Ray Culley

Biography

Ray Culley's 40-year career as an actor, producer, and studio owner began in Hollywood in 1930. Born in Norwalk, Ohio in 1904, Ray was the oldest of four children of Mary Sehl Culley and Carl Culley. He apprenticed and worked as a watchmaker and jeweler for twelve years before moving to Hollywood. He started his Hollywood career as an actor with bit parts in several films before taking a position as a production assistant, production manager, and director mainly for Liberty Pictures and Republic Films. In the nine years Ray lived in Hollywood he worked with many of the biggest stars of the day: Gene Autrey, Hoot Gibson, Roy Rodgers, Bill Boyd (Hopalong Cassidy), Lila Lee, Myrna Loy, Reginald Denny, Marian Marsh, Irvin S. Cobb, Mickey Rooney, and Monte Blue. He is listed on the film credits for at least five movies: "The Fighting Parson" (1933), "One Year Later" (1933), "Picture Brides" (1934), "Take the Stand" (1934), and "Champagne for Breakfast" (1935). His contribution was uncredited on at least 18 other "Hollywood" films. Ray's transition to industrial filmmaking came in 1937 when he directed a General Electric film titled "From Now On" produced by Tri-State Productions. This work brought him back to Ohio where he directed "The World's Largest Electrical Workshop" (1939) for the GE Lighting Division in Cleveland. In 1939, Ray and his wife, Betty Buehner Culley, founded Cinecraft Productions, an industrial film company. Early on, Ray and Betty recognized the economy and potential of 16mm film and employed the format in their commercial films. They also were pioneers in the use of multi-camera film shooting methods. Using two or more cameras to simultaneously film the same scene from different angles, cut production costs tremendously. In addition to General Electric, prominent clients during Ray Culley's tenure at Cinecraft (1939 to 1970) included DuPont, Hercules Powder, Standard Oil of Ohio, Seiberling Rubber Company, Firestone, Goodyear, Bethlehem Steel, Owens-Corning, Ohio Bell Telephone, General Electric, American Greetings, Carling Brewing, Westinghouse, The Austin Company, and Republic Steel. Cinecraft also produced films for trade organizations including the National Association of Manufacturers, American Society for Metals, Lake Carriers Association, and the American Iron and Steel Institute. On a smaller scale, they produced films for various governmental agencies, social service agencies, and religious organizations Many of their accounts -- Westinghouse, General Electric, Ohio Bell Telephone, Republic Steel, and Standard Oil of Ohio being prime examples -- lasted for decades. Cinecraft relied on local acting talent from the Cleveland Playhouse but also attracted well known (or soon to be well known) actors and celebrities to appear in their films including Alan Alda, Don Ameche, Merv Griffin, Wally Cox, Tim Conway, Brian Donlevy, Reed Hadley, Chet Huntley, Danny Kaye, Otto Kruger, George Montgomery, Burgess Meredith, Basil Rathbone, and James Whitmore. Future presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan also appeared in Cinecraft projects. While ownership has changed twice since its founding, Cinecraft is still in business and rightfully claims itself the "country's longest standing corporate film & video production house." Betty and Ray had three children, John, Jim and Raymond. Ray died on September 18, 1983, and Betty died on June 4, 2016. A Finding Aid including an extensive historical note on Ray and Betty Culley and Cinecraft Productions is posted an the Hagley Museum and Library web site http://findingaids.hagley.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/2018_201.xml