Robert Armstrong

Robert William Armstrong (November 20, 1890 – April 20, 1973) was an American film and television actor, best known to today's audiences for playing Carl Denham in the 1933 version of King Kong from RKO Pictures. He delivered the film's famous final line: "Oh no, it wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast."

Early years Born in Saginaw, Michigan, Armstrong lived in Bay City, Michigan until about 1902 and moved to Seattle. He attended the University of Washington, where he studied law,

Career

Armstrong's earliest known stage credit came in July 1915, for a one-act play called The Bank's Half Million, written by Paul Armstrong, who was Robert's uncle. Armstrong was in a 1919 production Boys Will Be Boys; the height of his stage career came with a leading part in the comedy hit Is Zat So?, which ran on Broadway from January 1925 through July 1926.

Armstrong's silver screen career began in 1927 when he appeared in Pathé's silent drama The Main Event. He appeared in 127 films between 1927 and 1964; very prolific in the late 1920s and early 1930s, he made nine movies in 1928 alone. He is best known for his role as filmmaker Carl Denham in King Kong. Months later, he starred as Denham again in the sequel, Son of Kong, released the same year. Armstrong resembled King Kong producer and adventurer Merian C. Cooper, and Cooper used him in several films as more or less a version of himself. The Most Dangerous Game was filmed at night on the same jungle sets as King Kong, which was shot during the day, with Armstrong and Fay Wray simultaneously starring in both pictures. In 1937, Armstrong starred in With Words and Music (also referred to as The Girl Said No), released by Grand National Films Inc. He also worked throughout the 1930s and 1940s for many film studios. Prior to World War II, in 1940, Universal Pictures released Enemy Agent, about countering a Nazi spy ring. In the film, Armstrong co-starred with Helen Vinson, Richard Cromwell and Jack La Rue. In 1942, he was reteamed with Cromwell in Baby Face Morgan, a notable B movie for PRC (Producers Releasing Corporation). Later in that decade, Armstrong played another Carl Denham-like leading character role as "Max O'Hara" in 1949's Mighty Joe Young. This film was another stop-motion animation giant gorilla fantasy, made by the same King Kong team of Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack.

In the 1950s, he appeared as Sheriff Andy Anderson on Rod Cameron's syndicated western-themed television series, State Trooper. Armstrong made four guest appearances on Perry Mason during its nine-year run on CBS: in 1958, he played as Walter Haskell in "The Case of the Sardonic Sergeant"; in 1961 he played the title character and murder victim Captain Bancroft in "The Case of the Malicious Mariner"; in 1962 he played defendant Jimmy West in "The Case of the Playboy Pugilist"; and in 1964 he played murderer Phil Jenks in "The Case of the Accosted Accountant."

Marriages Peggy Allenby (August 1920 - April 17, 1925; divorced) (died 1966) Ethel Virah Smith (June 12, 1926 - July 27, 1931; divorced) (died 1950) Gladys Dubois (January 10, 1936 - December 31, 1939; divorced) (died 1971) Claire Louise Frisbie (January 1, 1940 - April 20, 1973; his death)

Filmography

The Main Event (1927) as Red Lucas The Leopard Lady (1928) as Chris A Girl in Every Port (1928) as Bill / Salami Square Crooks (1928) as Eddie Ellison The Cop (1928) as Scarface Marcas The Baby Cyclone (1928) as Gene Celebrity (1928) as Kid Reagan Show Folks (1928) as Owens - Promoter Ned McCobb's Daughter (1928) as Babe Callahan The Shady Lady (1928) as Blake The Leatherneck (1929) as Joseph Hanlon The Woman from Hell (1929) as Alf Big News (1929) as Steve Banks Oh, Yeah! (1929) as Dude Cowan The Racketeer (1929) as Mahlon Keane Be Yourself! (1930) as Jerry Moore Dumbbells in Ermine (1930) as Jerry Malone Danger Lights (1930) as Larry Doyle Big Money (1930) as Ace Paid (1930) as Joe Garson Iron Man (1931) as George Regan Ex-Bad Boy (1931) as Chester Binney The Tip-Off (1931) as Kayo McClure Suicide Fleet (1931) as Dutch Panama Flo (1932) as Babe Dillon The Lost Squadron (1932) as Woody Radio Patrol (1932) as Bill Kennedy Is My Face Red? (1932) as Ed Maloney The Most Dangerous Game (1932) as Martin Trowbridge Hold 'Em Jail (1932) as The Radio Announcer The Penguin Pool Murder (1932) as Barry Costello The Billion Dollar Scandal (1932) as Fingers Partos King Kong (1933) as Carl Denham Fast Workers (1933) as Bucker Reilly I Love That Man (1933) as Driller Blind Adventure (1933) as Richard Bruce Above the Clouds (1933) as Scoop Adams Son of Kong (1933) as Carl Denham Palooka (1934) as Pete Palooka Search for Beauty (1934) as Larry Williams She Made Her Bed (1934) as 'Duke' Gordon Manhattan Love Song (1934) as Tom Williams The Hell Cat (1934) as Dan Collins Kansas City Princess (1934) as Dynamite 'Dynie' Carson Flirting with Danger (1934) as Bob Owens The Mystery Man (1935) as Larry Doyle Gigolette (1935) as Chuck Ahearn Sweet Music (1935) as 'Dopey' Malone G Men (1935) as Jeffrey "Jeff" McCord Little Big Shot (1935) as Steve Craig Remember Last Night? (1935) as Flannagan, the Milburns' mechanic Dangerous Waters (1936) as 'Dusty' Johnson The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936) as Nick Martel (bookie) Public Enemy's Wife (1936) as Gene Ferguson All American Chump (1936) as Bill Hogan Without Orders (1936) as 'Wad' Madison Nobody's Baby (1937) as Scoops Hanford Three Legionnaires (1937) as Sergeant Chuck Connors It Can't Last Forever (1937) as Al Tinker The Girl Said No (1937) as Jimmie Allen She Loved a Fireman (1937) as Captain Smokey Shannon The Night Hawk (1938) as Charlie McCormick There Goes My Heart (1938) as Detective O'Brien The Flying Irishman (1939) as Joe Alden Man of Conquest (1939) as Jim Bowie Unmarried (1939) as Pins Streaver Winter Carnival (1939) as Tiger Reynolds Flight at Midnight (1939) as Jim Brennan The Roaring Twenties (1939) as Hatted Passerby before Nightclub (uncredited) Call a Messenger (1939) as Kirk Graham Framed (1940) as Skippy Forgotten Girls (1940) as Grover Mullins Enemy Agent (1940) as Gordon Service with the Colors (1940) as Sergeant Clicker The Bride Wore Crutches (1940) as Pete Behind the News (1940) as Vic Archer The San Francisco Docks (1940) as Father Cameron Mr. Dynamite (1941) as Paul Sky Raiders (1941) as Lieutenant Ed Carey Citadel of Crime (1941) as Cal Fullerton Dive Bomber (1941) as Art Lyons Gang Busters (1942) as Detective Tim Nolan My Favorite Spy (1942) as Harry Robinson It Happened in Flatbush (1942) as Danny Mitchell Let's Get Tough! (1942) as Pop Stevens Baby Face Morgan (1942) as 'Doc' Rogers Wings Over the Pacific (1943) as Pieter Van Bronk Adventures of the Flying Cadets (1943) as Arthur Galt, alias The Black Hangman The Kansan (1943) as Malachy The Mad Ghoul (1943) as Ken McClure Around the World (1943) as General (uncredited) Action in Arabia (1944) as Matthew Reed The Navy Way (1944) as Chief Petty Officer Harper Mr. Winkle Goes to War (1944) as Joe Tinker Belle of the Yukon (1944) as George Blood on the Sun (1945) as Colonel Hideki Tojo Gangs of the Waterfront (1945) as Peter Winkly and Dutch Malone The Falcon in San Francisco (1945) as De Forrest Marshall Arson Squad (1945) as Fire Captain Joe Dugan The Royal Mounted Rides Again (1945) as Jonathan Price Gay Blades (1946) as McManus Blonde Alibi (1946) as Williams G.I. War Brides (1946) as Dawson Decoy (1946) as Frankie Olins Criminal Court (1946) as Vic Wright, Club Circle Owner The Sea of Grass (1947) as Floyd McCurtin (Brewton's attorney) Fall Guy (1947) as Mac McLaine Exposed (1947) as Inspector Prentice The Fugitive (1947) as Police Sergeant Return of the Bad Men (1948) as 'Wild Bill Doolin' / Wild Bill Doolin The Paleface (1948) as Terri The Lucky Stiff (1949) as Inspector Von Flanagan The Crime Doctor's Diary (1949) as George 'Goldie' Harrigan Streets of San Francisco (1949) as Willard Logan Mighty Joe Young (1949) as Max O'Hara Sons of New Mexico (1949) as Pat Feeney Captain China (1950) as Keegan Destination Big House (1950) as Ed Somers The Pace That Thrills (1952) as J.C. Barton Las Vegas Shakedown (1955) as Doc Double Jeopardy (1955) as Sam Baggott The Peacemaker (1956) as Sheriff Ben Seale The Crooked Circle (1957) as Al Taylor Girl with an Itch (1958) as Ben Cooper Johnny Cool (1963) as Gang Member For Those Who Think Young (1964) as Norman Armstrong, Cronin's Business Associate (final film role)

Television Year Title Role Notes1960 Perry Mason Walter Haskell Season 2 Episode 4: "The Case of the Sardonic Sergeant"1960 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Saloonkeeper Season 5 Episode 25: "The Little Man Who Was There"1961 Rawhide Cal Stone S3:E27, "Incident Before Black Pass"1962 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Doc Buckles Season 7 Episode 17: "The Faith of Aaron Menefee"1962 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Captain Charles Faulkner Season 1 Episode 8: "House Guest"