Ford Rainey (August 8, 1908 – July 25, 2005) was an American film, stage and television actor.
Rainey was born in Mountain Home, Idaho, the son of Vyrna (née Kinkade), a teacher, and Archie Coleman Rainey. Rainey graduated from Centralia Junior College in Washington state and the Cornish Drama School in Seattle. He first acted on the stage while in high school. Growing up in the outdoors and learning to ride horses helped him in his career as a tough-guy film presence later in life.
Like many young actors, he worked odd jobs including logger, fisherman, fruit picker, carpenter, clam digger and working on an oil tanker before becoming a successful actor. He worked as a radio actor as well as a touring stage actor before breaking into films. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II.
Rainey was a familiar face in motion pictures, including his 1949 film debut White Heat, Perfect Strangers, The Sand Pebbles with Steve McQueen and Two Rode Together with James Stewart. He guested on Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, The Bionic Woman and The Untouchables, and he co-starred in the acclaimed television movie My Sweet Charlie. The tall austere, authoritative-looking actor was a natural at playing leaders. He co-starred with Robert Young in the unsuccessful CBS television series Window on Main Street in the 1961-1962 season, having portrayed the role of newspaper editor Lloyd Ramsey.
He played a general on M*A*S*H, and a judge on both The Waltons and Matlock. He played presidents on Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, and on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Later television appearances, in the 1990s and 2000s, include showing up on ER and recurring roles on Ned and Stacey and The King of Queens.
Ford Rainey was a bachelor until the age of 46 when, in 1954, he married Sheila Hayden and settled in New York, where sons Robert and James were born. The family moved to Malibu, where a daughter, Kathy was born. Rainey remained in Malibu with his wife while he acted and enjoyed hobbies such as beekeeping and bird breeding until his death in 2005 of a stroke, at age 96. The marriage was a happy one that lasted nearly 51 years.
