Robert Preston (actor)
Robert Preston | |
|---|---|
| File:Robertpreston.JPG Preston in This Gun for Hire (1942) | |
| Born | Robert Preston Meservey |
| Spouse | Catherine Craig (1940-1987) |
Robert Preston Meservey (June 8 1918 - March 21 1987), better known as Robert Preston, was an Oscar-nominated, Tony Award-winning American actor.
Early life
Preston was born in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of a garment worker. After attending Abraham Lincoln High School in Los Angeles, California, he studied acting at the Pasadena Community Playhouse. He would later serve as an intelligence officer with the U.S. 9th Air Force during World War II.
In 1940 he married actress Catherine Craig, to whom he remained married until his death.
Career
Preston appeared in many Hollywood films, predominantly Westerns, but is probably best remembered for his portrayal of the character "Professor" Harold Hill in Meredith Willson's musical, The Music Man (1962). He won a Tony Award for his performance in the original Broadway production (1957). In 1974, he starred opposite Bernadette Peters in the Broadway musical "Mack and Mabel" as Mack Sennett, the famous silent film director.
In 1961, Preston was asked to make a recording as part of a program by the President's Council on Physical Fitness to get schoolchildren to do more daily exercise. The song, "Chicken Fat," written by Meredith Willson and performed by Preston with full orchestral accompaniment, was distributed to schools across the nation and played for students in calisthenics every morning. The song later became a surprise novelty hit and a part of baby-boomers' childhood memories.
Although he was not known for his singing voice, Preston appeared in several other stage and film musicals, notably Mame (1974) and Victor/Victoria (1982), for which he received an Academy Award nomination. His final role was in the TV movie Outrage! (1986). His final role in a film made for theatres was in The Last Starfighter, in which he played intergalactic con man/military recruiter "Centauri". Preston said he based the character of Centauri on Professor Harold Hill.
He died of lung cancer in 1987, aged 68.
Filmography
Features
- King of Alcatraz (1938)
- Illegal Traffic (1938)
- Disbarred (1939)
- Union Pacific (1939)
- Beau Geste (1939)
- Typhoon (1940)
- North West Mounted Police (1940)
- Moon Over Burma (1940)
- The Lady from Cheyenne (1941)
- Parachute Battalion (1941)
- New York Town (1941)
- Night of January 16th (1941)
- Pacific Blackout (1941)
- Reap the Wild Wind (1942)
- This Gun for Hire (1942)
- Wake Island (1942)
- Star Spangled Rhythm (1942)
- Night Plane from Chungking (1943)
- The Macomber Affair (1947)
- Variety Girl (1947)
- Wild Harvest (1947)
- Big City (1948)
- Blood on the Moon (1948)
- Whispering Smith (1948)
- The Lady Gambles (1949)
- Tulsa (1949)
- The Sundowners (1950)
- Cloudburst (1951)
- When I Grow Up (1951)
- Best of the Badmen (1951)
- My Outlaw Brother (1951)
- Face to Face (1952)
- The Last Frontier (1955)
- The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960)
- The Music Man (1962)
- How the West Was Won (1962)
- Island of Love (1963)
- All the Way Home (1963)
- Junior Bonner (1972)
- Child's Play (1972)
- Mame (1974)
- Semi-Tough (1977)
- S.O.B. (1981)
- Victor/Victoria (1982)
- The Last Starfighter (1984)
Short Subjects
Trivia
Preston appeared on the cover of Time magazine on July 21, 1958.[1]
Broadway Shows
- The Male Animal (May 15, 1952 - Jan 31, 1953)
- Men of Distinction (Apr 30, 1953 - May 2, 1953)
- His and Hers (Jan 7, 1954 - Mar 13, 1954)
- The Magic and the Loss (Apr 9, 1954 - May 1, 1954)
- The Tender Trap (Oct 13, 1954 - Jan 8, 1955)
- Janus (Nov 24, 1955 - Jun 30, 1956)
- The Hidden River (Jan 23, 1957 - Mar 16, 1957)
- The Music Man (Dec 19, 1957 - Apr 15, 1961)
- Too True to be Good (Mar 12, 1963 - Jun 1, 1963)
- Nobody Loves an Albatross (Dec 19, 1963 - Jun 20, 1964)
- Ben Franklin in Paris (Oct 27, 1964 - May 1, 1965)
- The Lion in Winter (Mar 3, 1966 - May 21, 1966)
- I Do! I Do! (Dec. 5, 1966 - June 15, 1968)
- Mack & Mabel (Oct 6, 1974 - Nov 30, 1974)
- Sly Fox (Dec 14, 1976 - Feb 19, 1978)
Notes
- ^ Robert PrestonJuly 21, 1958, Time