Robert Taylor Actor

Today Is the 56th Anniversary of Robert Taylor’s Death

Posted on June 8, 2023 by giraffe44

56 years ago today, Rober Taylor died at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California after a long battle with lung cancer. He was 57.

Robert Taylor was a complicated and incredibly versatile man who could play any sort of character from a Roman general to a mental patient. He was a family man happily settled with his second wife, Ursula Thiess, and their two children.

Mr. Taylor was a patriot who served in the United States Navy for 3 years during World War II. He was a dedicated anti-communist and an early suporter of his friend Ronald Reagan.

Rest In Peace, Robert Taylor.

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Martha Crawford Cantarini, stunt woman. “He was one of the legendary faces in motion picture history, but I knew him as a quiet, shy, educated gentleman whose honesty was reflected in that famous face. Early in his career, he once told me, he had vowed to always appear in movies that the whole family could see and had endeavored to keep that promise. A gentle human being, Bob loved his horses just as he did his family. He had an extraordinary quarter horse named Tommy whom I also loved from my first day on the set. (Martha Crawford Cantarini, Fall Girl: my life as a western stunt double. page 168)

George Cukor, director. “Robert Taylor was my favorite actor. He was a gentleman. That’s rare in Hollywood.” (W.F. Buckley, “MGM Moles Dig Themselves a Hole,” Column, Jan 30, 1990)

Ava Gardner, actress. Gardner recalled Bob as a “warm, generous, intelligent human being.”  Ava Gardner, Love Is Nothing. (Tranberg)

Tay Garnett, director, “(Taylor) was one of the world’s great gentlemen….He was serious minded, hard working and keen. In spite of his astounding good looks, he was determined to be a fine actor, and not merely a star.” (L.J. Quirk, The Films of Robert Taylor, 1975, p. 102)

Deborah Kerr, actress. “When one thinks of his extraordinary good looks, he had every right to be a bit spoiled, but not Bob. He was unassuming, good natured and had a wonderful sense of humor…I felt he was a much better actor than he was given credit for.” (Tranberg)

Edwin Knopf, producer. “Those character traits (normalcy and decency) which are so inbred communicate themselves to the audience. Audiences sense the fine qualities and like them. In addition, he’s a fine artist, a no-nonsense guy who studies his script more thoroughly than any actor I know. (Wayne, p. 206)

Robert Loggia, actor. “Bob was an extremely talented artist. He was also the ultimate gentleman and a true professional who followed the rules of the day—arrive on time, know your lines and be willing to do what had to be done to make the picture successful. Here was a guy who could convincingly play the romantic lead opposite Garbo in a picture like Camille and be just as convincing playing a cowboy. Now that’s range, but the critics really never gave him his due.” (Tranberg)

Joe Pasternak, producer. “(Taylor was) the nicest guy in the picture business….he stays out of trouble, does his job and does it well, and the crew loves him.” Tranberg

Lawrence J. Quirk, author. (Taylor) was a true gentleman and a finer artist than he would admit to himself or to others. He was well educated, socially tactful, kind and highly intelligent….An American to the core, he loved his land, kept the faith and looked for the best.” L.J. Quirk, The Films of Robert Taylor, 1975, page 11, 12.

Ronald Reagan, actor, President of the United States. “Perhaps each one of us has his own different memory, but somehow they all add up to ‘nice man.’” Eulogy for Robert Taylor, June 11, 1969.

Richard Thorpe, director. “He’s a rarity. A lot of big stars are really heels off screen and the public doesn’t know it at first. It takes them awhile to discover it. But Bob is really a nice guy and it comes through on screen. Also, he’s a rugged, handsome man and they’re pretty few and far between these days. (Wayne, p. 206)

William Wellman, director. “I was crazy about Bob Taylor…..I think Bob Taylor’s probably one of the finest men I’ve known in my whole life. And he was an actor. And he was probably the handsomest one of them all. He did everything I asked him to. He was wonderful.” (William A. Wellman by Frank Thompson.)

Robert Young, actor. “Taylor, who was perfectly capable as an actor, but he was so damn handsome that he, like Tyrone Power, looked almost feminine. He was what you might call a beautiful man. He was a wonderful, wonderful person. And a good actor, too.” (1986 interview with Leonard Maltin)

Note: I’e posted this before but it’s worth reading again.

June 8, 2024 is the 55th anniversary of Robert Taylor’s death from lung cancer.  As a personal tribute to him, these are my 10 favorite Taylor photos.  They demonstrate some of the many facets of his life, both professional and personal.  If anyone who reads this has a favorite photo of his/her own, I’d be happy to post it.

These are two formal portraits, the left one from 1935 and the right one at left from ca. 1960.  They both feature Mr. Taylor seated and smiling.  Both photos are filled with confidence.  The earlier one bristles with energy, as though Robert Taylor can’t wait to be up and doing something,  This energy is one of his leading characteristics in the thirties and he added a dynamic touch to a good many films.

Twenty five years later Mr. Taylor has a more composed, more contained attitude. His left arm is very relaxed. His smile is more restrained and there is an overall feeling of contentment.  He seems to be saying, “I’ve done all right.  I like who I am.”  In 1935 Robert Taylor looks off into the distance, in 1960 he looks straight at the viewer.  Both photos show a great deal of charm and a personality that transcends good looks.

Robert Taylor has never gotten the credit he deserves for his acting skills.  He was an amazingly versatile actor who could play everything from a gangster to a Roman comander to Ivanhoe to a tough, doomed soldier.  He inhabited his characters completely.   These two photos illustrate my point.  The left hand picture is on the set of High Wall, 1947.  Mr. Taylor’s character is a brain injured veteran, Steven Kenet,  who is confined to a mental institution and who may be a murderer.  There is no trace of Robert Taylor here. Kenet stands flat footed with his thumbs hooked into his pockets and his eyes blank.  His hair is disheveled and he is unshaven.  Mr. Taylor has become Steven Kenet but he’s not absorbed by the character.  He was famous for never bringing his characters home.

The right hand photo is Robert Taylor costumed as Roman Commander Marcus Vinicius in Quo Vadis (1950).  But it isn’t Vinicius, it’s Taylor. His face is relaxed and open with a charming smile.   He leans forward as though he hears something interesting and potentially funny,  Vinicius is a severe and driven person–self-centered and, in the beginning, cruel.  Robert Taylor had an integrity and forthrightness that shows in his candid and natural expression.

It’s hard to explain why I like these two pictures so much.  The left one is from the mid-fifties and shows a relaxed and confident Robert Taylor looking directly at the viewer.  At this point he has been a movie star for twenty years, a survivor in one of the most competitive professions there is.  He looks younger than his 44 years

The right hand photo is from Death Valley Days, the series Mr. Taylor hosted and sometimes starred in during the late sixties.  This was taken in 1968, the next to last year of his life.  His face reflects a life in the out-of-doors, the ravages of cigarette smoking and possibly his health problems.  Nonetheless it is a strong face, animated and masculine. Robert Taylor lived life fully and made the most of his years.  His face is now striking, not “beautiful,” and it is hard to look away.

These are wonderful because they show Mr. Taylor finally happy in his personal life.  After a difficult childhood and a failed marriage to Barbara Stanwyck, he found the love of his life, Ursula Thiess.  The right hand photo is of Mr. and Mrs. Taylor shortly after their marriage in 1954.  The Taylor face simply radiates happiness.  Looking at this photo makes me happy.

The left shot is from LIFE magazine in 1961 and was taken at the Taylor cabin in Wyoming.  Mr. Taylor holds his daughter Tessa, 2, in his lap. There is a feeling of utter contentment, of relaxation, of a deep happiness in life.  Marriage to the right woman and having a family made the latter part of Robert Taylor’s life his happiest personally.  It’s good to know that his short life ended with such stability and love.

Both of these pictures make me smile.  The above is enigmatic.  What is the hand out for?  My interpretation is that Mr. Taylor has won a bet and is waiting for his money.  He seems most amused by the whole thing.  If anyone knows the real story, let me know.

On the right Robert Taylor meets a professional challenge.  He is supposed to be driving a Roman chariot at full speed along the Appian way.  There is a chariot, but no horses  and no road.  These will be added later.  There is only the green screen behind him. Someone is holding the reins out straight.  In the film this is very serious business as he races to save his beloved.  Here Mr. Taylor has a huge grin on his face and I imagine this is before the cameras were rolling.

It is a tragedy that Robert Taylor was unable to stop smoking.  Numerous friends tried to get him to stop. He told director Henry Koster that he had stopped many times but always started up again.  Mr. Taylor hoped that “nothing bad would happen.”  Well, it did, inevitably.  Some people just cannot stop.  A favorite professor of mine, a world renowned archaeologist, had the same problem and died before her time.

Robert Taylor represented talent, professionalism, versatility, honor and integrity.  Yes he had outstanding looks and yes he had his faults.  But he worked hard, met his obligations, loved his family, loved his country.  Millions of people still view his seventy-seven films.  Rest In Peace, Mr. Taylor.