Dale Robertson
Encyclopedia
Dayle Lymoine "Dale" Robertson (born July 14, 1923, Harrah, Oklahoma
Harrah, Oklahoma
Harrah is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Located east of downtown Oklahoma City, Harrah had a population of 5,148 people as of 2009.-Geography:...

) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 best known for his starring roles on television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

. He played the role of Jim Hardie in the TV series, Tales of Wells Fargo
Tales of Wells Fargo
Tales of Wells Fargo is an American Western television series that ran from March 18, 1957 to June 2, 1962 on NBC. Produced by Revue Productions, the series aired in a half-hour format until its final season when it expanded to an hour.-Synopsis:...

, and the owner of an incomplete railroad line in ABC's The Iron Horse, often appearing as the deceptively thoughtful but modest western hero.

Early life

Born in Harrah, Oklahoma
Harrah, Oklahoma
Harrah is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Located east of downtown Oklahoma City, Harrah had a population of 5,148 people as of 2009.-Geography:...

 in 1923, Robertson worked as a professional boxer briefly before enrolling in Oklahoma Military Academy in Claremore, Oklahoma
Claremore, Oklahoma
Claremore is a city and the county seat of Rogers County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 18,581 at the 2010 census, a 17.1 percent increase from 15,873 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area and home to Rogers State University...

. He also served in the military before his professional acting career began. He served in a tank crew and in the combat engineers in North Africa during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and was wounded twice.

Career

Robertson began his acting career by chance during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, when he was in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

. Stationed at San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo, California
San Luis Obispo is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the Central Coast. Founded in 1772 by Spanish Fr. Junipero Serra, San Luis Obispo is one of California’s oldest communities...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, Robertson decided to have a photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...

 taken for his mother; so he and several other soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...

s went to Hollywood to find a photographer. A large copy of his photo was later displayed in the photographer's shop window. Eventually serving in the South Pacific, he found himself receiving letters from film agents who wished to represent him. After the war, Robertson stayed in California. Hollywood actor Will Rogers, Jr.
Will Rogers, Jr.
William Vann Rogers, generally known as Will Rogers, Jr. , was a son of legendary humorist Will Rogers and his wife, the former Betty Blake . He was a Democratic U. S. Representative from California from January 3, 1943 until May 23, 1944, when he resigned to return to the United States Army...

, gave him this advice: "Don't ever take a dramatic lesson. They will try to put your voice in a dinner jacket, and people like their hominy and grits in everyday clothes." Robertson thereafter avoided formal acting lessons.

For most of his career, Robertson played in Western movies and TV shows. His best remembered series were the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 series Tales of Wells Fargo
Tales of Wells Fargo
Tales of Wells Fargo is an American Western television series that ran from March 18, 1957 to June 2, 1962 on NBC. Produced by Revue Productions, the series aired in a half-hour format until its final season when it expanded to an hour.-Synopsis:...

, later moved to ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

, in which he played a roving company 'trouble-shooter' named "Jim Hardie", and ABC's The Iron Horse, in which his character won an incomplete railroad line in a poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...

 game and took the challenge of running it. He appeared in 63 films. In its March 30, 1959, cover story on TV westerns, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

 reported Robertson was 6 feet tall, weighed 180 pounds, and measured 42-34-34. He sometimes made use of his physique in "beefcake" scenes, such as one in 1952's Return of the Texan
Return of the Texan
Return of the Texan is a 1952 western film directed by Delmer Daves. It stars Dale Robertson and Joanne Dru.-Cast:*Dale Robertson as Sam Crockett*Joanne Dru as Ann Marshall*Walter Brennan as Grandpa Firth Crockett*Richard Boone as Rod Murray...

where he is seen bare-chested and sweaty, repairing a fence.
In 1960, Robertson guest starred on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford
The Ford Show
The Ford Show is a half-hour comedy/variety program, starring singer and folk humorist Tennessee Ernie Ford, which aired in color on NBC television on Thursday evenings from October 4, 1956 to June 29, 1961....

.
In 1962, he similarly appeared on a short-lived western comedy and variety series, The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show
The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show
The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show was a Western comedy and variety program that ran on ABC television for 13 episodes from September 29 to December 29, 1962...

on ABC. He co-hosted Death Valley Days
Death Valley Days
Death Valley Days is an American radio and television anthology series featuring true stories of the old American West, particularly the Death Valley area. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was broadcast on radio until 1945. It continued from 1952 to 1975 as a syndicated television series...

during the 1960s.

In 1981 he was in the original starring cast of ABC's popular Dynasty
Dynasty (TV series)
Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...

, playing Walter Lankershim, a character who disappeared after the first season. In 1985 it was revealed in the storyline that the character had died off screen. In 1987, he starred as the title character on J.J. Starbuck
J.J. Starbuck
J.J. Starbuck was a short lived NBC series about a cornpone-spouting J.J. Starbuck, a Texan millionaire who wears ten-gallon hats, cowboy boots and fancy western shirts...

. In December 1993 and January 1994, Robertson appeared in two episodes of CBS's comedy/western Harts of the West
Harts of the West
Harts of the West is an American Western/comedy–drama series starring Beau Bridges and his father, Lloyd Bridges, set on a dude ranch in Nevada. The series aired on CBS from September 1993, to June 1994.-Synopsis:...

in the role of "Zeke Terrell", the brother of series co-star Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. was an American actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. Bridges is best known for his role of Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt, the most-popular syndicated American TV series in 1958...

.

He received the Golden Boot Award
Golden Boot Awards
The Golden Boot Awards honor actors, actresses, and crew members who have made significant contributions to the genre of Western television and movies. The award is sponsored and presented by the Motion Picture & Television Fund...

 in 1985, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is also in the Hall of Great Western Performers
Hall of Great Western Performers
The Hall of Great Western Performers is a Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.A. It is sometimes referred to as the "Western Performers Hall of Fame"...

. He is an inductee in the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...

.

He was referenced by name in an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI...

 made in 1974. After parachuting into Africa, Steve Austin
Steve Austin (fictional character)
Steve Austin is a fictional character created by Martin Caidin for his 1972 novel, Cyborg, who later became a 1970s television icon as portrayed by Lee Majors in the 1974-1978 series The Six Million Dollar Man.-Background:...

 is rescued by a couple of nuns. One of the nuns, "Sister Annette", states that she is President of the Dale Robertson Fan Club and discuses Tales of Wells Fargo
Tales of Wells Fargo
Tales of Wells Fargo is an American Western television series that ran from March 18, 1957 to June 2, 1962 on NBC. Produced by Revue Productions, the series aired in a half-hour format until its final season when it expanded to an hour.-Synopsis:...

. She states that Robertson speaks Flemish. Robertson appeared at the end of the episode in a cameo as himself.

Robertson is now retired and lives on a ranch with his wife in Yukon, Oklahoma
Yukon, Oklahoma
Yukon is a city in Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States and is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area. The population was 22,709 at the 2010 census....

.

External links

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