18 Facts About Ray Manzarek

Ray Manzarek is best known as a member of the Doors, co-founding the band with singer and lyricist Jim Morrison in 1965.

Ray Manzarek was born to parents of Polish descent, Helena Kolenda and Raymond Manczarek Sr.

Ray Manzarek graduated from the University's College of Commerce with a degree in economics in 1960.

In late-1961, Ray Manzarek briefly enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.

The Doors lacked a bass guitarist, so for live performances Ray Manzarek played the bass parts on a Fender Rhodes piano keyboard bass.

Ray Manzarek used a Gibson G-101 Kalamazoo combo organ for the band's later albums.

Ray Manzarek went on to share lead vocals with Krieger on the albums released after Morrison's death.

Ray Manzarek worked extensively with Hearts of Fire screenwriter and former SRC front man Scott Richardson on a series of spoken word and blues recordings entitled "Tornado Souvenirs".

Ray Manzarek produced the first four albums of the seminal punk band X, contributing occasionally on keyboards.

Ray Manzarek's second novel, Snake Moon, released in April 2006, is a Civil War ghost story.

In 2009, Ray Manzarek collaborated with "Weird Al" Yankovic by playing keyboards on the single "Craigslist", which is a pastiche of the Doors.

In May 2010, Ray Manzarek recorded with slide guitarist Roy Rogers.

Ray Manzarek married fellow UCLA alumna Dorothy Aiko Fujikawa in Los Angeles on December 21,1967, with Morrison and his longtime companion Pamela Courson as witnesses.

In March 2013, Ray Manzarek was diagnosed with a rare cancer called cholangiocarcinoma and traveled to Germany for special treatment.

Ray Manzarek performed a private concert for his doctors and nurses.

Ray Manzarek was "feeling better" until things took a turn for the worse, according to his manager.

On May 20,2013, Ray Manzarek died at a hospital in Rosenheim, Germany, at the age of 74.

Ray Manzarek was a huge part of my life and I will always miss him.