Devin Ratray

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Devin Ratray
Ratray during the filming of Courting Condi in December 2007
BornJanuary 11, 1977 (1977-01-11) (age 47)
OccupationActor
Years active1986–present

Devin D. Ratray (born January 11, 1977) is an American actor.[1] He is known for his role as Buzz McCallister in the Home Alone franchise, as well as the films Nebraska, Blue Ruin and Kimi. His television work includes The Tick and Better Call Saul.

Early life[edit]

Ratray was born in New York City, the son of Ann Willis and Peter Ratray, both actors. He graduated from New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School in 1994.[2]

Career[edit]

Ratray started acting at the age of nine in the movie Where Are the Children? (1986). He starred as a child actor in various other programs and movies until his acting pinnacle in 1990 as Buzz McCallister, the mean older brother of Macaulay Culkin's character Kevin in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), a role he later reprised in Home Sweet Home Alone (2021).

Ratray landed minor roles in Little Monsters (as Ronnie Coleman, the bully), Dennis the Menace (as Mickey, the boyfriend of one of Dennis's babysitters) and an episode as Martin in The Enforcers (1996). Another film role was The Prince and Me as the computer-obsessed roommate of Eddy, the royal Prince of Denmark. He was a regular improv actor on MTV's Damage Control, notably as a director of an erotic film called Crazy Motor Hos, in which he was dressed as a naval captain. Ratray appeared in the September 29, 2006 episode of Law & Order, "Avatar", as the mentally ill murderer Richard Elam. He later portrayed an antagonist in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He was a lisping doctor in the movie Slippery Slope (2006). He performed as Jimmy Link in Serial (2007). Ratray appeared in the 2009 film Surrogates as Bobby Saunders. Variety said "Ratray gets good mileage out of his role as a computer whiz too proud of his corpulent geekiness to consider a more glamorous substitute." In 2009, he was also a guest star on the fifth season of Supernatural in the episode "The Real Ghost Busters".

In late 2007, a documentary film crew followed Ratray's attempts to win the heart of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He used 'love disks' – love letters set to music and images – to serenade her, and traveled from New York, to Alabama, Denver, Palo Alto and Washington, DC to court her. The resulting film, Courting Condi, was due for international release in fall 2008.

In 2012, Ratray played a mutual funds manager trapped in a Wall Street elevator with eight strangers, in the suspense thriller Elevator.

In 2013, Ratray played Cole in the film Nebraska, Ben Gaffney in the film Blue Ruin, and made an appearance in the film R.I.P.D.

Ratray also appeared in the 2019 film Hustlers, alongside Jennifer Lopez and in 2022, he appeared in the Steven Soderbergh film Kimi, alongside Zoe Kravitz.

Personal life[edit]

Allegations of domestic violence and rape[edit]

On December 8, 2021, Ratray allegedly strangled his girlfriend while in a hotel room in Oklahoma.[3] He was "booked for domestic assault and battery by strangulation, a felony, as well as misdemeanor domestic assault and battery."[4] After an argument over his girlfriend failing to charge fans for his autograph, the duo returned to the hotel and "Ratray then pushed his girlfriend onto the room’s bed, pressed one of his hands against her throat, pressed his other hand over her mouth and applied pressure, according to the affidavit."[5] It was alleged that as Ratray assaulted his girlfriend, he told her, "This is how you die".[5]

In August 2022, police announced that Ratray was under investigation for an alleged rape that occurred in September 2017. The alleged victim, who had been friends with Ratray for 15 years, came forward after hearing about the 2021 domestic assault allegations, accusing Ratray of drugging her drink.[6][7]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1986 Where Are the Children? Neil Keeney
1988 The River Pirates Bubba
1988 Zits Oscar Opily
1989 Little Monsters Ronnie Coleman
1989 Worth Winning Howard Larimore Jr.
1990 Home Alone Buzz McCallister
1992 Home Alone 2: Lost in New York Buzz McCallister
1993 Dennis the Menace Mickey
1997 Strong Island Boys Cal
2001 The Bill Thug Short film
2004 The Prince and Me Scotty
2006 Slippery Slope Hospital Assistant
2007 Serial Jimmy Link
2007 The Cake Eaters JJ
2009 The 2 Bobs Horizontal Bob
2009 The Winning Season Security Officer
2009 Surrogates Bobby
2009 The Flying Scissors The Rock
2009 Breaking Point Kevin
2011 True Bromance Himself also Writer
2011 Elevator Martin Gosling
2013 Side Effects Banks Patient #3
2013 Blue Ruin Ben Gaffney
2013 Nebraska Cole
2013 R.I.P.D. Pulaski
2015 3rd Street Blackout Adam Dodario
2015 Construction Ray
2016 The Lennon Report Phil Bernstein
2016 Masterminds Runny
2017 Life Hack Larry
2017 Rough Night Bud
2019 Hustlers Stephen
2021 Hollywood.Con Andy Slimmick
2021 Home Sweet Home Alone Officer Buzz McCallister
2021 Construction Ray
2022 Kimi Kevin

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1987 If It's Tuesday, It Still Must Be Belgium IRA Television film
1989 Heartland Gus Stafford Main role; 10 episodes
1991 Perfect Harmony Shelby Television film
1995–2006 Law & Order Richard Elam / Mitchell Pauley Guest role; 2 episodes
1996 New York Undercover Martin Episode: "The Enforcers"
2002 Third Watch Mike Episode: "Ladies' Day"
2004 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Kenny Miles Episode: "In the Dark"
2006 Conviction Pete Garrison Episode: "Denial"
2009 The Superagent Energetic Announcer Television film
2009 Supernatural Damien / "Dean" Episode: "The Real Ghostbusters"
2010 Odd Jobs Joe Bannon Television film
2011 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Eldon Balogh Episode: "Possessed"
2012 The Good Wife Kevin Costas Episode: "Two Girls, One Code"
2013 Person of Interest Beat Cop Episode: "The Crossing"
2014 An American Education Ron Gelman Television film
2015 Elementary Gordon Meadows Episode: "The View From Olympus"
2015 Agent Carter Sheldon McFee Recurring role; 2 episodes
2015 Louie Mike Episode: "The Road: Part 1"
2017 Blue Bloods Matthew Kindler Episode: "Shadow of a Doubt"
2017 Girls Party Guest Episode: "Full Disclosure"
2017–2018 Mosaic Detective Nate Henry Recurring role; 6 episodes
2017–2019 The Tick Tinfoil Kevin Recurring role; 16 episodes
2018 Hawaii Five-0 Harris Stubman Episode: "Kopi Wale No I Ka L'a A 'Eu No Ka Ilo"
2018 The Good Fight Kevin Costas Episode: "Day 485"
2018 Chicago Med Tommy Burke Recurring role; 4 episodes
2019 Russian Doll Deli Customer Episode: "The Great Escape"
2022 Better Call Saul Alfred Hawthorne Hill Episode: "Breaking Bad"

Video games[edit]

Year Title Voice role Notes
2018 Red Dead Redemption 2 The Local Pedestrian Population Also motion capture

Producer[edit]

Year Title Notes
2008 Courting Condi Documentary film

References[edit]

  1. ^ Cammila Collar (2015). "Devin Ratray". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2015-07-07. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  2. ^ Hansen, Carrie (2021-12-24). "Devin Ratray Arrested: Actual Truth Behind Home Alone, Buzz's Arrest". Vizaca. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  3. ^ Tapp, Tom (2021-12-23). "'Home Alone' Actor Devin Ratray Arrested For Allegedly Assaulting Girlfriend While Attending Fan Convention". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  4. ^ "'Home Alone' Star Devin Ratray Arrested on Domestic Violence Charges". Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  5. ^ a b "'This is how you die.' Actor who played Buzz in 'Home Alone' faces charges for allegedly trying to strangle girlfriend while in Oklahoma City". 22 December 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  6. ^ Kreps, Daniel (2022-08-24). "'Home Alone' Actor Devin Ratray Under Investigation for Rape". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2022-08-25. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
  7. ^ Melas, Chloe (2022-08-24). "Devin Ratray, 'Home Alone' actor, under investigation for alleged rape". CNN. Retrieved 2024-01-01.

External links[edit]