Robert Young
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
135 acting credits
Acting · 135
Golden Globe Awards
1944
Dr. Kildare
1961
Climax!
1954
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963
What's My Line?
1950
The Name of the Game
1968
The Dick Cavett Show
1968
Marcus Welby, M.D.
1969
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948
Father Knows Best
1954
The Steve Allen Show
1956
Dinah!
1974
The Partridge Family
1970
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
1971
ABC Stage 67
1966
This Is Your Life
1952
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
1969
Donny & Marie
1976
Vanished
1971
Little Women
1978
The Mortal Storm
1940
Western Union
1941
Crossfire
1947
Secret Agent
1936
Relentless
1948
Stowaway
1936
Lady Be Good
1941
The Canterville Ghost
1944
Window on Main Street
1961
The Sin of Madelon Claudet
1931
Northwest Passage
1940
Remember Last Night?
1935
Secret of the Incas
1954
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
1940
Spitfire
1934
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976
That's Entertainment!
1974
Bridal Suite
1939
The Enchanted Cottage
1945
The Bride Wore Red
1937
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
1969
The Second Woman
1950
Three Comrades
1938
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1940
Death on the Diamond
1934
Hollywood Goes to Town
1938
They Won't Believe Me
1947
That's Entertainment! III
1994
Red Salute
1935
Sitting Pretty
1948
Vagabond Lady
1935
Hell Below
1933
Josette
1938
Hollywood’s Children
1982
And Baby Makes Three
1949
The House of Rothschild
1934
That Forsyte Woman
1949
A Conspiracy of Love
1987
Carolina
1934
Florian
1940
The Black Camel
1931
The Kid from Spain
1932
Goodbye, My Fancy
1951
Today We Live
1933
Sporting Blood
1940
Saturday's Millions
1933
Hollywood Party
1934
Joe Smith, American
1942
West Point of the Air
1935
Slightly Dangerous
1943
Adventure in Baltimore
1949
The Shining Hour
1938
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic
1990
The Wet Parade
1932
Paradise for Three
1938
Miracles for Sale
1939
Honolulu
1939
Claudia
1943
The Romance of Celluloid
1937
Whom the Gods Destroy
1934
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
1941
The Emperor's Candlesticks
1937
Maisie
1939
The Bride Walks Out
1936
Journey for Margaret
1942
Hell Divers
1932
Cairo
1942
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
1940
The Searching Wind
1946
The Trial of Mary Dugan
1941
The Bride Comes Home
1935
Twenty Years After
1944
Tugboat Annie
1933
Navy Blue and Gold
1937
Paris Interlude
1934
Mercy or Murder?
1987
Bride for Sale
1949
It's Love Again
1936
Lady Luck
1946
Dangerous Number
1937
Strange Interlude
1932
My Darling Daughters' Anniversary
1973
Claudia and David
1946
The Father Knows Best Reunion
1977
The Band Plays On
1934
Married Bachelor
1941
Hollywood Hobbies
1939
The Big Moment
1954
Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
1990
The Return of Marcus Welby, M.D.
1984
The Half-Breed
1952
I Met Him in Paris
1937
Sworn Enemy
1936
Rich Man, Poor Girl
1938
Northward, Ho!
1940
Unashamed
1932
All My Darling Daughters
1972
Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas
1977
The Campus Vamp
1928
Calm Yourself
1935
Lazy River
1934
The Toy Wife
1938
Calling Hubby's Bluff
1929
Married Before Breakfast
1937
New Morals for Old
1932
The Guilty Generation
1931
The Right To Romance
1933
The Longest Night
1936
Men Must Fight
1933
Those Endearing Young Charms
1945
Highball Highway
1963
Sweet Rosie O'Grady
1943
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Holiday Affair
1988
The Three Wise Guys
1936