Gene Anthony Ray

One of the great ironies of the NBC-TV 1980s pop culture phenomenon "Fame" is that the majority of its cast members struggled mightily to find success after the program ended in 1987. Inspired by the 1980 feature film of the same name, the show documented the aspirational struggles of teachers and students at a New York high school for the performing arts. In the case of Gene Anthony Ray, the role of dancer Leroy Johnson on "Fame" could not have been more custom-tailored to his personal background, as he attended the school (New York High School of the Performing Arts) that inspired both the film and the TV series. But the post-"Fame" credits for Ray are a sad, spotty reflection of his struggles prior to his death in 2003. He was an uncredited dancer in 2002's "Austin Powers in Goldmember," a dancer on an episode of "The Drew Carey Show," and a dancer again in the 1996 movie "Eddie."