Ray Rayner

Longtime Chicago area TV personallty Ray Rayner (born Raymond M. Rahner on July 23, 1919, Queens, New York – died January 21, 2004)) appeared as Ronald McDonald in several U.S. and global ads in 1968 and 1969. Roy was staple of children's television locally in the Chicago area in the 1960s and 1970s on WGN-TV.

Actor and author
During his years in Chicago, he also frequently appeared in live theater, including plays at the Forum Dinner Theater in suburban Summit; receiving a Jefferson award nomination for one of his roles. Rayner also did directing for student productions at Loyola University Chicago. He received an M. A. in Humanities from the University of Chicago]] in 1970, writing his thesis about children's television's first goal being to entertain. He was a member of the Silver Circle of the Chicago chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and received many local Emmys for his television work.

Rayner also wrote a book titled The Story of Television published in 1972. It is basically an industry guide to how a television show is made featuring many photos of Rayner from his Ray Rayner and Friends show. The book is quite rare and commands a high price, when available, from on-line auction sites. One copy was donated to the Museum of Broadcast Communications about seven month's after Rayner's passing.