Santa Ray (Ray Buffer)

Ray will customize the performance to the needs of the event.

Ray Buffer (born 1969 as Raymond Ernest Buffer, Jr.,) is an American actor and singer. He was born and raised in Greenacres, Florida, and is the son of Delana (Hawks), a homemaker and housekeeper, and Raymond Ernest Buffer, Sr. A landscaper. His ancestry is European. He was adopted by the Buffer's when he was 29 days old. In 2003 after a long search he found his birth-mother to be Patricia (Levak) Odell. Through his reunion with his birth-mother he has expanded his family to include his maternal relatives. His birth-father's identity is still unknown.

Buffer discovered his talent first in music, playing violin at an early age and the progressing to other instruments. The theatre became his passion when he reached high school.

Buffer attended John I Leonard High School in Lake Worth, Florida where he appeared within theatrical production, performed with jazz choirs and played instruments (viola, piano, and string bass). Beginning in 1988, he attended Palm Beach State College and Florida Atlantic University earning his BFA in musical theatre.

During the 1990's Buffer produced and directed theatre as well as appearing in regional and dinner theater productions. He married writer and actress, Roberta McMillan in 1992, and they divorced in 2009 with no children. In 1999 Buffer moved from Orlando, Florida where he had been working as an actor, in various theaters and theme parks across the country into Huntington Beach, CA. With McMillan, he produced and directed, Rats & Bullies, a documentary film about relational aggression centered on the suicide of Dawn-Marie Wesley following incidents of bullying in Mission, British Columbia - Canada. The film went on to win awards at film festivals and led to a speaking tour of schools and organizations throughout the United States and Canada.

In 2004 Buffer began to appear in guest-starring roles on TV and film, including a stint playing a Stage Manager on Curb Your Enthusiasm.

In 2007, Buffer left a position as general manager of Long Beach Opera to start his own theatre company in San Pedro, CA: The Relevant Stage which produced mostly musical theatre works until 2011.

In 2014, Buffer again launched a new theatre company with business partner, Jonas Sills, called Art-In-Relation. The company was initially based out of Long Beach, CA but also produces works in Los Angeles and Hollywood.

In recent years, Buffer has played versions of Santa Claus in many television, video, film and live event productions.

Buffer continues to work in television, film and theatre, but with a deep, resonate and powerful voice, is also a busy concert soloist (bass-baritone) and voice-over artist.

He now lives in Long Beach, CA.

When possible, Ray prefers to arrive and change into costume on site, especially for multi-hour events. This helps avoid children seeing Santa exit a particular vehicle.