Died
at age 32
in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States
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| Created 1 Feb 2017
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Biography
Robert Walker is Notable.
American actor, best known for his starring role in Alfred Hitchcock's 1951 thriller Strangers on a Train, which was released shortly before his 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 war epic Since You Went Away (1944). He also played Jerome Kern in Till the Clouds Roll By. Twice divorced by 30, he suffered from alcoholism and mental illness, which were exacerbated by his painful separation and divorce from Jones."[1]
Career Highlights from Wikipedia Biography:
"Radio: Walker found work in radio while Phylis stayed home and gave birth to two sons in quick succession - actor Robert Walker Jr. (born 1940) and Michael Walker (1941 – 2007). Walker co-starred in the weekly show Maudie's Diary from August 1941 to September 1942. Phylis (Jennifer) then returned to auditioning where 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."[2]
"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). He followed it with a support role in Madame Curie (1943)."[3]
"Walker's charming demeanor and boyish good looks caught on with audiences, and he worked steadily playing "boy-next-door" roles in films such as See Here, Private Hargrove (1944), Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) and Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945)."[4]
"He also appeared in Selznick's Since You Went Away (1944) in which he and his wife portrayed doomed young lovers during World War II. By that time, Jones' affair with Selznick was common knowledge, and Jones and Walker separated in November 1943, in mid-production. The filming of their love scenes was torturous as Selznick insisted that Walker perform take after take of each love scene with Jones. She filed for divorce in April 1945."[5]
That same year, Walker starred as a GI preparing for overseas deployment in The Clock, with Judy Garland playing his love interest in her first straight dramatic film. He also made a second Hargrove film, What Next, Corporal Hargrove? (1945) and a romantic comedy with June Allyson, The Sailor Takes a Wife (1945).[6]
In 1946, Walker starred in the musical Till the Clouds Roll By, in which he played the popular composer Jerome Kern. He starred as another composer, Johannes Brahms, in Song of Love (1947), which co-starred Katharine Hepburn and Paul Henreid. In between he made a film about the construction of the atomic bomb, the flop The Beginning or the End (1946), and a Tracy-Hepburn drama, The Sea of Grass (1947).[7]
"In 1948, Walker was borrowed by Universal to star with Ava Gardner in the film One Touch of Venus, directed by William A. Seiter. The film was a non-musical comedy adapted from a Broadway show with music by Kurt Weill. He married Barbara Ford, the daughter of director John Ford, in July 1948, but the marriage lasted only five months."[8]
Back at MGM he was in some films which lost money, Please Believe Me (1950) and The Skipper Surprised His Wife (1950). More popular was a Western with Burt Lancaster, Vengeance Valley (1951).[9]
Final Years: Walker spent time at the Menninger Clinic in 1949 where he was treated for a psychiatric disorder. Following his discharge, he was cast by director Alfred Hitchcock in Strangers on a Train (1951).[10]
"In his final film, he played the title role of Leo McCarey's My Son John (1952), made at the height of the Red Scare. Despite the film's anti-Communist themes, Walker was allegedly neither liberal nor conservative and took the job to work with McCarey and co-star Helen Hayes. Walker died before production finished, and so angles from his death scene in Strangers were spliced into a similar melodramatic death scene near the end of the film."[11]
Personal Life Events
Robert Hudson Walker was born 13 October 1918 in Salt Lake City, the son of Horace and Zella Walker.[12] His parents divorced while Robert 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. Walker lived in her home during his first year in the city."[13]
He was married to the actress Jennifer Jones (Phylis Lee Isley) 2 January 1939 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[14] They were the parents of a son, Robert Hudson, Jr., who later became a well-known actor in his own right. Another son, Michael Ross, was born a year after his elder brother. Robert and Jennifer divorced.
Robert was married to Barbara Nugent Ford 8 July 1948 in Los Angeles, California.[15]
He was married to the film and television actress Hanna Hertelendy (Ilona Zimka) 27 July 1949.
Robert died 28 August 1951 at the age of 32.[16] His remains were buried at the Lindquist's Washington Height Memorial Park, in South Ogden, Utah. [17]
His death was controversial and made headlines. The story goes that his housekeeper called Walker's psychiatrist after Walker became emotional and the psychiatrist gave him a shot of amobarbital, which caused Robert to stop breathing. Another account, detailed in Beverly LInet's biography of Walker, claims that Robert was not in an emotional state and that he was pinned down before being given the shot by the psychiatrist. [18]
↑ "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8PD-FGY : accessed 27 January 2022), Robert H Walker in household of Horace H Walker, Salt Lake, Utah, United States; citing , sheet , line , family , NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll ; FHL microfilm .
↑ "Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995." Database with images. FamilySearch. "Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q29M-9HD6 : 23 March 2020), Robert H Walker and Phylis Lee Isley, 02 Jan 1939; citing Oklahoma, various county courthouses, Oklahoma; FHL microfilm.
↑ "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8KR-373 : 9 March 2021), Robert Hudson Walker and Barbara Nugent Ford, 08 Jul 1948; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 2,116,628.
↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/2102/robert-walker : accessed 26 January 2022), memorial page for Robert Walker (13 Oct 1918–28 Aug 1951), Find a Grave Memorial ID 2102, citing Washington Heights Memorial Park, South Ogden, Weber County, Utah, USA ; Maintained by Find a Grave .