Robert Walker

Robert Hudson Walker (October 13, 1918 – August 28, 1951) was an American actor who starred as the villain in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Strangers on a Train, which was released shortly before his premature death.

He started in youthful boy-next-door roles, often as a World War II soldier. One of these roles was opposite his first wife, Jennifer Jones, in the World War II epic Since You Went Away (1944). He also played Jerome Kern in Till the Clouds Roll By. Twice divorced by 30, he was an alcoholic and mentally ill, which were exacerbated by his painful separation and divorce from Jones.

Early life Walker was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. Emotionally scarred by his parents' divorce when he was still a child, he subsequently developed an interest in acting, which led his maternal aunt, Hortense McQuarrie Odlum (then the president of Bonwit Teller), to offer to pay for his enrollment at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City in 1937.

Career and personal life While attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Walker met fellow aspiring actress Phylis Isley, who later took the stage name Jennifer Jones. After a brief courtship, the couple married in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on January 2, 1939. Walker had some small unbilled parts in films such as Winter Carnival (1939) and two Lana Turner films at MGM: These Glamour Girls (1939) and Dancing Co-Ed (1939).

Walker and Jones' elder son, Robert Walker Jr., later became a successful film and television actor. Their other son, Michael Walker (1941–2007), was also an actor who appeared in films The Rogues (1964), Coronet Blue (1967), and Hell's Belles (1969), as well as several 1960s television series.

Radio Walker costarred in the weekly radio show Maudie's Diary from August 1941 to September 1942. Isley then returned to auditioning, and her luck changed when she was discovered in 1941 by producer David O. Selznick, who changed her name to Jennifer Jones and groomed her for stardom.

MGM The couple returned to Hollywood, and Selznick's connections helped Walker secure a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he started work on the war drama Bataan (1943), playing a sailor who fights in the Battle of Bataan. He followed it with a supporting role in Madame Curie (1943).

Stardom Walker's charming demeanor and boyish good looks proved popular with audiences, and he was promoted to stardom with the title part of the romantic soldier in See Here, Private Hargrove (1944).

He also appeared in Selznick's Since You Went Away (1944), in which his wife and he portrayed doomed young lovers during World War II. By that time, Jones' affair with Selznick was a matter of common knowledge, and Jones and Walker separated in November 1943 during production of the film. The filming of their love scenes was trying for Walker, as Selznick insisted that Walker perform multiple takes for each scene with Jones. She filed for divorce in April 1945. Selznick and she were married in 1949. Since You Went Away was one of the most financially successful movies of 1944, earning over $7 million.

Returning to MGM, Walker appeared with Spencer Tracy and Van Johnson in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944), the story of the Doolittle Raid. He played flight engineer and turret gunner David Thatcher, and it was another box-office hit. Walker starred as a GI preparing for overseas deployment in The Clock (1945), with Judy Garland playing his love interest in her second nonmusical film. He then appeared in a romantic comedy with Hedy Lamarr and June Allyson titled Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945). He next appeared in a second Private Hargrove film, What Next, Corporal Hargrove? (1945), and a romantic comedy with June Allyson, The Sailor Takes a Wife (1945). Walker starred in the musical Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), in which he played the popular composer Jerome Kern. The film earned rental receipts of more than $6 million.

Back at MGM, Walker starred in two films that lost money, Please Believe Me (1950) with Deborah Kerr and The Skipper Surprised His Wife (1950) with Joan Leslie. More popular was Vengeance Valley (1951), a Western with Burt Lancaster. Following his discharge, he was cast by director Alfred Hitchcock in Strangers on a Train (1951), for which he received acclaim for his performance as the charming psychopath Bruno Antony.

In his final film, Walker played the title role in Leo McCarey's My Son John (1952), a strongly anticommunist film, produced during the height of McCarthyism. Despite the film's theme and Walker's identification as a Republican, he took the role to work with McCarey and costar Helen Hayes rather than because of any political motivation. Walker died before production finished, so angles from his death scene in Strangers on a Train were spliced into a similar melodramatic death scene near the end of the film.

Death On the night of August 28, 1951, Walker's housekeeper found him in an emotional state. She called Walker's psychiatrist, Frederick Hacker, who arrived and administered amobarbital for sedation. Walker had allegedly been drinking before the outburst, and the combination of amobarbital and alcohol is believed to have caused him to lose consciousness and stop breathing. Efforts to resuscitate him failed, and he was pronounced dead shortly thereafter at the age of 32.

In her biography of Walker and Jones titled Star-Crossed, author Beverly Linet quoted Walker's friend Jim Henaghan (who was not mentioned in official accounts of the death), as saying that he was present at the events leading to Walker's death. Henaghan stated that he had visited Walker's house in Los Angeles, where they played cards and Walker was behaving normally. Henaghan said that Walker's psychiatrist arrived and insisted that he receive an injection, and when Walker refused, Henaghan restrained him for the physician to administer the injection. According to Henaghan, Walker soon lost consciousness, and frantic efforts to revive him failed.

Filmography Year Film Role Notes 1939 Winter Carnival Wes Uncredited These Glamour Girls College Boy Dancing Co-Ed Boy Uncredited 1943 Bataan Leonard Purckett Madame Curie David Le Gros 1944 See Here, Private Hargrove Private Marion Hargrove Since You Went Away Corporal William G. "Bill" Smollett II Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo David Thatcher 1945 The Clock Corporal Joe Allen Alternative title: Under the Clock Her Highness and the Bellboy Jimmy Dobson What Next, Corporal Hargrove? Corporal Marion Hargrove The Sailor Takes a Wife John Hill 1946 Till the Clouds Roll By Jerome Kern 1947 The Beginning or the End Colonel Jeff Nixon The Sea of Grass Brock Brewton Song of Love Johannes Brahms 1948 One Touch of Venus Eddie Hatch 1950 Please Believe Me Terence Keath The Skipper Surprised His Wife Commander William J. Lattimer 1951 Vengeance Valley Lee Strobie Strangers on a Train Bruno Antony Released two months before Walker's death; final role in a film released during Walker's lifetime 1952 My Son John John Jefferson Walker's final film role; released after his death