17 Facts About Gene Raymond

Gene Raymond attended the Professional Children's School while appearing in productions like Rip Van Winkle and Mrs Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch.

MacDonald and Gene Raymond made one film together, Smilin' Through, which came out as the US was on the verge of entering World War II.

Gene Raymond wrote, directed and starred in the 1949 film Million Dollar Weekend.

Gene Raymond trained as a pilot for that eventuality, and after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Army Air Forces.

Gene Raymond served as an observer aboard B-17 anti-submarine flights along the Atlantic coast before attending intelligence school and shipping out to England in July 1942.

Gene Raymond served with the 97th Bomb Group before taking over as assistant operations officer in the VIII Bomber Command.

Gene Raymond was transferred back to the US in 1943 and piloted a variety of aircraft, both bombers and fighters, in stateside duties.

Gene Raymond remained in the United States Air Force Reserve following the war, retiring in 1968 as a colonel, awarded with a Legion of Merit for his efforts during the Vietnam War.

Gene Raymond was notorious in Hollywood for being outspoken against the studio system, saying that it was not "living up to expectations".

Gene Raymond was one of the first actors of the time to go freelance, although he admitted that it was mostly to spite the studios.

Gene Raymond excelled at sports, such as gymnastics and tennis.

Gene Raymond met her at a Hollywood party two years earlier at Roszika Dolly's home; MacDonald agreed to a date, as long as it was at her family's dinner table.

Gene Raymond devoted time to Jeanette MacDonald's International Fan Club, befriending president Clara Rhoades, and taking a few members out to lunch annually.

Gene Raymond was a Republican and supported Barry Goldwater in the 1964 United States presidential election.

On May 3,1998, at 89 years of age, Gene Raymond died of pneumonia at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.

Gene Raymond's body was interred next to Jeanette MacDonald's in the Freedom Mausoleum at Forest Lawn, Glendale.

Gene Raymond writes of verbal abuse from Raymond, physical neglect, and being left alone for 44 days during the year until the diary ends on November 1,1963, the date she flew to Houston Methodist Hospital for heart surgery.