A member of the cast of the iconic Home Alone holiday film franchise is reportedly hospitalized in New York. He is listed in critical condition.
Before 1990, holiday-themed family films were fairly predictable, and most of them involved a mission of some kind for which the goal was always the same: to “save” Christmas. But in 1990, things forever changed, thanks to a comedic Christmas-themed film called Home Alone.
Helmed by veteran director Chris Columbus, the film stars actress Catherine O’Hara alongside John Heard, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Candy, and newcomer Macaulay Culkin and his younger brother Keiran Culkin and tells the story of the McCallister family at Christmastime–and their unfortunate habit of accidentally leaving their youngest child, Kevin, behind as they jet off to celebrate Christmas in another state.
In both films, a sinister duo, the “Wet Bandits,” are hot on Kevin’s trail, and Home Alone 2 (1992) proves they do not learn from their past mistakes.
Two years after the release of Home Alone, a sequel debuted. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York generally followed the same premise, except that in the second film, Kevin finds himself separated from his family–but in a ritzy New York hotel.
In both films, Macaulay Culkin plays the role of Kevin McCallister, a small-for-his-age and extremely strong-willed child who not only regularly sasses his mother but also goes head-to-head with his older brother Buzz, played by actor Devin Ratray, numerous times.
In the more than 30 years that have transpired since the films debuted, the actors and actresses from the film have gone their separate ways–some of them adding exponentially to their acting careers, some have been faced with challenging medical issues, and some of them finding themselves in trouble with the law.
For Devin Ratray (Buzz McCallister), the past few years have not been his best, and this week, the attorney representing him in his upcoming domestic assault and strangulation case revealed that the actor has been hospitalized in New York and is currently listed in critical condition.
Details about the hospitalization and what led to it remain unclear at this time.
Jury selection in the case against Ratray was scheduled to begin in Oklahoma County District Court on Monday, but the case has been delayed by District Judge Kathryn Savage following news of Ratray’s medical condition.
Ratray is currently scheduled to attend a pre-trial hearing on February 21.
In late 2021, Ratray was charged with a felony count of domestic violence and battery by strangulation, as well as a misdemeanor count of domestic assault and battery. The charges stem from an incident involving his girlfriend at the time.
According to court documents, in December 2021, while Ratray was in Oklahoma City for an engagement at the city’s Christmas Con event, he and his then-girlfriend visited Mickey Mantle’s Steakhouse. While there, Ratray drank a “bottle of wine,” downed “several shots of alcohol,” and became “intoxicated.”
When the couple visited a second venue that evening, Ratray reportedly had ten additional shots of alcohol and was later approached by two female fans who asked for his autograph. The actor became enraged with his girlfriend when she didn’t charge the women for the autographs.
Per PopCulture, things escalated from there:
The pair continued to argue once they returned to their room at a nearby Hyatt hotel. The actor allegedly pushed his girlfriend onto a bed and used one hand to press it against her throat while he placed the other over her mouth. He also allegedly punched her in the face when she bit his hand. In the affidavit, an Oklahoma City police detective reported that “While strangling the victim, defendant stated the following: ‘This is how you die.’” The woman suffered bruising under her left eye, marks under her right eye, marks above the left side of her upper lip, a bruise on her chest, and a sore right arm, according to court records, per Oklahoma’s News 4.
Ratray’s attorney maintains the actor’s innocence.
No further details have been shared about the actor’s medical condition, and more information will be shared as it becomes available.
