Abve: Robert Young and Jane Wyatt.
BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS
Full Name: Robert George Young
Description: Actor, USA
Known For: Known for thTV series – “Father knows Best”
Location: United States of America
Date Born: 22nd February 1907
Location Born: Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
Date Died: 21st July 1998
Location Died: Westlake Village, California, United States of America
Cause Of Death: Not Known
Memorial: He was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, in Glendale, California.
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BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE
Robert Young
An Emmy Award winning American actor, best known for his leading roles of Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best (NBC and then CBS) and physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. (ABC).
Born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, Young was the son of an Irish immigrant father, Thomas E. Young, and an American mother, Margaret Fife. When Young was a child, the family moved to different locations within the U.S.: Seattle, followed by Los Angeles, where Young became a student at Abraham Lincoln High School. After graduation, he studied and performed at the Pasadena Playhouse while working at odd jobs and appearing in bit parts in silent films. While touring with a stock company producing The Ship, Young was discovered by a MGM talent scout with whom he subsequently signed a contract. Young made his sound film debut for MGM in the 1931 Charlie Chan film, Black Camel.
Young appeared in over 100 films between 1931 and 1952. After appearing on stage, Young was signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)—a movie studio that, at the time, was known for holding contracts with a large number of stars —and, in spite of having a “tier B” status, he co-starred with some of the studio’s most illustrious actresses, such as Margaret Sullavan, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Helen Hayes, Luise Rainer, and Helen Twelvetrees. Yet, most of his assignments consisted of B movies, also known as “programmers”, which required two to three weeks of shooting (considered very brief shooting periods at the time). Actors who were relegated to such a hectic schedule appeared, as Young did, in some six to eight movies per year.
As an MGM contract player, Young was resigned to the fate of most of his colleagues—to accept any film assigned to him or risk being placed on suspension—and many actors on suspension were prohibited from earning a salary from any endeavor at all (even those unrelated to the film industry).
In 1936, MGM summarily loaned Young to Gaumont British for two films; the first was directed by Alfred Hitchcock with the other co-starring the luminous Jessie Matthews. While there he surmised that his employers intended to terminate his contract, but he was mistaken.
He unexpectedly received one of his most rewarding roles late in his MGM career, in H.M. Pulham, Esq., featuring one of Hedy Lamarr’s most effective performances. He once remarked that he was assigned only those roles which Robert Montgomery and other A-list actors had rejected.
After his contract at MGM ended, Young starred in light comedies as well as in trenchant dramas for studios such as 20th Century Fox, United Artists, and RKO Radio Pictures. From 1943, Young assayed more challenging roles in films like Claudia, The Enchanted Cottage, They Won’t Believe Me, The Second Woman, and Crossfire. His portrayal of unsympathetic characters in several of these later films — which was seldom the case in his MGM pictures — was applauded by numerous reviewers.
Not surprisingly, and despite a propitious beginning as a freelance actor without the nurturing of a major studio, Young’s career began an incremental and imperceptible decline. Still starring as a leading man in the late 1940s and early 1950s, but only in mediocre films, he subsequently disappeared from the silver screen, only to reappear several years later on a much smaller one.
Today, Young is most remembered as the affable insurance salesman in Father Knows Best (1949-1954 on radio, 1954-1960 on television), for which he and his co-star, Jane Wyatt, won several Emmy Awards. Elinor Donahue (“Princess”), Billy Gray (“Bud”), and Lauren Chapin (“Kitten”) played the Anderson children.
Young then created, produced, and starred with Ford Rainey and Constance Moore in the nostalgic CBS comedy series Window on Main Street (1961–1962), which barely lasted six months.
Young’s final television series, Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969–1976), co-starring a young James Brolin, earned Young an Emmy for best leading actor in a drama series.
Until the late 1980s he also made numerous television commercials in which he persuaded edgy people to drink Sanka coffee.
Young was married to Betty Henderson from 1933 until her death in 1994. They had four daughters, Carol Proffitt, Barbara Beebe, Kathy Young and Betty Lou Gleason. They also had six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Despite his trademark portrayal of happy, well-adjusted characters, Young’s bitterness towards Hollywood casting practices never diminished, and he suffered from depression and alcoholism, culminating in a suicide attempt in January 1991.
Later, he spoke candidly about his personal problems in an effort to encourage others to seek help. The Robert Young Center for Community Mental Health, in Rock Island, Illinois, is named for Young in honor of his work toward passage of the 708 Illinois Tax Referendum, which established a property tax to support mental health programs in his home state.
Young died at his home in Westlake Village, California, USA, on July 21, 1998 of respiratory failure. He was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, in Glendale, California.
Young has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California, USA; the stars are in the categories of film (located at 6933 Hollywood Blvd.), television (6358 Hollywood Blvd.), and radio (1660 Vine Street).
Films include
Secret of the Incas, 1954
The Half-Breed, 1952
Adventure in Baltimore, 1951
That Forsyte Woman, 1951
Bride for Sale, 1951
And Baby Makes Three, 1951
The Second Woman, 1951
Goodbye My Fancy, 1951
That Forsyte Woman, 1949
Relentless, 1948
Sitting Pretty, 1948
They Won’t Believe Me, 1947
Crossfire, 1947
The Searching Wind, 1946
Claudia and David, 1946
Lady Luck, 1946
The Enchanted Cottage, 1945
Those Endearing Young Charms, 1945
The Canterville Ghost, 1944
Slightly Dangerous, 1943
Sweet Rosie O’Grady, 1943
Claudia, 1943
Joe Smith American, 1942
Cairo, 1942
Journey for Margaret, 1942
Western Union, 1941
The Trial of Mary Dugan, 1941
Lady Be Good, 1941
Married Bachelor, 1941
H.M. Pulham, Esq., 1941
Northwest Passage, 1940
Florian, 1940
The Mortal Storm, 1940
Sporting Blood, 1940
Dr. Kildare’s Crisis, 1940
Honolulu, 1939
Bridal Suite, 1939
Maisie, 1939
Miracles for Sale, 1939
Paradise for Three, 1938
Three Comrades, 1938
Josette, 1938
The Toy Wife, 1938
Rich Man Poor Girl, 1938
The Shining Hour, 1938
Dangerous Number, 1937
I Met Him in Paris, 1937
The Emperor’s Candlesticks, 1937
Married Before Breakfast, 1937
The Bride Wore Red, 1937
Navy Blue and Gold, 1937
It’s Love Again, 1936
The Three Wise Guys, 1936
Sworn Enemy, 1936
The Bride Walks Out, 1936
The Longest Night, 1936
Stowaway, 1936
Secret Agent, 1936
West Point of the Air, 1935
Vagabond Lady, 1935
Calm Yourself, 1935
Red Salute, 1935
Remember Last Night?, 1935
The Bride Comes Home, 1935
Carolina, 1934
Spitfire, 1934
The House of Rothschild, 1934
Whom the Gods Destroy, 1934
Paris Interlude, 1934
Death on the Diamond, 1934
The Band Plays On, 1934
Men Must Fight, 1933
Today We Live, 1933
Hell Below, 1933
Tugboat Annie, 1933
Saturday’s Millions, 1933
The Right to Romance, 1933
The Wet Parade, 1932
New Morals for Old, 1932
Unashamed, 1932
Strange Interlude, 1932
The Kid from Spain, 1932
The Black Camel, 1931
The Sin of Madelon Claudet, 1931
The Guilty Generation, 1931
Hell Divers, 1931
Television
1954 The Ford Television Theatre Tom Warren 1 episode
1954–60 Father Knows Best Jim Anderson 203 episodes
1955 Climax! Lieutenant Commander Knowles 1 episode
1961 Window on Main Street Cameron Garrett Brooks 17 episodes
1965 Dr. Kildare Dr. Gilbert Winfield 1 episode
1965 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre: The Admiral Admiral Matt Callahan 1 episode
1968 Name of the Game, TheThe Name of the Game Herman Allison 1 episode
1969–76 Marcus Welby, M.D. Dr. Marcus Welby 170 episodes
1977 Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas Jim Anderson Television film
1978 Little Women Grandpa James Lawrence Television film
1984 Return of Marcus Welby, M.D., TheThe Return of Marcus Welby, M.D. Dr. Marcus Welby Television film
1987 American Masters Edward “Eddie” Crane 1 episode
1987 Mercy or Murder? Roswell Gilbert Television film
1987 Conspiracy of Love, AA Conspiracy of Love Joe Woldarski Television film
1988 Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Holiday Affair Dr. Marcus Welby Television film