Walston started his acting career as a spear carrier with a local stock company. When the family moved to Houston, Walston's father wanted to teach him the oil business, but Walston instead joined a traveling repertory company (selling tickets as well as acting). He started acting in 1938, at the Margo Jones Players in Houston, Texas. He had wanted to be an actor for a very long time, dreamed about it. At the Margo Jones Players he got his wish. For almost four years he performed in a play a month. It was there, he states, that the audiences taught him something about acting.
When he finished in Houston, Ray went to the Cleveland Playhouse in Ohio, which he says is still the finest Regional Theatre in America. Margo Jones was going to direct there the first play Tennessee Williams ever wrote, called "You Touch Me", taking Ray with her under a two year contract.


During those two years, Ray acted in twenty-two plays. The players there were professionals. The theatre seated 750. With two theatres in the building, Ray was constantly working, rehearsing days and performing nights. He might walk-on in one play and rotate to the lead in the next one. During this period, Ray also worked on workshop productions, which he would show to the company after the evening performance at ten or eleven o'clock.


With this unshakeable foundation, Ray took a train to New York in 1945, found an apartment and started looking for work. He landed a walk-on understudy in Hamlet, starring Maurice Evans. Every season until 1950 he was in a play. The longest run at this time was three months, playing the part of Mr. Kramer in Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke.


In 1950 Ray went to Chicago to play the part of Luther Billis in Rogers and Hammerstein's South Pacific. Rogers and Hammerstein plucked Ray from the company and sent him to do the play at London's Drury Lane Theatre with Mary Martin for nine months.


Returning to America, Ray did a play in Cambridge, Massachusetts called The Temptation of Maggie Haggerty", which did not go to New York. In 1953 he appeared in another Rogers and Hammerstein production called Me and Juliet, a musical-comedy, which ran eleven months in New York and Gibraltar. Following this, Ray did a musical written by Truman Capote called House of Flowers playing opposite Pearl Bailey.


In May, 1955, Ray auditioned for the part of Applegate in the play Damn Yankees. He had read the book "The Year The Yankees Lost The Pennant", written by Douglas Wallop, which gave him wonderful descriptions of Applegate, the Devil, describing how Applegate would enter and exit earth through the sewers, and how, when talking to people he would take the forelock of his hair and twist it in his fingers, eventually pulling it down into a peak, creating a "devilish" look. Ray did his reading for Hal Prince, one of the producers. He told Prince, "I want you to stand downstage, and I don't want you to move. Turn your back to the audience, read the lines up to me, and no matter what I do, no matter how long I take in between lines, don't come in, don't think I've forgotten the lines. I've worked on this very hard, I know exactly how I want to do it, and I don't want you to do anything except to remain still. I'll play the role."

And play the role he did, for two and a half years on Broadway.


Twentieth Century Fox offered Ray a role in a picture with Cary Grant titled Kiss Them For Me. Three months after that he did Twentieth Century Fox's South Pacific. Then he did the film version of Damn Yankees, followed by Jane Fonda's first film Tall Story, with Anthony Perkins.


Ray continued to work in films, but in 1962, Ray was offered the title role in the television series My Favorite Martian. He didn't want to do it, but the money was hard to refuse. He did the pilot, thinking it would never get on the air. After the pilot, Ray did a film with Jerry Lewis called Who's Minding The Store?, and one for Hal Wallace called Wives and Lovers, in which he played opposite Shelley Winters.


Then My Favorite Martian started filming in 1963. It ran for three years. At the end of the first year, during a three month hiatus, Peter Sellers had a heart attack while doing a Billy Wilder film called Kiss Me Stupid. Ray went in, but it was a mistake. One of the worst pictures Billy Wilder ever made, a big flop.


After the third season of My Favorite Martian, Ray went back to Broadway to do a show with George Abbott called Agatha Sue I Love You, which lasted only four nights. Back to Hollywood for Caprice, with Doris Day. Then on the road for a tour of The Odd Couple, followed by another tour of Canterbury Tales, the film Paint Your Wagon, a tour of I Know You Can't Hear Me When The Water's Running, the film The Sting, Popeye, with Robin Williams, and so on...

Filmography:

Swing Vote (1999) (TV) .... Justice Clore Cawley
My Favorite Martian (1999) .... Armitan aka Nineenert
Anthony Perkins: The E! True Hollywood Story (1998) (TV) .... Interviewee
Early Bird Special (1998) .... Pappy
Addams Family Reunion (1998) (V) .... Walter Adams
Tricks (1997) (TV) .... Big Sam
Westing Game, The (1997) (TV) .... Sandy McSouthers
... aka Get a Clue (1997) (TV) (USA: video title)
House Arrest (1996/I) .... Chief Rocco
Project: ALF (1996) (TV) .... Motel Manager
... aka Alf - Der Film (1996) (TV) (Germany)
"Stand, The" (1994) (mini) TV Series .... Glen Bateman
... aka "Stephen King's The Stand" (1994) (mini)
"Picket Fences" (1992) TV Series .... Judge Henry Bone
Of Mice and Men (1992) .... Candy
Player, The (1992) .... Himself
One Special Victory (1991) (TV) .... Wurtz
Pink Lightning (1991) (TV) .... Msgr. McCutchen
Popcorn (1991) .... Doctor Mnesyne
Blood Salvage (1990) .... Mr. Stone
... aka Mad Jake (1990)
Angel of Death (1990) (TV)
Ski Patrol (1990) .... Pops

Class Cruise (1989) (TV) .... Cappy Connors
I Know My First Name Is Steven (1989) (TV) .... Bob Augustine
Blood Relations (1988) .... Charles McLeod
Pasión de hombre (1988)
Runaway Ralph (1988) (TV) .... Matt
Saturday the 14th Strikes Back (1988) .... Gramps
Red River (1988) (TV) .... Groot
Crash Course (1988/I) (TV) .... Principal Paulson
Paramedics (1987) .... Heart Attack Victim
Ralph S. Mouse (1987) (TV) .... Matt
From the Hip (1987) .... 1st Judge
Mouse and the Motorcycle, The (1986) (TV) .... Matt
Rad (1986) .... Burton Timmer
"Fast Times" (1986) TV Series .... Mr. Arnold Hand
... aka "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1986)
Ask Max (1985) (TV) .... Harmon
O.C. and Stiggs (1985) .... Gramps
"Amazing Stories" (1985) TV Series .... Fireside storyteller
Amos (1985) (TV) .... Johnny Kent
"Silver Spoons" (1982) TV Series .... Uncle Harry (1985)
Johnny Dangerously (1984) .... Vendor
For Love or Money (1984) (TV) .... Eppes
Jerk, Too, The (1984) (TV) .... Diesel
This Girl for Hire (1983) (TV) .... Abner Litto
Private School (1983) .... Chauncey
O'Hara's Wife (1982) .... Walter Tatum
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) .... Mr. Hand
Fall of the House of Usher, The (1982) (TV) .... Thaddeus
Kid with the Broken Halo, The (1982) (TV) .... Michael
"Smurfs, The" (1981) TV Series (voice) .... Additional Voices
Galaxy of Terror (1981) .... Kore, ship's cook
Popeye (1980) .... Poopdeck Pappy
"Stop Susan Williams" (1979) TV Series .... Bob Richards
Girl Who Saved the World, The (1979) (TV) .... Bob Richards
Institute for Revenge (1979) (TV) .... Frank Anders
Happy Hooker Goes to Washington, The (1977) .... Sen. Sturges
Silver Streak (1976) .... Mr. Edgar Whiney
Sting, The (1973) .... J.J. Singleton
Paint Your Wagon (1969) .... Mad Jack Duncan
Caprice (1967) .... Stuart Clancy
Man Who Bought Paradise, The (1965) (TV)
Kiss Me, Stupid (1964) .... Orville J. Spooner
Who's Minding the Store? (1963) .... Mr. Quimby
Wives and Lovers (1963) .... Wylie Driberg
"My Favorite Martian" (1963) TV Series .... Uncle Martin (The Martian)
Convicts 4 (1962) .... Iggy
Portrait in Black (1960) .... Cobb
Apartment, The (1960) .... Joe Dobisch
Tall Story (1960) .... Professor Leo Sullivan

Say One for Me (1959) .... Phil Stanley
Damn Yankees! (1958) .... Mr. Applegate
South Pacific (1958) .... Luther Billis
Kiss Them for Me (1957) .... Lieutenant J.G. McCann

Notable TV guest appearances
"7th Heaven" (1996) playing "Sgt. Millard"(uncredited) in episode: "One Hundred" (episode # 5.12) 1/29/2001
"Touched by an Angel" (1994) playing "Benjamin Clay" in episode: "Face on the Bar Room Floor, The" (episode # 7.1) 10/15/2000
"Ally McBeal" (1997) playing "Minister Breyer" in episode: "Car Wash" (episode # 3.1) 10/25/1999
"Star Trek: Voyager" (1995) playing "Boothby" in episode: "Fight, The" (episode # 5.18) 3/24/1999
"Star Trek: Voyager" (1995) playing "Boothby" in episode: "In the Flesh" (episode # 5.4) 11/4/1998
"7th Heaven" (1996) playing "Sgt. Millard" in episode: "And the Home of the Brave" (episode # 3.6) 11/2/1998
"Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" (1993) playing "Lucius Slicker [Jake's father]" in episode: "Remember Me" (episode # 5.8) 11/9/1996
"Commish, The" (1991) playing "Burt Hagstone" in episode: "Witches Of Eastbridge, The" (episode # 2.5) 10/31/1992
"Picket Fences" (1992) playing "Judge Henry Bone" in episode: "Pilot" (episode # 1.1) 9/18/1992
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987) playing "Boothby" in episode: "First Duty, The" (episode # 5.19) 3/28/1992
"Eerie, Indiana" (1991) playing "Ned" in episode: "Loyal Order of Corn, The" (episode # 1.16) 3/22/1992
"Parker Lewis Can't Lose" (1990) playing "Augie" in episode: "Parker Lewis Can't Win" (episode # 1.26) 5/19/1991
"L.A. Law" (1986) playing "Gus Nivens" in episode: "Forgive Me Father, For I Have Sued" (episode # 4.20) 5/10/1990
"Paradise" (1988) in episode: "Gather of Guns, A" (episode # 2.1) 9/10/1989
"Superboy" (1988) playing "Professor Gordon" in episode: "Russian Exchange Student, The" (episode # 1.4) 10/29/1988
"Friday the 13th" (1987) playing "Jay Star" in episode: "Tales of the Undead" (episode # 1.10) 1/25/1988
"Murder, She Wrote" (1984) playing "Q. L. Frubson" in episode: "Way to Dusty Death, The" (episode # 4.5) 10/25/1987
"Sledge Hammer!" (1986) playing "Professor McCoy" in episode: "Big Nazi on Campus" (episode # 2.2) 9/24/1987
"St. Elsewhere" (1982) playing "Dr. Arrowsmith" in episode: "Getting Ahead" (episode # 5.15) 1/28/1987
"Simon & Simon" (1981) playing "Danny 'The Milwaukee Kid' Chesney" in episode: "For Old Crime's Sake" (episode # 6.14) 1/15/1987
"Misfits of Science" (1985) playing "Barney" in episode: "Steer Crazy" (episode # 1.8) 11/29/1985
"Matt Houston" (1982) playing "Det. St. Claire" in episode: "New Orleans Nightmare" (episode # 3.18) 2/8/1985
"Trapper John, M.D." (1979) in episode: "Buckaroo Bob Rides Again" (episode # 6.13) 1/20/1985
"Night Court" (1984) playing "Judge Martin A. Landis" in episode: "Harry on Trial" (episode # 2.7) 11/15/1984
"Newhart" (1982) playing "Claude Darling" in episode: "Tell a Lie, Get a Check" (episode # 3.1) 10/15/1984
"Gimme a Break!" (1981) in episode: "Center, The" (episode # 3.21) 4/19/1984
"Simon & Simon" (1981) playing "Rockwell Stark" in episode: "Murder Between The Lines" (episode # 2.11) 1/6/1983
"Hart to Hart" (1979) playing "Elliott Laurence" in episode: "Hart's Desire" (episode # 4.6) 11/16/1982
"Fame" (1982) playing "Birdie" in episode: "Big Finish, A" (episode # 1.14) 4/15/1982
"Littlest Hobo, The" (1979) playing "Charlie" in episode: "Special Friend, A" (episode # 3.16) 2/25/1982
"Trapper John, M.D." (1979) in episode: "Tis the Season" (episode # 3.9) 12/20/1981
"Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" (1979) playing "Roderick Zale" in episode: "Cosmic Whiz Kid" (episode # 1.11) 11/15/1979
"Little House on the Prairie" (1974) playing "Jimmy Hart" in episode: "King is Dead, The" (episode # 6.9) 11/12/1979
"Incredible Hulk, The" (1978) playing "Jasper the Great" in episode: "My Favorite Magician" (episode # 3.5) 10/26/1979
"Starsky and Hutch" (1975) playing "Tommy Reese" in episode: "Golden Angel" (episode # 4.13) 1/16/1979
"Six Million Dollar Man, The" (1974) playing "Horton Budge" in episode: "Bionic Christmas Carol, A" (episode # 4.10) 12/12/1976
"Ellery Queen" (1975) playing "Howard Pratt" in episode: "Adventure Of Auld Lang Syne, The" (episode # 1.1) 9/11/1975
"Rookies, The" (1972) in episode: "Take Over" (episode # 3.14) 12/30/1974
"Mission: Impossible" (1966) playing "Dr. Victor Flory" in episode: "Tod-5" (episode # 7.5) 10/14/1972
"Garrison's Gorillas" (1967) playing "Oscar" in episode: "Great Crime Wave, The" (episode # 1.14) 12/5/1967
"Custer" (1967/I) in episode: "Breakout" (episode # 1.8) 11/1/1967
"Wild Wild West, The" (1965) playing "Professor Johnson" in episode: "Night of Montezuma's Hordes, The" (episode # 3.8) 10/27/1967
"Ben Casey" (1961) in episode: "White Ones Are Dolphins, The" (episode # 2.23) 3/11/1963
"Wide Country, The" (1962) in episode: "Girl in the Sunshine Smile, The" (episode # 1.9) 11/15/1962
"Adventures in Paradise" (1959) in episode: "Bride For the Captain, A" (episode # 3.25) 3/11/1962
"Target: The Corruptors" (1961) playing "O'Sullivan" in episode: "Touch of Evil" (episode # 1.7) 11/10/1961
"Outlaws" (1960) in episode: "Cut Pups, The" (episode # 2.4) 10/26/1961
"Americans, The" (1961) playing "Whit Bristow" in episode: "Bounty Jumpers, The" (episode # 1.13) 4/17/1961
"Aquanauts, The" (1960) in episode: "Armored Truck Adventure, The" (episode # 1.18) 2/15/1961
"Outlaws" (1960) in episode: "Beat the Drum Slowly" (episode # 1.3) 10/20/1960
"You Are There" (1953) in episode: "D-Day" (episode # 3.28) 3/6/1955
"Suspense" (1949) in episode: "Iron Cop, The" (episode # 6.45) 8/10/1954
"Studio One" (1948) in episode: "Hero, The" (episode # 6.45) 7/26/1954