The son of a Methodist preacher turned insurance agent from Lumberton, North Carolina, Ray Salyer started out in life as a Boy Scout who, with his brother Roy, received a medal for saving a playmate from drowning in the local swimming hole. Ray grew up and worked as a carpenter; he married and subsequently enlisted in the U. S. Army before Pearl Harbor, serving through the duration of World War II. After war's end, he abandoned his family and, working on the railroads, and at various other odd jobs, eventually made his way north to New York City. Not much is known of his life after he finished the movie; it is known that he was severely beaten up by his fellow alcoholics due to his role in the movie; he was later found dead in an alley, having possibly choked on his own vomit. His family claimed his remains and took him home back to the Salyer family plot in Oakdale Cemetery in Wilmington, North Carolina.