Biography
Rags Ragland was a boxer, then a burlesque comedian and then a Broadway performer before ending up in Hollywood to repeat his stage role as the boisterous sailor in Panama Hattie (1942), in which Ann Sothern played on film the part that had been played on Broadway by Ethel Merman. Ragland, typecast as a good-natured oaf with a knack for fracturing the English language, had as his sole movie employer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, in some two dozen of whose lighter vehicles he appeared, in the company of s...
Known For
Complete Filmography
The Hoodlum Saint
1946
as Fishface
A former reporter comes back home after serving in the army during World War I and finds that it's much more difficult to find work than he expected. ...
Her Highness and the Bellboy
1945
as Albert Weever
In a fictional European country, a beautiful princess meets a handsome American reporter and falls in love with him. On a trip to New York, she hopes ...
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood
1945
as Self
When two bumbling barbers act as agents for a talented but unknown singer, they stage a phony murder in order to get him a plum role.
Anchors Aweigh
1945
as Police Sergeant
Two sailors on shore leave head out for four days of partying – only to become involved in the affairs of an aspiring singer and her precocious nephew...
The Canterville Ghost
1944
as Big Harry Waters
The descendent of a ghost imprisoned for cowardice hopes to free the spirit by displaying courage when under duress.
Meet the People
1944
as Mr. Smith
A idealistic shipyard worker interests a beautiful Hollywood star in staging a musical tribute to the war industry, but they disagree on some importan...
3 Men in White
1944
as Hobart Genet
Gillespie has to finally choose his official assistant, or Red and Lee are going to kill themselves in competition. So, it's another diagnosis competi...
Whistling in Brooklyn
1943
as Chester Conway
Radio crime show host "The Fox" finds himself on the trail of a serial killer while a suspect himself.
Girl Crazy
1943
as 'Rags'
Rich kid Danny Churchill has a taste for wine, women and song, but not for higher education. So his father ships him to an all-male college out West w...
Du Barry Was a Lady
1943
as Charlie / Dauphin
Hat check man Louis Blore is in love with nightclub star May Daly. May, however, is in love with a poor dancer but wants to marry for money. When Loui...
Whistling in Dixie
1942
as Chester Conway / Sylvester 'Lester' Conway
Radio sleuth Wally 'The Fox' Benton travels to Georgia with his fiancé Carol to be married; and to help Carol's college chum, Ellamae Downs, solve a m...
Panama Hattie
1942
as Rags (as 'Rags' Ragland)
Sailors and spies mingle in between the acts at Hattie's nightclub in the Canal Zone.
Somewhere I'll Find You
1942
as Charlie
Journalist brothers feud over a woman they both fall for while covering World War II in the far east.
The War Against Mrs. Hadley
1942
as Louie
Wealthy American society matron, Stella Hadley refuses to sacrifice her material comforts to aid the war effort until she realizes that her selfishnes...
Maisie Gets Her Man
1942
as Ears Cofflin
Struggling performers, Sothern and Skelton's lives are thrown off gear when they are caught with a bagful of hard cash robbed by a goon. With Skelton ...
Sunday Punch
1942
as 'Killer' Connolly
Ma Galestrum (Connie Gilchrist) is a boardinghouse owner whose tenants are a group of aspiring boxers. When her young niece, Judy (Jean Rogers), comes...
Born to Sing
1942
as 'Grunt'
A group of children put on a show in order to prove that a down and out musician was the real composer of a Broadway show's songs.
Whistling in the Dark
1941
as Sylvester
Radio crime show host 'The Fox' along with his fiancée and ex-girlfriend are kidnapped by a larcenous cult who demand that he help them plan a perfect...
Ringside Maisie
1941
as Vic
Young undefeated boxer Terry Dolan, who's been lying to his invalid mother about his career, confides to Maisie that he hates and is terrified by boxi...
Hats and Dogs
1938