Ray Teal (January 12, 1902 – April 2, 1976) was an American actor who appeared in more than 250 movies and some 90 television programs in his 37-year career. His longest-running role was as Sheriff Roy Coffee on NBC's western television series Bonanza (1960–1972). He also played a sheriff in the film Ace in the Hole (1951). He was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Teal, a saxophone player, worked his way through University of California, Los Angeles, located in Los Angeles, California, as a bandleader before becoming an actor. He had a recurring role as a police officer in the 1953-1955 ABC sitcom with a variety show theme, Where's Raymond?, renamed The Ray Bolger Show. Ray Bolger played Raymond Wallace, a song-and-dance man who was repeatedly barely on time for his performances. Others on the series were Richard Erdman, Allyn Joslyn, Betty Lynn, Sylvia Lewis, Gloria Winters, and Verna Felton. In 1955, Teal portrayed a ruthless cattle baron in the episode "Julesburg" of ABC's Cheyenne, starring Clint Walker, the first hour-long western series on a major network. He was a bit-part player in western films for several years before landing a substantial role in Northwest Passage (1940).