Raymond C. Boyle

June 28, 1923 - January 6, 2022 Actor Ray Boyle, who was billed as DIRK LONDON when appearing as Morgan Earp on television's "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" in the 1950's, passed away in Burbank California January 6, 2022 at 98 years of age. Boyle was born in Lisbon, North Dakota, on June 28, 1923. In 1943 he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, which brought him out to California for training at Camp Pendleton in San Diego. He served his country until World War II ended in 1945. Ray started out his professional life as a highly sought-after model. He did all the big runway shows in Los Angeles and Palm Springs. He also was a constant in newspaper advertisements and all the major department store catalogs in the late 1940's and early 1950's. He began his acting career in 1952 as Shane in the Republic serial "Zombies of the Stratosphere". Some of the films he appeared in were "Prisoner of War" (1954) with Ronald Reagan, "Ambush at Cimarron Pass" (1958) with Clint Eastwood and "The Purple Gang" (1959) with Robert Blake and Barry Sullivan. Boyle appeared frequently on television in the 1950's, often under the screen name DIRK LONDON. He was seen in episodes of "Gang Busters", "Death Valley Days", "The Mickey Rooney Show", "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin", "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon", "The Gray Ghost", "Highway Patrol", "The DuPont Show with June Allyson", "Gunsmoke" and "Perry Mason" amongst many others.
He was featured as Morgan Earp, the brother of Hugh O'Brian's title character, in the western series "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" from 1956 to 1961. He largely retired from the screen in the early 1960's. In the mid 1960's he co-founded "Rigby, Boyle and Cook", a design/construction company that along with their numerous projects, created and built ships for Seaworld water shows in California. They also designed and created the original "McDonaldland Playground", featured nationwide at McDonald's restaurants throughout the 1970's and 1980's. In his post acting years Boyle turned his talents behind the camera. He served as Production Designer on L.Q. Jones' cult horror and science fiction films "The Brotherhood of Satan" (1971) and "A Boy and His Dog" (1975). The latter winning a Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Film. The final years of his professional career were as a propmaker crafting for the then "Burbank Studios", known today as Warner Bros. Boyle was a true renaissance man. Besides his on-screen talents he was a gifted artist, draftsman, sculptor, wood carver, painter, welder, carpenter, mechanic, gardener, poet, and author. He had a brief first marriage that ended in divorce. He met the love of his life in 1951, actress Jan Shepard. They were married on February 6, 1954 and spent 71 years together until his passing. The couple had a son, Brandon, in April of 1959. Ray is preceded in death by his mother Elma Mae Harrison, His father Cornelius Hugh Boyle, sister Gwen Coyne and sister Eunice Brendel.
He is survived by his wife Jan, son Brandon, sister Kaye Leskela, daughter-in-law Jenn, grandchildren Riley and Hayley, as well as his beloved nieces Debbie, Pam, Linda, nephew Greg and cousin Gloria.
Ray Boyle is interred at the San Fernando Mission Catholic Cemetery in the San Fernando Valley.