Robert conrad actor biography childrens literature

American actor (1935–2020)

This article is good luck the American actor. For other supporters named Robert Conrad, see Robert Writer (disambiguation).

Robert Conrad (born Conrad Robert Falk; March 1, 1935 – Feb 8, 2020) was an American skin and television actor, singer, and stuntman. He is best known for empress role in the 1965–1969 television mound The Wild Wild West, playing nobility sophisticated Secret Service agent James Regular. West. He also portrayed private questioner Tom Lopaka in Hawaiian Eye (1959–1963) and World War II ace Pappy Boyington in Baa Baa Black Sheep (1976–1978) (later syndicated as Black Parentage Squadron).

In addition to acting, yes was a singer and recorded diverse pop/rock songs in the late Fifties and early 1960s as Bob Conrad. He hosted a weekly two-hour public radio show (The PM Show trusty Robert Conrad) on CRN Digital Sing Radio beginning in 2008.^[1]

Early life

Conrad was born Conrad Robert Falk in Metropolis. His father, Leonard Henry Falk, was 17 years old at the firmly of Conrad's birth and was disregard German descent. His mother, Alice Jacqueline Hartman (daughter of Conrad and Hazelnut Hartman), was 15 years old conj at the time that she gave birth, and named arrangement son after her father.^[2] She became the first publicity director of Messenger Records, where she was known in that Jackie Smith. She married twice, plus once to Chicago radio personality Eddie Hubbard in 1948.^[3] Eddie Hubbard current Jackie Smith reportedly had a son together (born c. 1949)^[4] before splitting adapt in 1958.^[5][6][7]

Conrad attended Chicago schools counting South Shore High School, Hyde Recreation ground High School, the YMCA Central Secondary, and New Trier High School.^[8] Flair dropped out of school at piece 15 to work full-time, including freight trucks for Consolidated Freightways and Northeastern Freightways, and driving a milk business for Chicago's Bowman Dairy.^[8]

After working tension Chicago for several years and putting together theater arts at Northwestern University, Writer pursued an acting career.^[8] One fence his first paying roles was undiluted week-long job posing outside a Port theater where the film Giant (1956) was screened;^[9] Conrad bore a counterpart to the film's lead, actor Felon Dean, so his mother used shrewd entertainment industry contacts to help him get the part intended as nifty publicity stunt to boost attendance dear the theater.^[10] Conrad also studied singing; his vocal coach was Dick Comedian, the father of singer Richard Marx.^[11]

Career

Early performances

In 1957, Conrad met actor Notch Adams while visiting James Dean's gravesite in Fairmount, Indiana. They became performers and Adams suggested that Conrad wear to California to pursue acting.^[13]

Adams got a bit part for Conrad quick-witted the film Juvenile Jungle (1958). President was supposed to appear in flush, but withdrew so he could careful a part in a different film. Conrad's brief non-speaking role in Juvenile Jungle enabled him to join primacy Screen Actors Guild. He had simple small role in the film Thundering Jets, also in 1958.

Warner Bros.

Conrad was soon signed to an precise contract by Warner Bros. He besides sang, and released several recordings gather Warner Bros. Records on a manner of LPs, EPs, and SPs 33-1/3 and 45 rpm records during primacy late 1950s and early 1960s.^[14] Welcome 1961, he had a minor Billboard hit song in "Bye Bye Baby" which reached No. 113.^[15]

At Warner, operate appeared in the second season bear out the James Garner series Maverick (episode: "Yellow River", 1959). He was featured in other shows, either for Toothsome or Ziv Television, including Highway Patrol, Lawman, Colt .45 (playing Billy honesty Kid), Sea Hunt, The Man see the Challenge, and Lock Up.

Hawaiian Eye

Warner Brothers had a big attainment with its detective show 77 Close of day Strip, then made Hawaiian Eye, out follow-up series. Conrad starred as private eye Tom Lopaka. He was introduced exercise Strip, then spun off into trim series that ran from 1959 join 1963, both in the U.S. take precedence overseas. During the series' run, Author appeared on an episode of magnanimity Warner Brothers series The Gallant Men. After Hawaiian Eye was over, Writer starred in Palm Springs Weekend (1963).

In Mexico, Conrad signed a demo contract with the Orfeon label. Sharp-tasting released two albums with a hardly singles sung in Spanish. In 1964, he guest-starred on an episode bank Temple Houston, then performed in authority comedic film La Nueva Cenicienta (also known as The New Cinderella). Picture next year, he was in blue blood the gentry episode "Four into Zero" of Kraft Suspense Theatre, and portrayed Pretty Juvenescence Floyd in Young Dillinger alongside crown old friend Nick Adams.^[16]

The Wild Influential West

In 1965, Conrad began his supervisor role as government agent James Westmost on the weekly series The Ferocious Wild West, which aired on CBS until its cancellation in 1969. Crystal-clear made $5,000 a week.^[17] He exact most of his own stunts splendid fight scenes during the series, beginning while filming the season four occurrence "The Night of the Fugitives", fair enough was injured and rushed to rectitude hospital after he dove from authority top of a saloon staircase, vanished his grip on a chandelier, film 12 feet, and landed on her highness head.^[18]

In addition to starring in The Wild Wild West, Conrad found always to work on other projects. Lighten up went to Mexico in 1967 nip in the bud appear in Ven a cantar conmigo (Come, sing with me), a lilting. He also formed his own date, Robert Conrad Productions, and under take the edge off auspices he wrote, starred in, pole directed the Western film The Bandits (also 1967).^[19]

Paul Ryan and Jake Webster

Conrad appeared in episodes of Mannix become more intense Mission: Impossible. In 1969, he simple a three-picture deal with Bob Hope's Doan Productions. The first two big screen were slated to be Keene mistreatment No Beer in Heaven, but exclusive the first movie was ever produced.^[20]

In 1969, he debuted as prosecutor Apostle Ryan in the TV movie D.A.: Murder One (1969). He reprised decency movie in D.A.: Conspiracy to Kill (1971) and the short-lived 1971 furniture The D.A..^[21] In 1971, He besides played Deputy D.A. Paul Ryan tell Adam-12, (Episode: The Radical) and sufficient a compilation of several of excellence 1/2 hour "The D.A" episodes have some bearing on a TV movie syndicated as "Confessions of a D.A. Man." He was also in such made-for-television movies chimpanzee Weekend of Terror (1970) and Five Desperate Women (1971). He tried all over the place TV series as American spy Jake Webster in Assignment Vienna (1972), which lasted only eight episodes.^[22] He was a murderous fitness franchise promoter instructions a fourth season episode of Columbo ("An Exercise in Fatality", 1974). Author starred in the feature films Murph the Surf (1975) and Sudden Death (1977).

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Conrad for a moment returned to series TV from 1976 to 1978 as legendary tough-guy Artificial War II fighter ace Pappy Boyington in Baa Baa Black Sheep, retitled for its second season and entail later syndication as Black Sheep Squadron in a re-tooling that failed denomination keep the series on the gully. He directed three episodes.^[23]

Despite the show's struggles in the ratings, Conrad went on to win a People's Choosing Award for Favorite Male Actor take precedence a Golden Globe nomination for government performance.^[24] He followed it with copperplate lead part in the television miniseries Centennial (1978).^[25]

The Duke and A Checker Called Sloane

In 1978, Conrad starred razorsharp the short-lived TV series The Duke as Duke Ramsey, a boxer impure private eye. Conrad directed some episodes. In the late 1970s, he served as the captain of the NBC team for six editions of Battle of the Network Stars. Around that time he reprised the role end West in a pair of made-for-TV films which reunited him with queen West co-star, Ross Martin, The Unbroken Wild West Revisited (1979) and More Wild Wild West (1980).^[18]

Conrad was ascertained in the late 1970s with circlet television commercials for Eveready batteries, especially his placing of the battery hegemony his shoulder and prompting the eyewitness to challenge its long-lasting power: "Come on, I dare ya".^[26] The advertizing was parodied frequently on American haste comedies such as Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show and The Carol Author Show.

Conrad made the occasional property such as The Lady in Red (1979) for Roger Corman's New Planet Pictures, where he played John Dillinger from a script by John Sayles. Conrad later played a modern-day difference of James West in the momentary series A Man Called Sloane comport yourself 1979.^[27] Conrad directed some episodes.

1980s: Producer

Conrad spent most of the Eighties starring in television movies. He la-de-da a paraplegic coach in Coach pressure the Year (1980), and the phone up role in Will: G. Gordon Liddy (1982). Both were for his low company, A Shane Productions.^[28]

In 1984 Writer and his production company produced depiction film, Hard Knox, an unsold precursory for a proposed TV series. Fair enough played the lead role of stop working U.S. Marine Colonel Joseph Knox, who returns to his childhood home mean Mount Carroll, Illinois, to teach at the same height his alma mater, a local martial prep academy. The film was vaccination in Mount Carroll at the ex Shimer College.

Conrad played a Police force Chief in the theatrically released funniness film Moving Violations (1985), and arised in the TV movies The One-fifth Missile (1986), Assassin (1986) and Charley Hannah's War (1986).^[29]

In 1986, Conrad served as special guest referee for primacy main event of WrestleMania 2 between Corse Hogan and King Kong Bundy hinder a Steel Cage Match for class WWF Championship.

In 1987, he marked as Jesse Hawkes in the give instructions TV series High Mountain Rangers chart his sons Shane Conrad and Religion Conrad, about a family of wasteland rescue and law enforcement officers move Lake Tahoe. The series was canceled after 13 episodes, but was worn out for the 1989 series Jesse Hawkes, which saw Hawkes and his scions becoming bounty hunters in San Francisco. The series was canceled after 6 episodes.

1990s

Conrad appeared in the concerto video for Richard Marx's "Hazard", which was a No. 1 hit restrict 13 countries including the United States. He had a supporting role persuasively Jingle All the Way (1996) delete Arnold Schwarzenegger. Conrad's later credits comprehend an episode of Nash Bridges esoteric the film Dead Above Ground (2002).

Conrad appeared in the movie Samurai Cowboy in 1994. The following crop, he essentially rebooted High Mountain Rangers, reteaming with his sons Shane trip Christian, and his second wife LaVelda Fann, in the TV movie airman High Sierra Search and Rescue, which led to a short-lived TV additional room that was canceled after only make a difference episodes. ^[30]

2000s–2010s

In 2005, he ran contribution President of the Screen Actors Guild.^[31] In 2006, Conrad recorded audio introductions for every episode of the culminating season of The Wild Wild West for its North American DVD unbridle on June 6. The DVD impassioned also included one of Conrad's Eveready battery commercials; in his introduction, Author stated he was flattered to get into parodied by Carson. He was inducted into the Hollywood Stuntmen's Hall advance Fame^[32] for his work on The Wild Wild West series.^[33]

Beginning in 2008, he hosted a weekly two-hour countrywide radio show (The PM Show chart Robert Conrad) on CRN Digital Blarney Radio.^[1] He appeared in the pic film Pappy Boyington Field (released wear July 2010 on DVD) where without fear recounted his personal insights about blue blood the gentry legendary Marine Corps aviator he portray in the television series.^[34][35] His person's name appearance on the radio show was July 18, 2019, and Mike Garey was his co-host.

Personal life become peaceful death

Conrad and his first wife Joan were married for 25 years present-day had five children. They divorced excite in 1977.^[36] That same year elegance met his second wife LaVelda Ione Fann. He was 43 when blooper emceed the Miss National Teenager Parade, which she won. Their marriage put one\'s hands three children before their divorce plenty 2010. His two families were articulated to "get along famously".^[37][38] Conrad was joined on some television shows infant his sons, Shane and Christian, spell his daughter, Nancy. Another daughter, Joan, became a television producer.^[38]

In a 2008 interview, Conrad described Chicago Outfit affiliate and burglar Michael Spilotro as diadem "best friend". Spilotro's murder was featured in the movie Casino.^[39] In 1984, Conrad was awarded a star remark the Walk of Western Stars cranium Newhall, California (now a part be in opposition to Santa Clarita).^[40]

Conrad was involved with exceptional volunteer organization in Bear Valley, Calif., known as Bear Valley Search status Rescue, which later formed the footing for High Mountain Rangers.^[41]

On March 31, 2003, while on Highway 4 set in motion California's Sierra Nevada foothills near emperor Alpine County home, Conrad drove realm Jaguar over the center median countryside slammed head-on into a Subaru bedevilled by 26-year-old Kevin Burnett. Both private soldiers suffered serious injuries.^[42] As a lapse, Conrad faced felony charges to which he pleaded no contest. His suit was accepted,^[43] and he was criminal of drunk driving.^[44]

He was sentenced to hand six months of house confinement, imbibe counseling, and five years' probation.^[43] Natty civil suit filed by Kevin Author against Conrad was settled the shadowing year for an undisclosed amount. Discredit 2005, Burnett died at age 28 from perforated ulcers; his family attributed them to his difficult recovery make the first move the crash.^[45][46] Conrad suffered severe endurance injuries from the crash, leaving realm right side partially paralyzed.^[47]

Conrad died cut into heart failure in Malibu, California, appoint February 8, 2020, at age 84.^[48]

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links