Reject | Bonnie |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Harry and the Hendersons | Ginger Higgs | Episode: "Harry Goes Ape" |
| 1991–1993 | The Torkelsons/Almost Home | Millicent Torkelson | Main role |
| 1992 | Quantum Leap | Carol Pruitt | Episode: "Killin' Time" |
| 1993 | L.A. Law | Philomena Bannister | Episode: "Leap of Faith" |
| 1995 | Murphy Brown | Ms. Howard | Episode: "Murphy's Law" |
| Never Say Never: The Deirdre Hall Story | Shane | TV movie | |
| 1996 | Coach | Mary Luba | Episode: "Nice Guys Get Cut" |
| Dream On | Mandy | Episode: "Second Time Aground" | |
| 1997 | Touched by an Angel | Sandra Mills | Episode: "The Road Home: Part 1" |
| Promised Land | Sandra Mills | Episode: "The Road Home: Part 2" | |
| ER | Glenda | Episode: "Friendly Fire" | |
| 1998 | The Pretender | Episode: "Red Rock Jarod" | Marilyn Miller |
| 1999 | Veronica's Closet | Jan Schaefer | Episode: "Veronica's Big Homecoming" |
| It's Like, You Know... | Beverly | Episode: "Two Days in the Valley" | |
| 2000 | Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane | Betty | Episode: "The Feud" |
| 2002 | Andy Richter Controls the Universe | Lorie | Episode: "Wedding" |
| Providence | Hazel | Episodes: "All the King's Men", "Gotcha", "Out of Control" | |
| George Lopez | Debbie | Episode: "No Free Launch" | |
| 2003 | Less than Perfect | Nona | Episode: "High Maintenance" |
| 2005–2006 | Still Standing | Joy | Episodes: "Still Bill Vol. 1", "Still Deceitful" |
| 2006 | Twenty Good Years | Susan | Episode: "John's Old Lady" |
| 2007 | My Name Is Earl | Mrs. Clevenger | Episode: "Burn Victim" |
| 2008 | Greek | Norma | Episode: "47 Hours and 11 Minutes" |
| Worst Week | Sheila | Episodes: "The Cake", "The Wedding" | |
| 2011 | Justified | Mrs. Reasoner | Episode: "Blaze of Glory" |
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Biological Mother | Episode; "Double Strands" | |
| 2011–2013 | The Big C | Connie Schuler | Episodes: "The Little c", "What's Your Story?", "Quality of Life", "The Finale" |
| 2012 | Hart of Dixie | Mrs. Beaudry | Episode: "Walkin' After Midnight" |
| 2013 & 2017 | Blue Bloods | Ruth / Ann Harris | Episodes: "Lost and Found" & "Ghosts of the Past" |
| 2014–2015 | Grey's Anatomy | Karen Kepner | Episodes: "Don't Let's Start" & "The Bed's Too Big Without You" |
| 2017 | The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel | Mrs. Winters | Episode: "Mrs. X at the Gaslight" |
| Kick Me, I'm Christian | Betsy Rafferty | Unsold TV pilot | |
| 2018 | The Good Fight | Mrs. Honeycutt | Episode: "Day 443" |
| 2019 | Kim Possible | Nana Possible | TV movie |
Theater
edit| Year | Title | Role | Theater |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | The Heidi Chronicles | ||
| 1990 | Smoke on the Mountain | June Sanders | Lamb's Theatre |
| 2010 | Next Fall | Arlene | Helen Hayes Theatre |
| 2013 | Hands on a Hardbody | Cindy Barnes | Brooks Atkinson Theatre |
References
edit- ^ Broili, Susan (3 Jan 2003). "'About Schmidt' ... he's not a great kisser". Chapel Hill Herald.
[Connie] and brother Lester would show cows from their Twin Branch Farm in 4-H shows, but always wanted to be in the 4-H talent show. So one year, they wrote and starred in a play about two old ladies who rode skateboards - "and we won!" Ray recalled. Their performance won in the Orange County 4-H division, and then took the district competition when they performed at Memorial Hall.
- ^ Buck, Jerry (12 Mar 1993). "Connie Ray Still Great on 'Home'". Chicago Sun-Times.
Ray studied dance at East Carolina University and got her master's degree at Ohio University. She also studied dance with Twyla Tharp at American University in Washington and with Merce Cunningham.
- ^ Holmes, Cecile (4 Dec 1999). "A country kind of Christmas". Houston Chronicle.
As a sequel to Smoke On the Mountain, Sanders Family Christmas . . . is currently being produced in about 30 theaters in cities including Nashville, Cincinnati and Seattle.
- ^ Stein, Jerry (8 Nov 1999). "Gospel-tinged 'Smoke' comes back for a sequel". Cincinnati Post.
Since its premiere in 1988, "Smoke on the Mountain" has become one of the most frequently produced musicals in the U.S.
- ^ Smoke on the Mountain
External links
edit- Connie Ray at IMDb
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