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Indefatigable Ray McDonald was born to dance, and dance he did. A New York City native born June 27, 1921, Ray was still in grade school when he and older sister (by three years) Grace McDonald formed a popular vaudeville tap dancing act. By the age of 16 Ray had made it to Broadway in the musical "Babes in Arms", in which he and Grace made quite an impression with the song "I Wish I Was In Love Again."

Talent scouts took both of them to Hollywood, but not as a duo. Grace went to Paramount and later Universal, while Ray was signed by MGM. He seemed to have all the ear markings of a star. Dark and boyishly handsome with energy to spare, he first played a leading role as a youth in the low-budget programmer Down in San Diego (1941), then kicked up his heels a bit in the Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland musical Babes on Broadway (1941), where he danced to "By the Light of the Silvery Moon." He appeared with Rooney before that in the star's vehicle Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941).

After that, things stopped clicking. The momentum of his career was not helped by war service, where he at least managed to appear in both the stage and film versions of Winged Victory (1944). Unable to rise above the secondary ranks, the June Allyson/Peter Lawford collegiate musical Good News (1947) would prove to be Ray's last feature for MGM. Divorced from actress Elisabeth Fraser whom he met while appearing in the stage show of "Winged Victory" in 1943, he met and subsequently married fellow dancer/singer Peggy Ryan while freelancing in films. They appeared together in Shamrock Hill (1949) and There's a Girl in My Heart (1949) for Eagle-Lion, and later in the musical All Ashore (1953) for Columbia, a poor man's "On the Town" with Mickey Rooney, Dick Haymes and Ray as three swabbies on leave. This would be Ray's last film.

During the subsequent lean years, he and Peggy toured stages and nightclubs until their divorce. Ray popped up on TV variety shows as well and in 1959, while in New York to appear on a show, he died after choking on food in his hotel room. He was only 37. Not well-remembered today, as is the case with sister Grace, Ray McDonald nevertheless had a great musical talent and ingratiating presence, which certainly deserves a mention.

French-born (Paris) George Archainbaud got his start in show business as an actor and stage manager in France. Emigrating to the US in 1915, he got work as an assistant director to fellow French expatriate Emile Chautard at William A. Brady's World Film Co. in Fort Lee, NJ. His directorial debut came in 1917 with As Man Made Her (1917). Archainbaud turned into a prolific director in both films and television, turning out more than 100 features over the next 35 years and numerous TV series episodes.

Although a good amount of his feature-film output was fairly routine, there was some first-rate work scattered among them, such as The Lost Squadron (1932), a gritty and dark tale of a group of former World War I aviators who find work as stunt fliers in war movies. It was a critical and financial success, earning accolades from critics for its exciting flying sequences.

The genre most associated with Archainbaud, however, is westerns. In the 1940s he turned out some fast-paced, exciting westerns, such as The Kansan (1943) and several entries in the Hopalong Cassidy series. When cowboy star Gene Autry went to television to star in his own series, he brought Archainbaud along with him and he became the principal director on the show and other Autry-produced series, such as Buffalo Bill, Jr. (1955), Annie Oakley (1954) and The Adventures of Champion (1955).

He died of a heart attack in Beverly Hills, CA, in 1959.

Laurence Housman was born on 18 July 1865 in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England, UK. Laurence was a writer, known for Prunella (1918), Folio (1955) and Happy and Glorious (1952). Laurence died on 20 February 1959 in Glastonbury, Somerset, England, UK.

Russell Wooding was born on 30 April 1891 in Hannibal, Missouri, USA. He was an actor. He was married to Sitka T. Downes. He died on 20 February 1959 in New York City, New York, USA.

Phyllis Daniels was born on 29 May 1874 in Bogota, Colombia. She was an actress, known for The World Apart (1917), A Daughter of Penance (1916) and The Laundress and the Lady (1913). She died on 20 February 1959 in London, England, UK.