Bill Raisch

Carl William Raisch (April 5, 1905 – July 31, 1984), 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.[1]

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, US
DiedJuly 31, 1984(1984-07-31) (aged 79)
California
NationalityUnited States
Occupation
  • Dancer
  • actor
  • stuntman
  • acting coach
Known forOne-armed actor
Notable work
The Fugitive

Early life

Carl William Raisch was born on April 5, 1905,[2] in North Bergen, New Jersey.[1] 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 Ziegfield dancer.[3]

Acting career

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" in the television series The Fugitive, which ran from 1963 to 1967.[4] Raisch filmed the role over the course of four days, but his character was frequently mentioned and seen in flashbacks.[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]

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.[8][9] 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] His body was cremated and his ashes scattered at sea.[2]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1937Life Begins in CollegeSaunders - Lombardy Football PlayerUncredited
1944The Mark of the WhistlerTruck DriverUncredited
1946From This Day ForwardMan in Employment Office / Bar PatronUncredited
1946Specter of the RoseMr. LemotteUncredited
1948Berlin ExpressGermanUncredited
1950Experiment AlcatrazHospital PatientUncredited
1952Hong KongHotel GuestUncredited
1952When in RomePrisoner in Italian JailUncredited
1953SangareePub PatronUncredited
1955Tight SpotCourtroom SpectatorUncredited
1955How to Be Very, Very PopularUncredited
1956Around the World in 80 DaysExtraUncredited
1957Sweet Smell of SuccessPatron at Toots Shor'sUncredited
1960SpartacusSoldier Whose Arm is Hacked OffUncredited
1961The Young SavagesCourtroom SpectatorUncredited
1962Incident in an AlleyOnlooker at ShootingUncredited
1962Lonely Are the BraveOne ArmUncredited
1963Irma la DouceMan in ChurchUncredited
1964Seven Days in MayMinor RoleUncredited
1964The New InternsEmergency Room Corridor Extra / Restaurant ExtraUncredited

References
  1. Whitty, Stephen (May 18, 2013). "Family Viewing: 'Lonely Are the Brave'". NJ.com.
  2. Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons (3rd ed.). McFarland. p. 611. ISBN 9780786479924.
  3. "Bill Raisch". Metacritic. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  4. 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. Longmore, Paul K. (2003). Why I Burned My Book and Other Essays on Disability. Temple University Press. p. 133. ISBN 9781592137756.
  9. Kample, John (September 15, 2016). "'Spartacus' Features 'Bits' of New Jersey". Jerseywood. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
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