Repost - Peter Ratray (Dan ) (1977)

[safeandsound]

Forgot to repost this during his recent run.

This is from when Peter was on Another World.


Peter Ratray (Quentin Ames): I watched my wife have a Caesarian

DAYTIME TV – October 1977

Peter Ratray, the new Quentin Ames, on Another World is so completely devoted to his two sons, Luke, 5, and Devin, born January 11, that he calls them “extraordinary.”

He recalls that when Luke was born, he managed to sneak around the delivery room and peek at the Caesarian birth.

But when his wife, actress Ann Willis, was being prepped for the second Caesarian, she told the nurse, “ I want my husband to be in the delivery room.”

Having a non-medic in the delivery room is illegal in California, but a sympathetic nurse arranged for Peter to don a surgical gown and mask, pretend he was a new intern, and wheel Ann into the delivery room.

“By the time the operation was over, half the hospital knew I wasn't real intern, but nobody snitched on me, “ recalls Peter. “I saw my son being born! A profound experience!”

“A Caesarian is the second bloodiest operation,” he explains. ”It bothered me to see the initial cut into her belly. But I was most concerned with Ann, who was given only a local anesthetic because she had bronchial pneumonia and couldn't take full anesthetic.”

Being followers of the new La Boyer method, Peter had the baby briefly in his arms within three minutes after birth, “ I bathed him in warm water and put him on Ann's body and within 10 minutes he was smiling... and he hasn't stopped smiling ever since.”

It was one of the most emotional moments of his life. “there's no way to describe the depths of emotion... between husband and wife...father and child...”

Most people think actors can't raise children properly, but Peter insists he's spent more time with his son, Luke, than fathers in so-called conventional professions. “One of the good things about being an actor is that you don't work consistently and so you have more time with your kids. I've been with Luke from the minute he was born. We are so close! It's very deep relationship.”

“Luke is very secure and loving!”

When Peter and Ann went on the road for 10 months with Tab Hunter in the play, Here Lies Jeremy Troy, they had their son along. “Our contract specified we had to be given an apartment, and a babysitter, so that Luke was out of sight only 3 hours a night. And it was great experience for a kid, he saw a lot and learned a lot!”


A proud father, he feels Luke is extraordinary. “If I could teach him anything, it would be to have no fear...If I can give him anything it would be emotional security. Luke is a very together boy. He's very secure emotionally!”

He and Ann wondered if they had spoiled Luke so that he wouldn't welcome the arrival of a little brother.” But there has not been one moment of jealousy by Luke.”

Peter (son of David and Edith Ratray, spelled that way) was born on Jan, 3 in Kingston Ontario, Canada, but his parents moved to the U.S. when Peter was 3. In 1960, when Peter was 17, and had finished two years at Ohio State University, he quit to take the bus to New York. He had $60 in his pocket and knew no one in the big city.

Four years later, struggling to get started as a stage actor, he was cast opposite red-haired Ann Willis, in Separate Rooms, at the Allenbury Playhouse in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. “It was instant dislike!”

But a couple of years later, on June 18, 1964 they married in a church ceremony in New York, with the families on both sides attending.

After the wedding party, Peter and Ann checked into the elegant Palm Hotel for a single night – which was all they could afford!

“We had a fancy dinner and saw a show, and it all cost $120! And when we checked out, we were flat broke... and had to walk 30 blocks to my apartment.”

But do you think they were scare? “No! I was too young to be scared. We felt everything was terrific and that the world would be ours!” Everything was an adventure for them!

Of course, now that they have two children, they are more cautious and frugal, Peter admits.

They quit New York in 1968 to try their luck in Hollywood. The following year, Peter landed the role of Stuart Pierce in Bright Promise, and it ran until 1971. “I was lucky in Hollywood, working all the time!” They moved into an old 7-room house, and Peter did a lot of remodeling. But when he tried to rewire a lamp, he was knocked off his feet by an electrical shock...and he's never tired electrical repairs since!

He kept busy with nighttime TV, was featured in the series, The New People. Did some movies and lots of stage work. He even tried stage directing and loved the challenge. He's worked with his wife professionally and expects her back acting after their new baby is old enough.

Early this year when Another World was looking for new faces, Pater read for Paul Rauch, executive producer and won the role. He had to move to New York quickly, check into a hotel, then start looking for an apartment. “Ann and our sons will join me in New York just as soon as I find an apartment. We might sublet our Hollywood home.”

Does he regret leaving sunny California? “No! I got tired of the clean air and the sun. It's too bland and you slow up and lose your ambitions. California actors always seem to be on their way to the beach. I like New York better. People even seem to be more creative and energetic.”

“California is perfect if you work all the time. It's awful when you are out of work!”

He says it was pleasant when he showed up at Another World to find two former Bright Promise castmates there, Jennifer Leak and Gary Carpenter. On Bright Promise, the cast became good friend. I still see most of them. Pamela Murphy came over to say good-bye the day I left for New York. Lesley Woods was in a play Come Blow Your Horn, that I directed and which toured dinner theaters. Gail Kobe is now with Proctor and Gamble and I'd see her when she'd come to Hollywood”

He has that California outdoor look: blond, blue eyes, six-foot, lean, muscular, and tanned. But right now he's very much a New Yorker.

"Now there seems to be more pride in the city! People seem to care more. I think our sons will gain more by living in the big city. California makes you soft, but New York men have more edge. They're tougher, more street-wise. It's interesting how troubles bring out he best in us...”



By Paul Dennis