Actors - Robert Taylor

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	Actors - Robert Taylor

Robert Taylor (August 5 1911, Filley, Nebraska - June 8 1969, Santa Monica, California), was an American actor.

Born Spangler Arlington Brough he made his first film appearance in 1934. Early in his career, he was known as "the man with the perfect profile." One of his first major films was Camille (1936), where he played opposite Greta Garbo. Strikingly handsome with wavy black hair and blue eyes he was an instant 'heart-throb' from his first film appearance. In later life, he made many television appearances, notably in the 1959 series, The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor.

By his own admission, never the greatest actor of his generation, but his many directors and famous co-star always found him the most professional actor. Always on time and always willing to do anything to get the film to be the best. Many actors and actresses later claimed that he was underrated as an actor, especially in films in his later years. Although he was known for his classic features, Taylor always strived for different films where he could play more rugged and challenging roles, not wanting to be known as just a "pretty face."

In 1947, Taylor testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) as a "friendly witness", claiming that he had appeared in the film Song of Russia against his better judgement. He went on to claim that the script by Richard Collins and Paul Jarrico, and a song in the movie written by Yip Harburg, were pro-Communist.

Taylor also provided evidence against actor Howard Da Silva. He is quoted as saying: "I can name a few who seem to sort of disrupt things once in a while. Whether or not they are Communists I don't know. One chap we have currently, I think is Howard Da Silva. He always seems to have something to say at the wrong time."

In 1970, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

His first wife was the actress Barbara Stanwyck with whom he owned a large ranch and home in the Mandeville Canyon section of Brentwood, California, which to this day is still referred to by locals as the old "Robert Taylor ranch." Taylor and Stanwyck were one of the classic era of Hollywood's "golden couples" and were good friends with another star couple Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. The marriage had its ups and downs. Some say that Taylor outgrew Stanwyck, especially while during the six months of filming "A Yank at Oxford", the first MGM film to go abroad. Still others say Taylor found Stanwyck too possessive and would let himself be open to succumbing to the amorous advances of at least a few women, eager for an affair with the leading man. Their marriage lasted from 1939 to 1951.

Taylor considered remarrying Stanwyck several times after their 1951 divorce, and also had a serious romance with Eleanor Parker but ultimately he would choose as his second wife German-born actress Ursula Thiess whom he married in 1954, and with whom he had two children. He was ultimately happy and well-suited to Thiess, a WWII refugee who still made her own dresses, even to go to gala events.

Robert Taylor died of lung cancer (he was a chain smoker) at the age of 57, and he was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, in Glendale, California. The creme de la creme of Hollywood celebrities went to his funeral, and his best friend Ronald Reagan gave the eulogy.

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Actors - Robert Taylor

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