Cowboy actor Dale Robertson dead at 89
Actor Dale Robertson is best remembered for his portrayal of Jim Hardie in the TV series Tales of Wells Fargo.
Dale Robertson, whose horse expertise, Oklahoma roots and handsome looks helped him win cowboy roles in 1950s and '60s, has died at age 89, his wife said Thursday.
Robertson was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer just last week while being treated for pneumonia at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, California, Susan Robertson said. He died Tuesday.
"He always said he lived two or three lifetimes," she said. "He was in Hollywood when it was great."
Robertson's acting career began after a movie scout saw a photo of him in a Hollywood photo shop's display window. He had the portrait taken to send to his mother while he was stationed at an Army post in California, according to his official biography.
He acted in several uncredited movie roles in 1948 after he left the Army, leading to his role as the outlaw Jesse James in "Fighting Man of the Plains" in 1949.
Robertson starred in the TV Western series "Tales of Wells Fargo" from 1957 through 1962, riding a horse named Jubilee.
During the last hours of his life, as he lay in a hospital bed, his wife comforted Robertson by whispering thoughts of what awaited him in the afterlife.
"I told him that Jubilee and Chief (his favorite dog) would be waiting to greet him," his wife told CNN.
The role of a cowboy was not a stretch for Robertson, who grew up on an Oklahoma horse ranch. He and his wife raised horses in Oklahoma until moving to a San Diego suburb last summer, Susan Robertson said.
Robertson never sought formal acting training, based on advice that he should keep his own personality, according to his biography.
In the 1966 TV series "Iron Horse," Robertson played a character who won a railway in a high-stakes poker game.
He hosted, along with Ronald Reagan, episodes of "Death Valley Days" during the 1960s.
Film roles, also mostly Westerns, included "Devil's Canyon," "Sitting Bull," and "Dakota Incident."
In the 1980s, Robertson was a regular on the first season of "Dynasty," and acted in episodes of "The Love Boat," "Murder, She Wrote," "Dynasty," "Harts of the West" and "Dallas."
His last role came in two episodes of the TV series "Harts of the West" in 1993.
The final 15 years of Robertson's life were spent in ill health, partly because of wounds suffered while serving in a tank crew in North Africa and Europe during World War II, his wife said.
His wife called for an ambulance to take him to the hospital because of pain last week, she said.
Doctors were treating him for pneumonia when tests revealed he had lung cancer that had spread to his brain, bones, liver and lymph nodes, she said.
Dale Robertson, whose horse expertise, Oklahoma roots and handsome looks helped him win cowboy roles in 1950s and '60s, has died at age 89, his wife said Thursday.
Robertson was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer just last week while being treated for pneumonia at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, California, Susan Robertson said. He died Tuesday.
"He always said he lived two or three lifetimes," she said. "He was in Hollywood when it was great."
Robertson's acting career began after a movie scout saw a photo of him in a Hollywood photo shop's display window. He had the portrait taken to send to his mother while he was stationed at an Army post in California, according to his official biography.
He acted in several uncredited movie roles in 1948 after he left the Army, leading to his role as the outlaw Jesse James in "Fighting Man of the Plains" in 1949.
Robertson starred in the TV Western series "Tales of Wells Fargo" from 1957 through 1962, riding a horse named Jubilee.
During the last hours of his life, as he lay in a hospital bed, his wife comforted Robertson by whispering thoughts of what awaited him in the afterlife.
"I told him that Jubilee and Chief (his favorite dog) would be waiting to greet him," his wife told CNN.
The role of a cowboy was not a stretch for Robertson, who grew up on an Oklahoma horse ranch. He and his wife raised horses in Oklahoma until moving to a San Diego suburb last summer, Susan Robertson said.
Robertson never sought formal acting training, based on advice that he should keep his own personality, according to his biography.
In the 1966 TV series "Iron Horse," Robertson played a character who won a railway in a high-stakes poker game.
He hosted, along with Ronald Reagan, episodes of "Death Valley Days" during the 1960s.
Film roles, also mostly Westerns, included "Devil's Canyon," "Sitting Bull," and "Dakota Incident."
In the 1980s, Robertson was a regular on the first season of "Dynasty," and acted in episodes of "The Love Boat," "Murder, She Wrote," "Dynasty," "Harts of the West" and "Dallas."
His last role came in two episodes of the TV series "Harts of the West" in 1993.
The final 15 years of Robertson's life were spent in ill health, partly because of wounds suffered while serving in a tank crew in North Africa and Europe during World War II, his wife said.
His wife called for an ambulance to take him to the hospital because of pain last week, she said.
Doctors were treating him for pneumonia when tests revealed he had lung cancer that had spread to his brain, bones, liver and lymph nodes, she said.
Filmography
The Boy with Green
Hair (1948) - Cop (uncredited)
Flamingo Road
(1948) - Tunis Simms (uncredited)
The Girl from
Jones Beach (1949) - Lifeguard (uncredited)
Fighting Man of
the Plains (1950) - Jesse James
The Cariboo Trail
(1950) - Will Gray
Two Flags West
(1950) - Lem
Call Me Mister
(1951) - Capt.Johnny Comstock
Take Care of My
Little Girl (1951) - Joe Blake
The Secret of
Convict Lake (1951) - Narrator (voice, uncredited)
Golden Girl (1951)
- Tom Richmond
Return of the
Texan (1952) - Sam Crockett
The Outcasts of Poker Flat (1952) - John
Oakhurst
Lydia Bailey
(1952) - Albion Hamlin
Lure of the
Wilderness (1952) - Opening off-screen Narrator (voice, uncredited)
O. Henry's Full
House (1952) - Barney Woods (segment "The Clarion Call")
The Silver Whip
(1953) - Race Crim
The Farmer Takes a
Wife (1953) - Dan Harrow
Devil's Canyon
(1953) - Billy Reynolds
City of Bad Men
(1953) - Brett Stanton
The Gambler From
Natchez (1954) - Capt. Vance Colby
Sitting Bull
(1954) - Major Robert 'Bob' Parrish
Top of the World
(1955) - Maj. Lee Gannon
Son of Sinbad
(1955) - Sinbad
A Day of Fury
(1956) - Jagade
Dakota Incident
(1956) - John Banner
High Terrace
(1956) - Bill Lang
A Tall trouble
(1957) - Sheriff Caleb Wells
Anna of Brooklyn
(1958) - Raffaele
Gunfight at Black
Horse Canyon (1961, TV Movie) - Jim Hardie (archive footage)
Law of the Lawless
(1964)[19] - Judge Clem Rogers
Blood on the Arrow
(1964) - Wade Cooper
The Man from
Button Willow (1965) - Justin Eagle (voice)
Coast of Skeletons
(1965) - A. J. Magnus
The One Eyed
Soldiers (1966) - Richard Owen
East Connection
(1970)
Aru heishi no kake
(1970) - Major Clark J. Allen
The Kansas City
Massacre (1975, TV Movie) - Melvin Purvis
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