Robert Young

Robert George Young (February 22, 1907 – July 21, 1998) was an American film, television, and radio actor best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father character, in Father Knows Best (CBS, then NBC, then CBS again) and the physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. (ABC).

Early life Young was born in Chicago, the son of an Irish immigrant father, Thomas E. Young, and an American mother, Margaret Fyfe. While Young was a child, the family moved to various locations within the U.S., including Seattle, and Los Angeles, where Young was a student at Abraham Lincoln High School. After graduation, he studied and performed at the Pasadena Playhouse while working odd jobs and appearing in bit parts in silent films. While touring with a stock company producing "The Ship", Young was discovered by a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer talent scout who signed the fledgling actor to a contract. Young made his sound film debut for Fox Film Corporation in the 1931 Charlie Chan film Black Camel, starring Warner Oland.

Film career Young appeared in over 100 films between 1928 and 1952. In spite of having a "tier B" status, he co-starred with some of the studio's most illustrious actresses, such as Katharine Hepburn, Margaret Sullavan, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Susan Hayward, Dorothy McGuire, Helen Hayes, Luise Rainer, Hedy Lamarr, Helen Twelvetrees and (unrelated) Loretta Young. Most of his assignments consisted of short B movies, also known as "programmers," which required brief two- to three-week shooting schedules. Actors who were relegated to such hectic routines appeared, as Young did, in some six to eight movies per year.

As an MGM contract player, Young was obligated to accept any film assigned to him or risk being placed on suspension—and many actors who were placed on suspension were prohibited from earning a salary from any endeavor at all, even those unrelated to the film industry. In 1936, MGM summarily loaned Young to Gaumont British in the U.K. for two films; the first, Secret Agent, was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, while the other, It's Love Again, co-starred Jessie Matthews. While in England, he was convinced that MGM intended to terminate his contract, but he was mistaken.

He unexpectedly received one of his most rewarding roles late in his MGM career, in H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941), which also benefited from one of Hedy Lamarr's most effective performances. He once remarked that he was assigned only those roles which Robert Montgomery and other A-list actors had rejected.

After his contract with MGM expired, Young starred in light comedies and dramas for studios such as 20th Century Fox, United Artists, and RKO Radio Pictures. From 1943, Young had more challenging roles in films like Claudia, The Enchanted Cottage, They Won't Believe Me, The Second Woman, and Crossfire. His portrayals of unsympathetic characters in several of these later films—which had seldom been the case in his MGM pictures—were applauded by numerous critics. In 1949, he returned to MGM briefly to appear in That Forsyte Woman with Errol Flynn and Greer Garson. He played the second lead in Secret of the Incas (1954) starring Charlton Heston, the film upon which Raiders of the Lost Ark was subsequently loosely based. Despite the picture's superior quality while being shot on location at Machu Picchu, it was the last feature film in which he appeared. Young's career had begun an incremental and almost imperceptible decline, despite a propitious beginning as a freelance actor without the nurturing of a major studio. He had continued starring as a leading man in the late 1940s and early 1950s, but only in mediocre films, and occasionally playing supporting roles in important films. Then, he subsequently disappeared from the silver screen—only to reappear, successfully, several years later on a much smaller one.

Television career Today, Young is most remembered as the affable insurance salesman in the long-running popular sitcom Father Knows Best (1949–1954 on radio, 1954–1960 on television), for which he and his co-star Jane Wyatt won several Emmy Awards. Elinor Donahue ("Betty"), Billy Gray ("Bud"), and Lauren Chapin ("Kathy") played the Anderson children in the television version.

Young then created, produced, and starred with Ford Rainey and Constance Moore in the nostalgic CBS comedy series Window on Main Street (1961–1962).

Another of Young's successful television series was Marcus Welby, M.D., where he portrayed a stern but devoted and caring physician, co-starring James Brolin as Dr. Steve Kiley, his young and occasionally impetuous partner in their joint medical practice. The series ran for seven seasons (1969–1976), earning Young an Emmy in 1970 for best leading actor in a drama series.

He shared the stage on The Dick Cavett Show with Jimi Hendrix in September 1969.

Until 1982, he made numerous television commercials for Sanka coffee.

The popular phrase "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV" from a commercial for Vicks 44 cough medicine has been erroneously attributed to Young due to his Marcus Welby, M.D. fame. It was actually spoken by actor Chris Robinson and then by Peter Bergman during the 1980s.

Personal life and death Young was married to Betty Henderson for 61 years from 1933 until her death in 1994. They had four daughters: Carol (Proffitt), Barbara (Beebe), Kathy (Young), and Betty Lou (Gleason). They also had six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Despite his trademark portrayal of happy, well-adjusted characters, Young's bitterness toward Hollywood casting practices never diminished, and he suffered from depression and alcoholism, culminating in a suicide attempt in January 1991. Later, he spoke candidly about his personal problems in an effort to encourage others to seek help. The Robert Young Community Mental Health Center is named after Young in honor of his work toward passage of the 708 Illinois Tax Referendum, which established a property tax to support mental health programs in his home state. The center started in Rock Island, Illinois, and now has sites in both Iowa and Illinois, as part of the Quad-City metropolitan area.

Young died of respiratory failure at his Westlake Village, California, home on July 21, 1998.

He has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; for film (located at 6933 Hollywood Blvd.), television (6358 Hollywood Blvd.), and radio (1660 Vine Street).

Filmography + Film Year Title Role Notes 1928 The Godless Girl Student Uncredited 1931 Jimmy Bradshaw A Warner Oland / Charlie Chan film 1931 Dr. Lawrence Claudet Alternative title: The Lullaby 1931 Hell Divers Graham – Pilot Reporting Missing Airplanes Uncredited 1931 Marco Ricca—aka John Smith 1932 The Wet Parade Kip Tarleton 1932 New Morals for Old Ralph Thomas 1932 Unashamed Dick Ogden 1932 Strange Interlude Gordon Evans (as a Young Man) Alternative title: Strange Interval 1932 The Kid from Spain Ricardo 1933 Men Must Fight Lt. Geoffrey Aiken 1933 Today We Live Claude 1933 Hell Below Lieutenant (JG) Ed "Brick" Walters 1933 Tugboat Annie Alexander "Alec" Brennan 1933 Saturday's Millions Jim Fowler 1933 The Right to Romance Bobby Preble 1934 Carolina Will Connelly 1934 Spitfire John Stafford 1934 Captain Fitzroy 1934 Lazy River William "Bill" Drexel 1934 Hollywood Party Himself, Radio Announcer Uncredited 1934 Whom the Gods Destroy Jack Forrester 1934 Paris Interlude Pat Wells 1934 Death on the Diamond Larry Kelly 1934 The Band Plays On Tony Ferrera 1934 La ciudad de cartón Himself 1935 West Point of the Air Little Mike Stone 1935 Vagabond Lady Tony Spear 1935 Calm Yourself Preston 'Pat' Patton 1935 Red Salute Uncle Sam 1935 Remember Last Night? Tony Milburn 1935 The Bride Comes Home Jack Bristow 1936 It's Love Again Peter Carlton 1936 The Three Wise Guys Joe Hatcher 1936 Secret Agent Robert Marvin 1936 The Bride Walks Out Hugh McKenzie 1936 Sworn Enemy Henry 'Hank' Sherman 1936 The Longest Night Charley Phelps 1936 Stowaway Tommy Randall 1937 Dangerous Number Henry 'Hank' Medhill 1937 I Met Him in Paris Gene Anders 1937 Married Before Breakfast Tom Wakefield 1937 Grand Duke Peter 1937 Rudi Pal 1937 Navy Blue and Gold Roger "Rog" Ash 1938 Paradise for Three Fritz Hagedorn Alternative title: Romance for Three 1938 Three Comrades Gottfried Lenz 1938 Josette Pierre Brassard 1938 Andre Vallaire 1938 Rich Man, Poor Girl Bill Harrison 1938 David Linden 1939 Honolulu Brooks Mason / George Smith 1939 Bridal Suite Neil McGill 1939 Maisie Charles "Slim" Martin 1939 Miracles for Sale Michael "Mike" Morgan 1940 Northwest Passage Langdon Towne 1940 Florian Anton Erban 1940 Fritz Marberg 1940 Sporting Blood Myles Vanders 1940 Dr. Kildare's Crisis Douglas "Doug" Lamont 1941 Western Union Richard Blake 1941 The Trial of Mary Dugan Jimmy Blake 1941 Lady Be Good Edward "Eddie" Crane 1941 Married Bachelor Randolph Haven 1941 H. M. Pulham, Esq. Harry Moulton Pulham 1942 Joe Smith, American Joe Smith 1942 Cairo Homer Smith, aka Juniper Jones 1942 Journey for Margaret John Davis 1943 Claudia David Naughton 1943 Slightly Dangerous Bob Stuart 1943 Sweet Rosie O'Grady Sam MacKeever 1944 Cuffy Williams 1945 Oliver Bradford 1945 Those Endearing Young Charms Lt. Hurley 'Hank' Travers 1946 Claudia and David David Naughton 1946 The Searching Wind Alex Hazen 1946 Lady Luck Larry Scott 1947 They Won't Believe Me Larry Ballentine 1947 Crossfire Finlay 1948 Relentless Nick Buckley 1948 Sitting Pretty Harry King 1949 Adventure in Baltimore Dr. Andrew Sheldon 1949 That Forsyte Woman Philip Bosinney Alternative title: The Forsyte Saga 1949 Bride for Sale Steve Adams 1949 And Baby Makes Three Vernon "Vern" Walsh 1950 The Second Woman Jeff Cohalan 1951 Goodbye, My Fancy Doctor James Merrill 1952 The Half-Breed Dan Craig 1954 The Big Moment Narrator 1954 Secret of the Incas Stanley Moorehead Final film + Television Year Title Role Notes 1954 Ford Television Theatre Tom Warren 1 episode 1954–1960 Father Knows Best Jim Anderson 203 episodes 1955 Climax! Lieutenant Commander Knowles 1 episode 1961 Window on Main Street Cameron Garrett Brooks 17 episodes 1965 Dr. Kildare Dr. Gilbert Winfield 1 episode 1965 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre: The Admiral Admiral Matt Callahan 1 episode 1968 Herman Allison 1 episode 1969–1976 Marcus Welby, M.D. Dr. Marcus Welby 170 episodes 1972 All My Darling Daughters Judge Charles Raleigh Television film 1973 My Darling Daughters' Anniversary Judge Charles Raleigh Television film 1977 Father Knows Best Reunion Jim Anderson Television film 1977 Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas Jim Anderson Television film 1978 Little Women Grandpa James Lawrence Television film 1984 The Return of Marcus Welby, M.D. Dr. Marcus Welby Television film 1987 American Masters Edward "Eddie" Crane 1 episode 1987 Mercy or Murder? Roswell Gilbert Television film 1987 Joe Woldarski Television film 1988 Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Holiday Affair Dr. Marcus Welby Television film (final appearance) + Radio Year Title Role Notes 1949–1954 Father Knows Best Jim Anderson 1943 Suspense Episode: "A Friend to Alexander" 1946 Suspense Episode: "The Night Reveals" 1952 Suspense Episode: "The Frameup"

Awards and nominations