Ray Vasquez

Vasquez sang with a piano accompanist until he was 94. In 2018, he suffered a heart attack. After one month in rehabilitation, he retired. Ten months later, his health declined rapidly. He died at home on January 25, 2019, with his daughters and family surrounding him, two weeks shy of his 95th birthday.

Upon his return to the United States in the 1970s, Vasquez continued his acting career. He worked in television, radio and film; and co-hosted the KTLA talk show Pacesetters.

During the early 1960s, Vasquez hit the Las Vegas circuit and was met with success and opportunity. He sang at the Stardust Resort and Casino, the Dunes (Sky Room), The Sands, the Aladdin Hotel and Casino (Big Room), the Flamingo (Lounge), the Tropicana (Lounge), Harrah’s Lake Tahoe South Shore Room, where he worked for four years 1960-1964 without ever auditioning after being discovered at the Silver Slipper by Bill Harrah’s wife Scherry Harrah. He shared the bill with artists including Sammy Davis, Jr., Harry Belafonte, Red Skelton, Jack Benny, Liberace, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Prima, Dorthy Louden, Kay Starr, Jimmy Durante, George Burns, George Gobel, Danny Kaye, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Mitzi Gaynor, Sophie Tucker, Eleanor Powell, Danny Thomas, Myron Cohen, Dianah Shore, Rosemary Clooney, Patti Page, Polly Bergan, Donald O'Conner, Juliet Prowse, The Mills Brothers, Billy Eckstine, George Tapps, Harold Minsky, George Marrow, Bill Cosby, Nat King Cole, The Kingston Trio, Dorothy Dorben, Don Arden and Billy Daniels.

His career took off internationally in the late 1960s. Vasquez and his wife traveled to Paris to rehearse "Lido de Paris" and went on to perform in countries including Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Venezuela, Cuba, the Philippines, Jamaica and Australia.

Vasquez attended the Pasadena Playhouse theater on the G.I. Bill. The three-year accredited college offered classes in acting, voice and speech. He studied Shakespeare, theater technique, production, radio, television, dance, makeup and costuming. He graduated with a Theater Arts degree in 1952.

Vasquez was drafted into the military after graduating high school. He was sent to the Boeing School of Avionics and was a member of the Army Air Corps. Vasquez received four medals while in service and achieved the rank of sergeant. He was honorably discharged in 1946.

Ray Vasquez (12 February 1924 – 25 January 2019), also known as Ray Victor, was an American singer, musician, trombonist and actor, and a significant influence on the Latin jazz scene from 1940 through 2019.

Ray Moreno Vasquez was born in Los Angeles on February 12, 1924, to immigrant parents from Mexico. He was raised primarily by his father, Domingo Vasquez Sr., a Huasteco from San Luis Potosí. Growing up poor during the Great Depression era of the 1930s in the Watts section of Los Angeles, Vasquez attended Jordan High School. He was an academic major and music minor, a member of the track and basketball teams, and a featured soloist (as a tenor) in the a cappella choir. He also played trombone and sang in the high school jazz orchestra. A high school voice teacher spotted his potential and recommended he transfer to Roosevelt High School in East Los Angeles because it was more prestigious and had a better jazz orchestra. Vasquez studied trombone with the renowned Dr. Hiner (first cornetist with John Philip Sousa) in Highland Park.