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Bill Raisch

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Bill Raisch
Raisch as the "One-Armed Man"
in The Fugitive
Born
Carl William Raisch

(1905-04-05)April 5, 1905
North Bergen, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedJuly 31, 1984(1984-07-31) (aged 79)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Occupations
  • Dancer
  • actor
  • stuntman
  • acting coach
Known forOne-armed actor
Notable workThe Fugitive

Carl William Raisch (April 5, 1905 – July 31, 1984)[1] was an American dancer, actor, stuntman and acting coach. He was best known as the One-Armed Man pursued by Richard Kimble (David Janssen) on the 1963–1967 TV series The Fugitive.[2]

Early life

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Carl William Raisch was born on April 5, 1905,[1] in North Bergen, New Jersey.[2] His parents were German immigrants.[3]

After graduating high school, Raisch found a job hauling cement in a construction site.[3] He began lifting weights and also became an amateur boxer.[3][4] As a dancing partner to a young woman whom he took to socials and dances, he was introduced to Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., who signed him to the Ziegfeld Follies dance troupe.[3] Raisch performed on stage in his first American production at the New Amsterdam Roof Theater in the late 1920s.[3] He primarily performed with the dance troupe in New York,[3] and was also an adagio performer.[4] He married Adele Smith, a fellow Ziegfeld dancer.[3]

Acting career

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In the beginning of 1945, during his World War II service with the United States Merchant Marine, Raisch's right arm was badly burned in a shipboard fire and had to be amputated at the elbow.[3][4] Raisch had acted in a few uncredited film roles before the war, but afterwards pursued a film career, moving to Los Angeles in 1946.[3] Raisch appeared in The War of the Worlds (1953) as "an extra, stand-in, and occasional stuntman", and in Spartacus (1960), playing a character whose arm was hacked off in battle.[4] For the latter stunt, Kirk Douglas as Spartacus chopped off Raisch's prosthetic limb with a sword.[5]

Raisch's first memorable film role was as a one-armed character who initiates a barroom brawl with Douglas's cowboy character in Lonely Are the Brave (1962).[4] The following year, Raisch became the "One-Armed Man"—a shadowy drifter implicated in a brutal murder—in the television series The Fugitive, which ran from 1963 to 1967.[4] Raisch was seen extremely infrequently on the show, making only four fairly brief appearances over the series' first three seasons before becoming more prominent in the fourth and final season. However, his character was frequently mentioned, and beginning in season 2 "The One-Armed Man" was seen in the opening credits of every episode of The Fugitive, making Raisch's image a well-known pop culture figure.[6] In the series' final episode, Raisch's character was proved to be the true killer of the wife of Dr. Richard Kimble, played by David Janssen.[7] TV Guide named The One-Armed Man No. 5 in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time.[8]

Raisch worked as actor Burt Lancaster's stand-in in several films, although Lancaster was four inches taller than he.[4]

Raisch's disability led to his being typecast, usually as a criminal.[9][10] He subsequently worked in Los Angeles as an acting coach. He died of lung cancer in a Santa Monica, California, hospital on July 31, 1984, aged 79.[3][11] His body was cremated and his ashes scattered at sea.[1]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1937 Life Begins in College Saunders, Lombardy Football Player Uncredited
1944 The Mark of the Whistler Truck Driver Uncredited
1946 From This Day Forward Man in Employment Office / Bar Patron Uncredited
1946 Specter of the Rose Mr. Lemotte Uncredited
1948 Berlin Express German Uncredited
1950 Experiment Alcatraz Hospital Patient Uncredited
1952 Hong Kong Hotel Guest Uncredited
1952 When in Rome Prisoner in Italian Jail Uncredited
1953 Sangaree Pub Patron Uncredited
1955 Tight Spot Courtroom Spectator Uncredited
1955 How to Be Very, Very Popular Uncredited
1956 Around the World in 80 Days Extra Uncredited
1957 Sweet Smell of Success Patron at Toots Shor's Uncredited
1960 Spartacus Soldier Whose Arm is Hacked Off Uncredited
1961 The Young Savages Courtroom Spectator Uncredited
1962 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Juror Season 7 Episode 20: "The Test" (uncredited)
1962 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Audience Member Season 1 Episode 12: "Hangover" (uncredited)
1962 Incident in an Alley Onlooker at Shooting Uncredited
1962 Lonely Are the Brave One Arm Uncredited
1963 Irma la Douce Man in Church Uncredited
1964 Seven Days in May Minor Role - Scene deleted Uncredited
1964 The New Interns Emergency Room Corridor Extra / Restaurant Extra Uncredited

References

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  1. ^ a b c Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons (3rd ed.). McFarland. p. 611. ISBN 9780786479924.
  2. ^ a b Whitty, Stephen (May 18, 2013). "Family Viewing: 'Lonely Are the Brave'". NJ.com.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Bill Raisch". Metacritic. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Freese, Gene Scott (2014). Hollywood Stunt Performers, 1910s-1970s: A Biographical Dictionary (2nd ed.). McFarland. p. 1982. ISBN 9781476614700.
  5. ^ Douglas, Kirk (2012). I Am Spartacus!: Making a Film, Breaking the Blacklist. Open Road Media. p. 143. ISBN 9781453239377.
  6. ^ LoBrutto, Vincent (2018). TV in the USA: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas. ABC-CLIO. p. 215. ISBN 9781440829734.
  7. ^ Cavalli, Dimitri (August 28, 2017). "Our First Binge: 'Fugitive' Kept TV Audiences Running". The American Conservative. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  8. ^ Bretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt (March 25, 2013). "Baddies to the Bone: The 60 nastiest villains of all time". TV Guide. pp. 14–15.
  9. ^ Longmore, Paul K. (2003). Why I Burned My Book and Other Essays on Disability. Temple University Press. p. 133. ISBN 9781592137756.
  10. ^ Kample, John (September 15, 2016). "'Spartacus' Features 'Bits' of New Jersey". Jerseywood. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  11. ^ "1-Armed Actor Bill Raisch Is Dead at 79". Los Angeles Times. August 7, 1984. p. 27. Retrieved December 22, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
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