Raymond Bailey (May 6, 1904 – April 15, 1980) was an American character actor who became one of television’s most memorable faces, forever immortalized as the greedy, perpetually flustered banker Milburn Drysdale on the classic sitcom, The Beverly Hillbillies.
A veteran of the Broadway stage, Bailey had a long career as a dependable character actor in Hollywood, specializing in portraying stuffy and pompous authority figures. Before his television stardom, he appeared in numerous classic films, often playing doctors, executives, or officials, with notable roles in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958), the drama Picnic (1955), and the sci-fi film The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957).
In 1962, he was cast in the role that would define his career. As the sycophantic Mr. Drysdale, whose primary goal was to keep the Clampett fortune in his bank, Bailey was the perfect comedic foil. His explosive temper and hilarious exasperation with the hillbillies’ antics made him a beloved television icon and a master of comedic frustration.
