- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRay Sharkey Jr.
- Height5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
- Ray Sharkey was born on November 14, 1952 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Idolmaker (1980), Wiseguy (1987) and Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989). He was married to Carole Graham and Rebecca Wood. He died on June 11, 1993 in New York City, New York, USA.
- SpousesCarole Graham(October 8, 1988 - 1992) (divorced, 1 child)Rebecca Wood(May 10, 1981 - 1986) (divorced)
- ParentsCecelia SharkeyRay Sharkey
- At his worst his cocaine and heroin addiction cost him $400 a day. He was also involved in four drug-related car wrecks (two required microsurgery on his eyes). He ended up dropping 40 lbs. from his 5' 8" frame and is believed to have caught the AIDS virus through sharing dirty needles.
- Ray Sharkey Jr. was five years old when his same-named father, a professional drummer, abandoned the family. Ray Sharkey Sr. died in 1984, nine years before Sharkey Jr. died of AIDS at Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York.
- Arrested July 30, 1992 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for drug possession. Canadian customs officials, making a routine inspection of incoming cargo at the airport, discovered small amounts of cocaine and heroin in a black envelope being sent from Los Angeles, California to Sharkey, who had been in Canada filming a guest stint on "The Hat Squad" for only three days. Police searched his hotel room and found an additional $550 worth of drugs. He was jailed and later released on bail. He was promptly fired from "The Hat Squad" and replaced by actor Kim Coates.
- His daughter, Cecelia Bonnie Sharkey, by former wife actress Carole Graham, was born on March 25, 1989 in Los Angeles.
- Half-Italian and half-Irish, Sharkey grew up in Brooklyn's tough Red Hook neighborhood.
- [on becoming an actor]: I was kind of bored and didn't know what to do. It was either join the Marines and ship out for Vietnam, or go down to acting school in the Village. So I opted for the latter, and the rest is history.
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