He acted at the Volkstheater, and from 1930 till 1938 at the Theater in der Josefstadt (under Max Reinhardt).
Jaray emigrated to the United States following the Anchluss of 1938, but returned to Vienna after the Second World War.
In 1938 he emigrated to the USA, and worked till 1948 in Hollywood and New York.
He played mainly parts in light comedy.
Jaray starred as a leading man in a number of 1930s films, such as the Schubert biopic Gently My Songs Entreat (1933).
He had one memorable role in Hollywood in 'Lydia', in 1941, as the blind concert pianist whose youth-to-age love for Merle Oberon was romantically unrequited.
After a long absence from the screen, he played a character role in the movie 'Fedora' directed by Billy Wilder.
He was better known for his work on the stage, where he was long a matinee idol, than for his screen roles.
In 1960 he became head of the school of dramatic art "Reinhardt-Seminar". Film productions.
The 1934 Czech film 'Man in Demand on All Sides' was based on one of his plays.
In 1948 he returned to Vienna and joined the Volkstheater. From 1951 he was member of the Theater in der Josefstadt and became in 1986 honorary member.