American actor (1919?2003)
Robert Stack
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Stack in the 1950s
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Born
| Charles Langford Modini Stack
(
1919-01-13
)
January 13, 1919
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Died
| May 14, 2003
(2003-05-14)
(aged 84)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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Occupation
| Actor
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Years active
| 1934?2003
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Spouse
|
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Children
| 2
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Robert Stack
(born
Charles Langford Modini Stack
; January 13, 1919 ? May 14, 2003)
[1]
[2]
[3]
was an American actor and television host. Known for his deep voice and commanding presence, he appeared in over forty feature films. He starred in the
ABC
television series
The Untouchables
(1959?1963), for which he won the 1960
Primetime Emmy Award
for
Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Series
, and later hosted/narrated the true-crime series
Unsolved Mysteries
(1987?2002). He was also nominated for an
Academy Award
for
Best Supporting Actor
for his role in the film
Written on the Wind
(1956). Later in his career, Stack was known for his
deadpan
comedy roles that lampooned his dramatic on-screen persona, most notably as Captain Rex Kramer in
Airplane!
(1980).
Early life
[
edit
]
He was born Charles Langford Modini Stack in
Los Angeles
,
California
,
[4]
but his first name, selected by his mother, was changed to Robert by his father. He spent his early childhood in
Adria
and
Rome
, becoming fluent in French and Italian at an early age, and did not learn English until returning to Los Angeles when he was seven.
[5]
[6]
His parents divorced when he was a year old, and he was raised by his mother, Mary Elizabeth (nee Wood). His father, James Langford Stack, a wealthy advertising agency owner, later remarried his ex-wife, but died when Stack was 10.
[7]
He always spoke of his mother with the greatest respect and love. When he collaborated with Mark Evans on his autobiography,
Straight Shooting,
he included a picture of himself and his mother that he captioned "Me and my best girl". His maternal grandfather, opera singer Charles Wood, studied voice in Italy and performed there under the name "Carlo Modini." Stack had another opera-singer relative: American baritone
Richard Bonelli
(born George Richard Bunn), who was his uncle.
Stack took some drama courses at the University of Southern California, where he played on the polo team.
Clark Gable
was a family friend.
[6]
By the time he was 20, Stack had achieved minor fame as a sportsman. He was an avid polo player and shooter. His brother and he won the International Outboard Motor Championships, in
Venice
, Italy, and at age 16, he became a member of the All-American
Skeet
Team.
[5]
He set two world records in skeet shooting and became national champion. In 1971, he was inducted into the National Skeet Shooting Hall of Fame.
[8]
[9]
He was a
Republican
.
[10]
The
Piikani Nation
of the
Blackfoot Confederacy
, which was known as the Peigan Nation before the 1990s, honored him by inducting him into their
chieftainship
in 1953 (July 2, 1953, Newspaper) as Chief Crow Flag. In 1962, Stack received the Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement
.
[11]
Career
[
edit
]
Stack took drama courses at
Bridgewater State University
, a mid-sized liberal-arts school located 25 miles southeast of
Boston
. His deep voice and good looks attracted the attention of producers in
Hollywood
. When Stack visited the lot of
Universal Studios
at age 20, producer
Joe Pasternak
offered him an opportunity to enter the business. Recalled Stack, "He said, 'How'd you like to be in pictures? We'll make a test with
Helen Parrish
, a little love scene.' Helen Parrish was a beautiful girl. 'Gee, that sounds keen,' I told him. I got the part."
[12]
Stack's first film, which teamed him with
Deanna Durbin
, was
First Love
(1939), produced by Pasternak. This film was considered controversial at the time, as he was the first actor to give Durbin an on-screen kiss.
[13]
[14]
Stack won critical acclaim for his next role,
The Mortal Storm
(1940) starring
Margaret Sullavan
and
James Stewart
, and directed by
Frank Borzage
at
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
. He played a young man who joins the
Nazi
party.
Back at Universal, Stack was in Pasternak's
A Little Bit of Heaven
(1940), starring
Gloria Jean
, who was that studio's back-up for Deanna Durbin. Stack was reunited with Durbin in Pasternak's
Nice Girl?
(1941). Stack then starred in a Western,
Badlands of Dakota
(1942), co-starring
Richard Dix
and
Frances Farmer
.
[15]
United Artists
borrowed him to play a Polish Air Force pilot in
To Be or Not to Be
(1942), alongside
Jack Benny
and
Carole Lombard
. Stack admitted he was terrified going into this role, but he credited Lombard, whom he had known personally for several years, with giving him many tips on acting and with being his mentor. Lombard was killed in a plane crash shortly before the film was released. Stack played another pilot in
Eagle Squadron
(1942), a huge hit. He then made a Western,
Men of Texas
(1942).
[16]
During
World War II
, Stack served as an
officer
in the
United States Navy
. He worked as an aerial gunnery instructor and rose to the rank of
lieutenant
.
[17]
[18]
Stack resumed his career after the war with roles in such films as
Fighter Squadron
(1948) at Warner Bros. with
Edmond O'Brien
, playing a pilot;
A Date with Judy
(1948) at MGM, with
Wallace Beery
and
Elizabeth Taylor
. He made two films at Paramount:
Miss Tatlock's Millions
(1948) and
Mr. Music
(1950). He had an excellent role in
Bullfighter and the Lady
(1951), a passion project of
Budd Boetticher
for
John Wayne
's company. He later said this was the first time he liked himself on screen.
[19]
Stack supported
Mickey Rooney
in
My Outlaw Brother
(1951) and had the lead in the adventure epic
Bwana Devil
(1952), considered the first color, American 3-D feature film. It was released by
United Artists
, which also put Stack in a Western,
War Paint
(1953). He continued making similar low-budget action fare:
Conquest of Cochise
(1953) for
Sam Katzman
;
Sabre Jet
(1953), playing another pilot, this time in the
Korean War
;
The Iron Glove
(1954), a swashbuckler where Stack played
Charles Wogan
, for Katzman.
Stack was back in "A" pictures when he appeared opposite John Wayne in
The High and the Mighty
(1954), playing the pilot of an airliner who comes apart under stress after the airliner encounters engine trouble. The film was a hit, and Stack received good reviews. In 1954, he signed a seven-year contract with Fox.
[20]
Sam Fuller
cast him in the lead of
House of Bamboo
(1955), shot in Japan for
20th Century Fox
. He supported
Jennifer Jones
in
Good Morning, Miss Dove
(1955), also at Fox, and starred in
Great Day in the Morning
(1956) at RKO, directed by
Jacques Tourneur
.
Stack was then given a role in
Written on the Wind
(1956), directed by
Douglas Sirk
and produced by
Albert Zugsmith
. Stack played another pilot, the son of a rich man who marries
Lauren Bacall
, who in turn falls for his best friend, played by
Rock Hudson
. The film was a massive success and Stack was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
;
Dorothy Malone
, who played Stack's sister, was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Malone won, but Stack lost, to
Anthony Quinn
. Stack felt that the primary reason he lost to Quinn was that 20th Century Fox, which had lent him to
Universal-International
, organized block voting against him to prevent one of their contract players from winning an Academy Award while working at another studio.
[21]
Stack was reunited with Hudson, Malone, Zugsmith, and Sirk on
The Tarnished Angels
(1957), once more playing a pilot. At Fox, he was in
The Gift of Love
(1958) with Bacall. Stack then was given a real star role, playing the title part in
John Farrow
's biopic,
John Paul Jones
(1959). Despite a large budget and an appearance by
Bette Davis
, it was not a success.
Stack portrayed the crimefighting
Eliot Ness
in the
ABC
television drama series
The Untouchables
(1959?1963) produced by
Desilu Productions
, in association with Stack's Langford Productions. The show portrayed the ongoing battle between gangsters and a special squad of federal agents in prohibition-era Chicago. "No one thought it was going to be a series," Stack once said, "When you tell the same story every week, it seemed like a vendetta between Ness and the Italians."
[6]
The show won Stack the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
at the
12th Primetime Emmy Awards
in 1960.
[22]
During the series' run, Stack starred in a disaster film,
The Last Voyage
(1960), appearing opposite Malone. At Fox, he was in
The Caretakers
(1963) with
Joan Crawford
and he appeared in a special on hunting,
The American Sportsman
.
[23]
He owned 25% of
The Untouchables
and
The Caretaker
.
[19]
Stack worked in Europe for
Is Paris Burning?
(1966),
The Peking Medallion
(1967),
Action Man
(1967), and
Story of a Woman
(1970). He also appeared in
Laura
(1967).
[24]
Stack starred in a new drama series, rotating the lead with
Tony Franciosa
and
Gene Barry
in the lavish
The Name of the Game
(1968?1971). He played a former federal agent turned true-crime journalist, evoking memories of his role as Ness. In 1971, he sued CBS for $25 million for appearing in the documentary
The Selling of the Pentagon
, saying that the company had misrepresented his position regarding the Vietnam War.
[25]
Stack played a pilot in the TV film
Murder on Flight 502
(1975) and was the lead in the series
Most Wanted
(1976), playing a tough, incorruptible police captain commanding an elite squad of special investigators, also evoking the Ness role. He later played a similar role in the series
Strike Force
(1981).
[26]
He also starred in a French film,
Second Wind
, in 1978.
Stack parodied his own persona in the comedy
1941
(1979). His performance was well received and Stack became a comic actor, appearing in
Airplane!
(1980),
Big Trouble
(1986),
Plain Clothes
(1988),
Caddyshack II
(1988),
Joe Versus the Volcano
(1990),
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America
(1996), and
BASEketball
(1998). He also provided the voice for the character
Ultra Magnus
in
The Transformers: The Movie
(1986). In a more serious vein, he appeared in the action film
Uncommon Valor
(1983), the television
miniseries
George Washington
(1984), and
Hollywood Wives
(1985), and appeared in several episodes of the primetime soap opera
Falcon Crest
in 1986. Stack's series
Strike Force
was scheduled opposite
Falcon Crest
, where it quickly folded.
[
citation needed
]
He began hosting
Unsolved Mysteries
in 1987. He thought very highly of the interactive nature of the show, saying that it created a "symbiotic" relationship between viewer and program, and that the hotline was a great crime-solving tool.
Unsolved Mysteries
aired from 1987 to 2002, first as specials in 1987 (Stack did not host all the specials, which were previously hosted by
Raymond Burr
and
Karl Malden
), then as a regular series on
NBC
(1988?1997), then on
CBS
(1997?1999) and
Lifetime
(2001?2002). Stack served as the show's host during its entire original series run.
[27]
Netflix
revived the series in July 2020 with a six-episode run. Paying homage to the late host, a silhouette of Stack can be seen towards the end of the opening credits.
In 1991, Stack voiced the main police officer Lt. Littleboy (who is also the main protagonist and narrator) in
The Real Story of Baa Baa Black Sheep
. In 1996, a Golden Palm Star on the
Palm Springs, California
,
Walk of Stars
was dedicated to him.
[28]
Personal life and death
[
edit
]
Stack was married to actress
Rosemarie Bowe
from 1956 until his death. They had two children, a son, Charles, and a daughter, Elizabeth.
He underwent radiation therapy for
prostate cancer
in October 2002, and died of heart failure at his home in
Bel Air, Los Angeles
,
[29]
on May 14, 2003, at the age of 84.
[6]
[4]
[30]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Film
[
edit
]
Television
[
edit
]
Radio appearances
[
edit
]
Books
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Questions: Robert Stack".
The Modesto Bee
. Modesto, California. April 8, 1960. p. 24.
Robert Stack was born in Los Angeles, Calif., on January 13, 1919.
- ^
"In Step With: Robert Stack".
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
. March 12, 1989. p. 22.
Born: Jan. 13, 1919 in Los Angeles.
- ^
"He Was Television's Untouchable Eliot Ness: Robert Stack".
The Guardian
. May 16, 2003. p. 27.
Robert Stack, actor, born January 13, 1919, died May 13, 2003.
- ^
a
b
"Robert Stack"
.
The Guardian
. London. May 15, 2003
. Retrieved
January 14,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
"Robert Stack"
.
The Daily Telegraph
. London. May 16, 2003.
Archived
from the original on January 12, 2022
. Retrieved
January 17,
2013
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Lyman, Rick (May 16, 2003).
"Robert Stack, 84, Who Starred In Television's 'Untouchables'
"
.
The New York Times
. p. A25.
- ^
"Robert Stack Biography"
.
Encyclopedia of World Biography
. Retrieved
September 19,
2015
.
- ^
"NSSA Hall of Fame Inductees"
. National Skeet Shooting Association. Archived from
the original
on September 14, 2015
. Retrieved
September 19,
2015
.
- ^
"Target Talk Quiz: Skeet-Shooting Actor"
. Nssa-Nsca. February 22, 1999. Archived from
the original
on September 24, 2015
. Retrieved
September 19,
2015
.
- ^
Critchlow, Donald T. (October 21, 2013).
When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics
. Cambridge University Press. p. 173.
ISBN
978-0-521-19918-6
.
- ^
"Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement"
.
www.achievement.org
.
American Academy of Achievement
.
- ^
"Lubbockonline.com"
.
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
. May 16, 2003
. Retrieved
January 17,
2013
.
- ^
Churchill, Douglas W. (June 15, 1939).
"SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD"
.
The New York Times
. p. A31.
- ^
Bernstein, Adam. "Actor Robert Stack; Movie and TV Star".
The Washington Post
May 16, 2003: VAB6.
- ^
"Robert Stack Likes His Home In Nevada More Than Hollywood".
The Washington Post
. November 2, 1941: L11.
- ^
Natale, Richard (May 14, 2003).
"Vet thesp Robert Stack dies at 84"
.
Variety
. Vol. 391, no. 1. p. 52.
- ^
"Starred as Elliot Ness in 'The Untouchables".
The Chicago Tribune
. May 16, 2022. pp. 2?12.
After serving as a gunnery officer in the Navy during World War II...
- ^
Buchanan, Buck (2001).
Hell-Diver's Vengeance
. Victoria, British Columbia: Trafford. p. 119.
ISBN
1-55212-675-7
.
- ^
a
b
Alpert, Don. "Untouchable? No, Not Robert Stack!"
The Washington Post and Times-Herald
. August 9, 1963: B10.
- ^
Parsons, Louella. "Robert Stack Signs Long Contract".
The Washington Post and Times-Herald
. July 12, 1954: 15.
- ^
"Written on the Wind (1957) ? Overview"
.
Turner Classic Movies
. Retrieved
September 19,
2015
.
- ^
Korman, Seymour. "TV is Way of Life All Work and No Play for Robert Stack".
Chicago Daily Tribune
. January 19, 1963: B6.
- ^
MacMinn, Aleene. "WEEKEND TV: Robert Stack Hunts Lions in New Series."
Los Angeles Times
. January 30, 1965: B3.
- ^
Manners, Dorothy. "Robert Stack Faces Another Publicized '1st Kiss'".
The Washington Post and Times-Herald
. September 11, 1967: B6.
- ^
"Robert Stack Files Suit Against C.B.S."
The New York Times
.
Associated Press
. July 14, 1971. p. 71.
- ^
Miller, Ron. "Robert Stack's Law and Ardor".
The Washington Post
. August 26, 1981: B3.
- ^
"Robert Stack Eyes His Steely Image.
Chicago Tribune
. May 16, 1988: 7.
- ^
"Palm Springs Walk of Stars by date dedicated"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on October 13, 2012
. Retrieved
January 17,
2013
.
- ^
McLellan, Dennis (May 16, 2003).
"Robert Stack, 84; Tough-Guy Hero in 'The Untouchables'
"
.
Los Angeles Times
.
Archived
from the original on February 6, 2022.
- ^
"Actor Robert Stack Dead At 84"
.
CBS News
. May 15, 2003.
Archived
from the original on February 6, 2022.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Robert Stack (visual voices guide)"
. Behind The Voice Actors
. Retrieved
October 19,
2023
.
A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
- ^
Kirby, Walter (February 15, 1953).
"Better Radio Programs for the Week"
.
The Decatur Daily Review
. p. 42
. Retrieved
June 21,
2015
– via
Newspapers.com
.
External links
[
edit
]
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1954?1975
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1976?2000
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2001?present
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International
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National
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People
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Other
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