Robert Wagner

Robert John Wagner Jr. (born February 10, 1930) is an American actor. He is known for starring in the television shows It Takes a Thief (1968–1970), Switch (1975–1978), and Hart to Hart (1979–1984). He later had recurring roles on Two and a Half Men (2007–2008) and NCIS (2010–2019).

In films, Wagner is known for his role as Number 2 in the Austin Powers trilogy of films (1997, 1999, 2002), as well as for Prince Valiant (1954), A Kiss Before Dying (1956), The Pink Panther (1963), Harper (1966), The Towering Inferno (1974), and The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979).

Wagner's first wife, actress Natalie Wood, died under mysterious circumstances in 1981. In 2018, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department named Wagner a "person of interest" in the investigation into Wood's death. Wagner has denied any involvement.

Early life

Wagner was born in Detroit, to Thelma Hazel Alvera (née Boe; 1898–1993), a former telephone operator, and Robert John Wagner Sr. (1890–1964), a traveling salesman who worked for the Ford Motor Company. He had one older sister, Mary Scott (1926–2023).

Wagner's mother came from La Crosse, Wisconsin. Her parents were both immigrants from Norway, who married in La Crosse in 1887. Wagner's father was a native of Kalamazoo, Michigan. His parents were from Germany.

The family moved to Bel-Air, an upscale area of Los Angeles, in 1937.

Career 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures After an unsuccessful screen test directed by Fred Zinnemann for his film Teresa (1951), Wagner was represented by Albert R. Broccoli. He made his uncredited film debut in The Happy Years (1950), was signed by agent Henry Willson and put under contract with 20th Century Fox.

"I started off as an ingénue", he said. "I was 19 years old. I was the boy next door. But you always felt you could work your way up, that you could have a better part in the next picture. [Head of Fox] Darryl Zanuck was always placing me in different positions." Let's Make It Legal (1951) was a comedy where Wagner again supported an older star, in this case Claudette Colbert.

Wagner first gained significant attention with a small, showy part as a shell-shocked soldier in With a Song in My Heart (1952).

Also popular was a Western, Broken Lance (1954), where Wagner supported Spencer Tracy for director Edward Dmytryk, appearing as Tracy's son. Fox gave Wagner the lead in an expensive spectacular, Prince Valiant (1954). While popular, critical reception was poor and Wagner later joked his wig in the movie made him look like Jane Wyman. He was teamed with Jeffrey Hunter in a Western, White Feather (1955). Wagner supported Robert Mitchum in a Korean War movie, The Hunters (1958), and appeared with a number of Fox contractees in a World War II drama, In Love and War (1958).

After a cameo in Mardi Gras (1958), Wagner supported Bing Crosby and Debbie Reynolds in Say One for Me (1959).

Trying to kick-start his career, Wagner appeared with his then-wife Natalie Wood in All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960), made for MGM.

In January 1961, Wagner and Wood formed their own company, Rona Productions, named after the first two letters of both their first names. Rona signed a three-picture deal with Columbia pictures for Wagner's services, which was to start with Sail a Crooked Ship (1961) and The Interns. He also had a deal to make one more film at Fox, which was to be Solo, the story of a jazz drummer directed by Dick Powell, or The Comancheros with Gary Cooper.

Wagner made Sail a Crooked Ship but his part in The Interns went to James MacArthur. Solo was never made, and The Comancheros was made instead with John Wayne and Stuart Whitman. Wagner did make The War Lover (1962) with Steve McQueen, which was filmed in England.

Return to Hollywood and Universal Pictures

On Wagner's return to America he started playing in a theatre for the first time with the lead role in Mister Roberts for one week at a holiday resort just outside Chicago. The disciplines of the theatre did not interest him and Wagner expressed glee to be back in Hollywood and find a supporting role in the modern-day private investigator hit, Harper (1966), starring Paul Newman.

Wagner signed with Universal Pictures in 1966, starring opposite his future wife Jill St. John in the films How I Spent My Summer Vacation, a made-for-TV movie released in the United Kingdom as Deadly Roulette, and Banning (1967). He returned to Italy to make a caper film with Raquel Welch for MGM, The Biggest Bundle of Them All (1968).

Television star In 1967, Lew Wasserman of Universal convinced Wagner to make his television series debut in It Takes a Thief (1968–1970) on ABC-TV. "I was opposed to doing Thief", Wagner said later. "But Lew Wasserman said: 'I want you to be in TV Guide every week. This is your medium, you've got to try it, you'll be great.' Roland Kibbee wrote the part for me, and I would have missed all that if I hadn't listened to Lew."

While the success of The Pink Panther and Harper began Wagner's comeback, the successful two-and-a-half seasons of his first TV series completed it. In this series, he acted with Fred Astaire, who played his father. Wagner was a longtime friend of Astaire, having gone to school with Astaire's eldest son, Peter. Wagner's performance would earn him an Emmy nomination for Best TV Actor.

He was a regular in the BBC/Universal World War II prisoner-of-war drama Colditz (1972–1974) for much of its run. He reunited with McQueen, along with Paul Newman and Faye Dunaway, in the disaster film The Towering Inferno released in the same year. It was a massive hit, although Wagner's part was relatively small. Only one reached the screen, the very successful TV series Charlie's Angels, for which Wagner and Wood had a 50% share, though Wagner was to spend many years in court arguing with Spelling and Goldberg over what was defined as profit.

Wagner and Wood acted with Laurence Olivier in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1976), as part of Olivier's television series Laurence Olivier Presents for the UK's Granada Television.

Wagner had a small role in some all-star Universal films, Midway (1976) and The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979).

Hart to Hart Wagner's most successful series was Hart to Hart, which co-starred Stefanie Powers and Lionel Stander and was broadcast on ABC-TV from 1979 to 1984. No one else was seriously considered for the role. George Hamilton had a high profile at the time and was suggested, but producer Aaron Spelling said that if he was cast "the audience will resent him as Hart for being that rich. But no one will begrudge RJ [Wagner] a nickel."

During the series run, Wagner reprised his old Pink Panther role in Curse of the Pink Panther (1983). He also had a supporting role in I Am the Cheese (1983).

Wagner played an insurance investigator in the short-lived TV series Lime Street (1985).

In 1985, he reflected, "Bad-guy roles work if they're really good parts, but they don't come along very often. I think that what I've been doing has worked for me. Sure I'd like to do a Clint Eastwood, grizzled, down-and-out guy, but there aren't many scripts like that... What has been projected for me is an international quality that can take me anywhere and get me into all kind of involvements; to do otherwise would mean a character role."

Later career Wagner appeared in a TV movie with Audrey Hepburn, Love Among Thieves (1987) and in a miniseries with Jaclyn Smith, Windmills of the Gods (1988). He and St. John worked with Pierce Brosnan in the miniseries remake of Around the World in 80 Days (1989). For Tom Mankiewicz, he played a supporting part in Delirious (1991). More widely seen was Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993), where Wagner played a producer. Wagner played Love Letters on stage with Stefanie Powers. They also reprised their Hart characters in a series of TV movies.

Wagner's film career received a boost after his role in the Austin Powers series of spy spoofs starring Mike Myers. Wagner played Dr. Evil's henchman Number 2 in all three films: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002). He also had small roles in Wild Things (1998), Crazy in Alabama (1999), Play It to the Bone (2000), Becoming Dick (2001) and Sol Goode (2001).

Wagner hosted Fox Movie Channel's Hour of Stars, featuring original television episodes of The 20th Century Fox Hour (1955), a series in which he had appeared in his early days at the studio. In 2005, he became television spokesman for the Senior Lending Network, a reverse mortgage lender and in 2010 began serving as spokesman for the Guardian First Funding Group, another reverse mortgage lender. In June 2011, Guardian First Funding was acquired by Urban Financial Group, who continued to use Wagner as their spokesperson.

In 2007, Wagner had a role in the BBC/AMC series Hustle. In season four's premiere, Wagner played a crooked Texan being taken for half a million dollars. As Wagner is considered "a suave icon of American caper television, including It Takes a Thief and Hart to Hart", Robert Glenister (Hustles fixer, Ash Morgan) commented that "to have one of the icons of that period involved is a great bonus for all of us". Wagner also played the pivotal role of President James A. Garfield in the comedy/horror film Netherbeast Incorporated (2007). The role was written with Wagner in mind. He had a recurring role of a rich suitor to the main characters' mother on the sitcom Two and a Half Men. His final appearances on the show were in May 2008.

Wagner has guest-starred in 13 episodes of NCIS as Anthony DiNozzo Sr., the father of Anthony DiNozzo Jr., played by Michael Weatherly. Weatherly had previously appeared as Wagner in the TV movie The Mystery of Natalie Wood.

Wagner was set to star as Charlie in the 2011 remake of Charlie's Angels, but he had to exit the project due to scheduling conflicts.

Despite his apparent feeling of distaste when he was working with Raquel Welch on The Biggest Bundle of Them All, they reunited 50 years later on the 2017 Canadian series Date My Dad.

Personal life

In his memoirs, Wagner said he had had affairs with Yvonne De Carlo, Joan Crawford, Elizabeth Taylor, Anita Ekberg, Shirley Anne Field, Lori Nelson, and Joan Collins. He also claimed a four-year romantic relationship with Barbara Stanwyck after they acted together in the movie Titanic (1953). According to Wagner, because of their age difference—he was 22, she was 45—they kept the affair secret to avoid damaging their careers.

In 1956, when he was 26 years old, Wagner became involved with 18-year-old actress Natalie Wood. They were married on December 28, 1957, in Scottsdale, Arizona. At some point during the first half of 1961, according to several published accounts, Wood caught him having an extramarital affair with a man in the couple's home. They announced their separation on June 20, 1961 (though Wagner has since stated that they separated in 1960), and divorced on April 27, 1962.

While working on location in Rome, Wagner reconnected with an old friend, actress Marion Marshall, and moved in with her in November 1961. After a two-year courtship, Wagner, Marshall and her two sons from her marriage to Stanley Donen moved back to America. Wagner and Marshall married on July 21, 1963, at the Bronx Courthouse. They had a daughter, Katie (born May 11, 1964). They separated in June 1970 and divorced on October 14, 1971.

Wagner was engaged to Tina Sinatra from June 1970 until January 1972. Immediately afterwards, Wagner rekindled his romance with Wood. They remarried on July 16 aboard the Ramblin' Rose, anchored off Paradise Cove in Malibu. They had a daughter, Courtney (born March 9, 1974).

Following Wood's death on November 29, 1981, Wagner became the guardian of her then-11-year-old daughter by producer Richard Gregson, Natasha Gregson, although he never legally adopted her. He is completely estranged from his former sister-in-law, Lana Wood, who made claims in 2001 that Wagner was having a homosexual affair; she has since repeatedly doubled down on the claim, despite Wagner's denials. In a 2018 televised interview with Megyn Kelly, when asked if she thinks Wagner "murdered" her sister, Lana said, "Yes."

On Valentine's Day 1982, Wagner began dating actress Jill St. John, whom he had known since the late 1950s. After eight years together, they married on May 26, 1990, in Pacific Palisades and honeymooned on Little Torch Key. The marriage is the fourth for both Wagner and St. John and it has lasted longer than all six of their previous marriages combined. The couple co-starred in six films between 1967 and 2014 as well as "The Yada Yada" episode of Seinfeld in 1997, and also appeared onstage in a touring production of Love Letters (1996–2004).

St. John and Lana Wood both appeared in the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever and had already been in a longstanding feud prior to Natalie Wood's death. At a 1999 Bond girl reunion for Vanity Fair magazine, a well-publicized altercation occurred between the two when St. John refused to be photographed with Lana. In 2016, Lana crashed a gala honoring St. John in Palm Springs to confront Wagner—in front of cameramen—over the reopened homicide case of Natalie Wood.

Wagner became a first-time grandfather in 2006 when Katie Wagner, his daughter with Marshall, gave birth to her son Riley John Wagner-Lewis. Riley is Wagner's only grandchild.

In 2007, Wagner and St. John sold the Brentwood ranchette they had lived in since 1983 for a reported $14 million. The couple now resides in Aspen, Colorado, where they built a vacation home in 1995. Wagner and St. John initially retained a condo in Los Angeles, but sold it in 2015.

Death of Natalie Wood On November 29, 1981, Wood died under mysterious circumstances on or near the yacht Splendour while moored near Catalina Island. Wood had been on board the Splendour, along with Wagner, Christopher Walken, and Dennis Davern, the vessel's captain. No explanation has been given for the absence of Walken's wife Georgianne. Wood's body was found about a mile from the yacht, with the inflatable boat beached nearby. Two witnesses, who had been on another boat nearby, stated they had heard a woman scream for help during the night. Following his investigation, Los Angeles County coroner Thomas Noguchi ruled her death an accident by drowning and hypothermia.

Wagner, Walken, and Davern initially told detectives that Wood left in a dinghy to go ashore;

In 2012, Los Angeles County Chief Coroner Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran amended Wood's death certificate and changed the cause of her death from accidental drowning to "drowning and other undetermined factors". The amended document included a statement that the circumstances of how Wood ended up in the water are "not clearly established." On January 14, 2013, the Los Angeles County coroner's office issued a ten-page addendum to Wood's autopsy report. It stated that she may have sustained some of the bruises on her body before she went into the water and drowned.

On February 1, 2018, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department named Wagner a "person of interest" in the investigation into Wood's death. Wagner has denied any involvement in Wood's death. On May 27, 2022, Lieutenant Hugo Reynaga announced that all leads in the case had been exhausted and that the case remained open and unsolved.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1951 The Frogmen Lt. (jg) Franklin Halls of Montezuma Pvt. Coffman Let's Make It Legal Jerry Denham 1952 With a Song in My Heart GI Paratrooper Stars and Stripes Forever Willie Little What Price Glory Private Lewisohn 1953 Beneath the 12-Mile Reef Tony PetrakisFirst lead role Titanic Gifford "Giff" RogersThe Silver WhipJess Harker 1954 Broken Lance Joe Devereaux Prince Valiant Prince Valiant 1955 White Feather Josh Tanner 1956 A Kiss Before Dying Bud Corliss Between Heaven and Hell Sam Gifford The Mountain Christopher Teller 1957 The True Story of Jesse James Jesse James Stopover Tokyo Mark Fannon 1958 The Hunters Lt. Pell In Love and War Frank "Frankie" O'Neill 1959 Say One for Me Tony Vincent 1960 All the Fine Young Cannibals Chad Bixby (based on Chet Baker) 1961 Sail a Crooked Ship Gilbert Barrows 1962 The Longest Day US Army Ranger The War Lover Lt Ed Boland The Condemned of Altona Werner von Gerlach 1963 The Pink Panther George Lytton 1966 Harper Allan Taggert 1967 Banning Mike Banning 1968 The Biggest Bundle of Them All Harry Price Don't Just Stand There! Lawrence Colby 1969 Winning Luther Erding 1972 Madame Sin Anthony Lawrence was also executive producer 1974 The Towering Inferno Dan Bigelow 1976 Midway Lieutenant Commander Ernest L. Blake 1979 The Concorde... Airport '79 Kevin Harrison 1983 Curse of the Pink Panther George Lytton I Am the Cheese Dr. Brint 1991 Delirious Jack Gates (uncredited) 1992 The Player Himself 1993 Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story Bill Krieger 1997 Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery Number Two 1998 Wild Things Tom Baxter 1999 Crazy in Alabama Harry Hall Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me Number Two 2000 Play It to the Bone Hank Goody Becoming Dick Edward 2001 Sol Goode Sol's Dad 2002 Austin Powers in Goldmember Number Two 2003 Hollywood Homicide Himself 2004 El Padrino Paul Fisch 2006 Everyone's Hero Mr. Robinson Voice only Hoot Mayor Grandy 2007 Netherbeast Incorporated President James Garfield Man in the Chair Taylor Moss A Dennis the Menace Christmas Mr. Wilson 2009 The Wild Stallion Novak 2010 Life's a Beach Tom Wald 2014 The Hungover Games Liam2016Thirty Nine FatherLend a Hand for Love Narrator Short film 2017 What Happened to Monday Charles Benning 2020 Jay Sebring....Cutting to the Truth Self Documentary 2021 Space Jam: A New Legacy Number Two Archival recording

Television YearTitleRoleNotes 1953 Juke Box Jury Himself Unknown episodes 1957 The Dinah Shore Chevy Show Himself One episode 1963 The Eleventh Hour Kenny Walsh Episode: "And God Created Vanity" 1966 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre Lt. Commander Nick Raino / Harry Brophy Episodes: "The Enemy on the Beach" and "Runaway Bay" 1967 How I Spent My Summer Vacation Jack Washington Television movie 1968–1970 It Takes a Thief Alexander Mundy 66 episodesNominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (1970)Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama (1970) 1970 The Name of the Game Nick Freitas Episode: "The War Merchants" The Red Skelton Hour Colossal Boy Episode: "The Family Business" 1971 The Name of the Game Dave Corey Episode: "The Man Who Killed a Ghost" City Beneath the Sea Brett Matthews Television movie Crosscurrent / The Cable-Car Murder Howard McBride Television movie Perlico - Perlaco Robert Wagner Television movie 1972 Killer by Night Dr. Larry Ross Television movie The Streets of San Francisco David J. Farr Episode: "Pilot" 1972–1974 Colditz Flight Lieutenant Phil Carrington 14 episodes 1973 The Affair Marcus Simon ABC Movie of the Week 1975 The Abduction of Saint Anne Dave Hatcher ABC Movie of the Week 1975–1978 Switch Pete T. Ryan 71 episodes 1976 Death at Love House Joel Gregory (Jr. & Sr.) Television movie Laurence Olivier Presents Brick Episode: "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" 1977 The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries Himself Episode: "The Mystery of the Hollywood Phantom: Part II" 1978 The Critical List Dr. Nick Sloan Television movie Pearl Capt. Cal Lankford Television miniseries 1979–1984 Hart to Hart Jonathan Hart 111 episodesNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama (1980)Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama (1981)Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama (1983)Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama (1984) 1980 The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey Narrator 2 episodes 1981 The Fall Guy Himself Episode: "The Meek Shall Inherit Rhonda" 1984 To Catch a King Joe Jackson Television movie 1985–1986 Lime Street James Greyson Culver 8 episodes 1986 There Must Be a Pony Ben Nichols Television movie 1987 Love Among Thieves Mike Chambers Television movie 1988 Windmills of the Gods Mike Slade Television miniseries Indiscreet Philip Adams Television movie 1989 Around the World in 80 Days Alfred Bennett Television miniseries 1991 This Gun for Hire "Raven" Television movie False Arrest Ron Lukezic Television movie 1992 Jewels Charles Davenport Television miniseries 1993 Les audacieux Charles Madigan Television movie 1993–1996 Hart To Hart Jonathan Hart Eight television movies 1994 Parallel Lives Sheriff Television movie The Arsenio Hall Show Himself One episode North & South: Book 3, Heaven & Hell Cooper Main Television miniseries 1995 Cybill Jonathan Hart UncreditedEpisode: "Virgin, Mother, Crone" 1997 Seinfeld Dr. Abbot Episode: "The Yada Yada" 1999 Fatal Error Albert Teal Television movie Camino de Santiago William Derek Television miniseries 2000 Rocket's Red Glare Gus Baker Television movie Becoming Dick Edward Television movie 2001 The Retrievers Durham Haysworth Television movie 2003 A Screwball Homicide Sheldon Bennett Television movie On the Spot Barry Butters Episode: "Little Brenda Dynamite" 2003–2006 Hope & Faith Jack Fairfield 7 episodes 2005 The Simpsons Himself Episode: "Goo Goo Gai Pan" The Fallen Ones Morton Television movie Category 7: The End of the World Senator Ryan Carr Television movie 2006 Las Vegas Alex Avery Credited as Robert J. WagnerEpisode: "Cash Springs Eternal" Boston Legal Barry Goal Episodes: "BL: Los Angeles" and "Spring Fever" 2007 Hustle Anthony Westley Episode: "As One Flew Out, One Flew In" 2007–2008 Two and a Half Men Teddy Leopold 5 episodes 2008 Pretty/Handsome Scotch Fitzpayne Unaired pilot The Bonnie Hunt Show Himself One episode 2010–2019 NCIS Anthony DiNozzo Sr. 13 episodes 2012 Happily Divorced Douglas Episode: "Meet the Parents" The League "Gumpa" Duke Episode: "Bro-Lo El Cordero" 2013 Futurama Himself (voice) Episode "Calculon 2.0" 2014 Hot in Cleveland Jim Episode: "Bossy Cups" Northpole Santa Claus Television movie 2017 Date My Dad Armand Episode: "Graduation Day" 2018 Donna's Inferno The Evil One Unknown episodes 2020 Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind Himself Documentary

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