Ford Rainey, Veteran Broadway Actor, Dies at 96

Ford Rainey, a veteran actor who played the title role in Archibald McLeish’s J.B. on Broadway, died on Monday, June 25 in Santa Monica at the age of 96.

Rainey made his Broadway debut in 1939 as an ensemble member in the Chekhov Theatre production of The Possessed. Two years later, he played Sir Toby Belch in the company’s Twelfth Night, which starred a young Beatrice Straight as Viola and a then-unknown Yul Brynner as Fabian. In 1956, Rainey understudied Frederic March as James Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey into Night; two years later, he understudied Pat Hingle in J.B. and eventually took over the role.

His regional theater credits include Between Two Thieves, The Crucible, and Buried Child. Additionally, Rainey appeared in such films as The Sand Pebbles and Two Rode Together, and he guest starred on such popular TV series as Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Route 66, Perry Mason, The Bionic Woman, and M*A*S*H*.

He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Sheila Hayden Rainey; his children James, Robert, and Kathleen; and five grandchildren.