Robert Young
Biography
Robert George Young (February 22, 1907 – July 21, 1998) was an American television, film, and radio actor, best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best (NBC and then CBS) and as physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. (ABC). Young appeared in over 100 films between 1931 and 1952. After appearing on stage, Young was signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and, in spite of having a "tier B" status, he co-starred with some of the studio's most illustrious actresses, such as Katharine Hepburn, Margaret Sullavan, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Helen Hayes, Luise Rainer, Hedy Lamarr, and Helen Twelvetrees. Yet, most of his assignments consisted of B movies, also known as "programmers," which required two to three weeks of shooting (considered very brief shooting periods at the time). Actors who were relegated to such a hectic schedule appeared, as Young did, in some six to eight movies per year. As an MGM contract player, Young was resigned to the fate of most of his colleagues—to accept any film assigned to him or risk being placed on suspension—and many actors on suspension were prohibited from earning a salary from any endeavor at all (even those unrelated to the film industry). In 1936, MGM summarily loaned Young to Gaumont British for two films; the first was directed by Alfred Hitchcock with the other co-starring Jessie Matthews. While there he surmised that his employers intended to terminate his contract, but he was mistaken. He unexpectedly received one of his most rewarding roles late in his MGM career, in H.M. Pulham, Esq., featuring one of Hedy Lamarr's most effective performances. He once remarked that he was assigned only those roles which Robert Montgomery and other A-list actors had rejected. After his contract ended at MGM, Young starred in light comedies as well as in trenchant dramas for studios such as 20th Century Fox, United Artists, and RKO Radio Pictures. From 1943, Young assayed more challenging roles in films like Claudia, The Enchanted Cottage, They Won't Believe Me, The Second Woman, and Crossfire. His portrayal of unsympathetic characters in several of these later films—which was seldom the case in his MGM pictures—was applauded by numerous reviewers. Young's career began an incremental and imperceptible decline, despite a propitious beginning as a freelance actor without the nurturing of a major studio. He continued starring as a leading man in the late 1940s and early 1950s, but only in mediocre films, then he subsequently disappeared from the silver screen - only to reappear several years later on a much smaller one. Description above from the Wikipedia article Robert Young (actor), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Known For
Fritz Marberg
The Mortal Storm
Robert Marvin
Secret Agent
Larry Ballentine
They Won't Believe Me
Tommy Randall
Stowaway
Finlay
Crossfire
Stanley Moorehead
Secret of the Incas
Homer Smith, aka Juniper Jones
Cairo
Philip Bosinney
That Forsyte Woman
Oliver Bradford
The Enchanted Cottage
John Davis
Journey for Margaret
Edward 'Eddie' Crane
Lady Be Good
Langdon Towne
Northwest Passage
Richard Blake
Western Union
Jeff Cohalan
The Second Woman
Brooks Mason / George Smith
Honolulu
Jimmy Bradshaw
The Black Camel
John Stafford
Spitfire
Cuffy Williams
The Canterville Ghost
Charles 'Slim' Martin
Maisie
Grand Duke Peter
The Emperor's Candlesticks
Tony Milburn
Remember Last Night?
Alec (Son)
Tugboat Annie
Harry King
Sitting Pretty
Harry Moulton Pulham
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
Douglas Lamont
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
Peter Carlton
It's Love Again
Larry Kelly
Death on the Diamond
Claude William Hope
Today We Live
Little Mike Stone
West Point of the Air
Gottfried Lenz
Three Comrades
David Linden
The Shining Hour
Hugh McKenzie
The Bride Walks Out
Rudolph 'Rudi' Pal
The Bride Wore Red
Ricardo
The Kid from Spain
Gordon Evans as a young man
Strange Interlude
Doctor James Merrill
Goodbye, My Fancy
Gene Anders
I Met Him in Paris
Kip Tarleton
The Wet Parade
Roger 'Rog' Ash
Navy Blue and Gold
Tom Wakefield
Married Before Breakfast
Andre Vallaire
The Toy Wife
Geoffrey Aiken
Men Must Fight
Jeff
Red Salute
Vernon 'Vern' Walsh
And Baby Makes Three
Dan Craig
The Half-Breed
Nick Buckley
Relentless
Charley Phelps
The Longest Night
Bob Stuart
Slightly Dangerous
Bobby Preble
The Right To Romance
William 'Bill' Drexel
Lazy River
Bill Harrison
Rich Man, Poor Girl
Lieut. (JG) 'Brick' Walters
Hell Below
Marco Ricca, also known as Marco Smith
The Guilty Generation
Henry 'Hank' Sherman
Sworn Enemy
Anton Erban
Florian
Judge Charles Raleigh
My Darling Daughters' Anniversary
David Naughton
Claudia and David
Dr. Andrew Sheldon
Adventure in Baltimore
Larry Scott
Lady Luck
Michael Morgan
Miracles for Sale
Alex Hazen
The Searching Wind
Ralph Thomas
New Morals for Old
Fritz Hagedorn
Paradise for Three
Dick Ogden
Unashamed
Capt. Fitzroy
The House of Rothschild
Jack Bristow
The Bride Comes Home
Will Connelly
Carolina
Randolph Haven
Married Bachelor
Self (uncredited)
Hollywood Hobbies
Tony Ferrera
The Bands Plays On
Preston Patton
Calm Yourself
Narrator
The Big Moment
Neil McGill
Bridal Suite
Stephen Tracy Adams
Bride for Sale
Marcus Welby
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
Pat
Paris Interlude
Dr. Marcus Welby
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Holiday Affair
Pierre Brassard
Josette
Tony Spear
Vagabond Lady
Hank
Dangerous Number
Student at Dance / at Beach (uncredited)
The Campus Vamp
Dr.Claudet
The Sin of Madelon Claudet
(archive footage) (uncredited)
That's Entertainment!
Lt. Hurley 'Hank' Travers
Those Endearing Young Charms
Myles Vanders
Sporting Blood
Samuel Magee
Sweet Rosie O'Grady
Joe Woldarski
A Conspiracy of Love
Himself
Northward, Ho!
Himself
Highball Highway
Jimmy Blake
The Trial of Mary Dugan
James Anderson
The Father Knows Best Reunion
Jack Forrester
Whom the Gods Destroy
Joe Smith
Joe Smith, American
David Naughton
Claudia
Joe Hatcher
The Three Wise Guys
Radio Announcer (uncredited)
Hollywood Party
Self
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
Graham - Pilot Reporting Missing Airplanes (uncredited)
Hell Divers
Self
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Self
Hollywood Goes to Town
Jim Fowler
Saturday's Millions
(archive footage)
That's Entertainment, Part II
(archive footage)
That's Entertainment! III
Judge Charles Raleigh
All My Darling Daughters
Self (archive footage)
The Romance of Celluloid
(archive footage)
Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
(archive footage)
Twenty Years After
Roswell Gilbert
Mercy or Murder?
Jim Anderson
Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas
Self
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 50 Years of Magic
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood’s Children
Dr. Marcus Welby
The Return of Marcus Welby, M.D.
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
112
Gender
Male
Birthday
1907-02-22
Place of Birth
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Also Known As
Robert George Young