Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Rayford Barnes

 [These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]

Rayford Kenneth Barnes was born in Whitesboto, Texas, on October 23, 1920. Rayford actually came from a showbiz “family”. He was a nephew of comic actress Binnie Barnes who married producer Mike Frankovitch in 1940. Producer Peter Frankovitch and screenwriter Mike Frankovitch Jr. are his cousins.

He attended the University of Texas where he acted in plays at the university and at little theaters in Dallas and San Antonio. After he moved to Oakland, California, he performed at the Pasadena Community Playhouse.

During World War II, Barnes served 4 1⁄2 years in the Navy, working as a navigator. After his military service, Barnes was a stagehand at three theaters in the San Francisco area, and he developed "a healthy respect for all the items actors depend upon for support ..." In 1950, Barnes gained membership in Actors Equity and began to act on stage in Repertory Theater productions, including Three's a Family and Hasty Heart. He also worked off-stage there, creating staging and scenes for two other plays.

Barnes appeared in films, mainly westerns, such as “Hondo”, “The Burning Hills”, “Fort Massacre”, “The Wild Bunch”, “The Hunting Party”, and “Cahill U.S. Marshal”.

Barnes also appeared on dozens of TV series most notably ‘The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp’ in which he portrayed Ike Clanton. Other series he appeared on include ‘Father Knows Best’, ‘Bat Masterson’, ‘Highway Patrol’, ‘Racket Squad’, ‘The Untouchables’, ‘Cheyenne’, ‘Maverick’, ‘Have Gun - Will Travel’, ‘Cannon’, ‘The Twilight Zone’, ‘The Big Valley’, ‘Daniel Boone’, ‘The High Chaparral’, ‘Bonanza’, ‘Gunsmoke’, ‘Rawhide’, ‘Wonder Woman’, ‘Little House on the Prairie’, ‘Fantasy Island’, ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’, and ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’. His final role was on the NBC medical drama ‘ER’ in 1996.

Rayford’s only Euro-western was as Crimp in 1972’s “The Hunting Party” starring Gene Hackman, Oliver Reed and Candice Bergen.

BARNES, Rayford (Rayford Kenneth Barnes)) [10/23/1920, Whitesboro, Texas, U.S.A. – 11/11/2000, Santa Monica, California, U.S.A.] – film, TV actor, nephew of actress Binnie Barnes [1903-1998], brother of ventriloquist Lou DuPont (Lewis B. Warren) [1928-2012] married to Debra A. Barnes [1951-    ] (1973–2000).

The Hunting Party – 1972 (Crimp)