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Biography
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.
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 lay blame with the bisexual trysts of each. Others say Taylor found Stanwyck too possessive when Taylor would build his masculine image by 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.
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.
Selected filmography
Magnificent Obsession (1935)
Camille (1936)
Personal Property (1937)
A Yank at Oxford (1938)
Waterloo Bridge (1940)
Billy the Kid (1941)
Bataan (1942)
Undercurrent (1946)
High Wall (1947)
Quo Vadis (1951)
Ivanhoe (1952)
Knights of the Round Table (1953)
Rogue Cop (1954)
The Adventures of Quentin Durward (1955)
The Last Hunt (1956)
Party Girl (1958)
A House Is Not a Home (1964)
Trivia
The Italian comics fictional character Diabolik was graphically inspired to Taylor.
