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Revision as of 05:49, 2 January 2006
For other people named Robert Wagner, see Robert Wagner (disambiguation).Robert John Wagner (born 10 February, 1930 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American actor. In his early days in Hollywood in the 1950s, he was mentored by the movie actor Clifton Webb. He was represented by the agent Henry Willson, the man who created the "beef cake" craze of the 1950s, starting with Guy Madison and whose most famous client was Rock Hudson, whom Willson discovered and groomed for stardom.
Wagner was the most prominent client to break with him in the early 1950s, when Willson's and Hudson's homosexuality became a topic of Hollywood gossip. Even for the straight actors represented by Willson, to be represented by a gay man in the 1950s meant that they likely were perceived as gay by a homophobic society, so Wagner and others abandoned him to preserve their masculine images and their careers. In an interview with Hofler, Wagner denied ever being represented by Willson. However, 20th Century contracts from the early 1950s show Willson to be the actor's agent, at the Famous Artists Agency.
Wagner's career as a supporting player in movies was solid in the 1950s, but his film career petered out in the 1960s (as did his first marriage to Natalie Wood), and he turned to television, with great success. His notable roles include:
- Prince Valiant in "Prince Valiant" (1954)
- Bud Corliss in "A Kiss Before Dying" (1956)
- George Lytton in "The Pink Panther" (1963)
- Alexander Mundy in "It Takes a Thief" (1968-70)
- Dan Bigelow in "The Towering Inferno" (1974)
- Pete T. Ryan in "Switch" (1975-1978)
- Jonathan Hart in "Hart to Hart" (1979-84)
- Number Two in the "Austin Powers" movies (1997, 1999, 2002)
- Jack Fairfield in "Hope & Faith" (2004-)
Wagner gained a good deal of notoriety for his on-off marriage to actress Natalie Wood, who left him in the early 1960s for Warren Beatty. They remarried in the 1970s, and Wagner was present when she drowned in mysterious circumstances.
Robert Wagner has been married four times to three different women:
- Natalie Wood (1957-1962)
- Marion Marshall (1963-1970)- one daughter Katie
- Natalie Wood (1972-1981) - one daughter Courtney & one stepdaughter Natasha Gregson
- Jill St. John (1990- )
In 1953, Wagner was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer in motion pictures for his performance in Stars and Stripes Forever. In 1970, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Best TV Actor" for his performance in "It Takes a Thief" and for four Golden Globe awards for "Hart to Hart."
External links
- Official Site for Robert Wagner
- Robert Wagner at IMDb
- Template:Nndb name
- Template:Tvtome person
- Robert Wagner on Yahoo movies
- 1989 Audio Interview of Robert DeMott with Don Swaim talking about John Steinbeck, RealAudio