George Raft

George Raft (1901–1980) was an American film actor and dancer best known for playing stylish gangsters in films such as Scarface and Some Like It Hot.

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Scarface (1932 film): Howard Hawks’s 1932 crime film stars Paul Muni as Chicago gangster Tony Camonte. Raft’s breakout role as the coin-flipping Guino Rinaldo helped establish his gangster persona.
Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan: A neighborhood on Manhattan’s West Side, historically associated with working-class communities and Irish American life. Raft grew up there, and its streetwise reputation informed later accounts of his persona.
Howard Hawks: An American film director whose work ranged from screwball comedies to crime films and westerns. Hawks directed Scarface, the film that made Raft’s gangster image widely known.
Gangster film: A crime-film genre centered on organized criminals, their power, and their conflicts with law and society. Raft’s leading roles helped define the genre’s polished, urban gangster figure.
Some Like It Hot: Billy Wilder’s 1959 comedy follows two musicians who disguise themselves as women to escape gangsters. Raft plays a gangster who knowingly echoes the screen image that made him famous.
Broadway theatre: The professional theatre industry centered on Broadway in New York City. Raft worked as a dancer in New York entertainment venues before moving into films.
Paul Muni: An Austrian-born American stage and film actor known for intense character roles. Muni starred as Tony Camonte opposite Raft in Scarface.
Pre-Code Hollywood: American films released before enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code became strict in 1934. Raft’s early crime films emerged when Hollywood could depict violence and criminal ambition more openly.
Each Dawn I Die: A 1939 prison drama starring James Cagney and George Raft as inmates who form an alliance. Raft’s prison-yard role paired his controlled screen presence with Cagney’s volatile energy.
Warner Bros.: An American film and television studio founded in 1923 by the Warner brothers. Its crime films helped make Raft a recognizable Hollywood star in the 1930s.