Robert Preston
55 movies · 8 TV shows
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Jun 8, 1918
- Died
- Mar 21, 1987 (age 68)
- Place of birth
- Newton Highlands, Massachusetts, USA
- Also known as
- Robert Preston Meservey
Biography
Robert Preston (June 8, 1918 – March 21, 1987) was an American stage and film actor and singer, best known for his collaboration with composer Meredith Willson and originating the role of Professor Harold Hill in the 1957 musical The Music Man and the 1962 film adaptation; the film earned him his first of two Golden Globe Award nominations. Preston collaborated twice with filmmaker Blake Edwards, first in S.O.B. (1981) and again in Victor/Victoria (1982). For portraying Carroll "Toddy" Todd in the latter, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 55th Academy Awards.
Preston was born Robert Preston Meservey in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of a garment worker and a record store clerk. He attended Abraham Lincoln High School, training as a musician and playing several instruments, but quit at age sixteen to study acting at the Pasadena Community Playhouse.
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Preston made his Broadway debut in 1940 in the play The Philadelphia Story. He went on to star in a number of successful Broadway musicals, including The Pajama Game (1954), Damn Yankees (1955), and I Do! I Do! (1966). He also appeared in a number of films, including The Music Man (1962), The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960), and Victor/Victoria (1982).
Preston was a versatile actor who could play a wide range of roles. He was known for his charisma, his singing voice, and his comic timing. He was a two-time Tony Award winner and was nominated for an Academy Award. He was also a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame.
Preston died of cancer in 1987 at the age of 68. He was survived by his wife, Catherine Craig; the couple had no children.
A biography of the actor, @Robert Preston - Forever The Music Man”, was published in 2022.
Profiles IMDb
Known for
Robert Preston: movies and TV shows
Acting (63)
- 2020 Disclosure
as Carole 'Toddy' Todd (archive footage)
- 2003 Broadway's Lost Treasures
as Harold Hill (segment "The Music Man")
- 1986 Outrage!
as Dennis Riordan
- 1985 Finnegan Begin Again
as Mike Finnegan
- 1984 The Last Starfighter
as Centauri
- 1983 September Gun
as Ben Sunday
- 1982 Rehearsal for Murder
as Alex Dennison
- 1982 Victor/Victoria
as Carroll 'Toddy' Todd
- 1981 S.O.B.
as Dr. Irving Finegarten
- 1980 The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg
as Stranger
- 1979
- 1977 Semi-Tough
as Big Ed Bookman
- 1975 My Father's House
as Tom Lindholm Sr.
- 1974 Mame
as Beauregard
- 1972 Child's Play
as Joseph Dobbs
- 1972 Junior Bonner
as Ace Bonner
- 1963 All the Way Home
as Jay Follet
- 1963 Island of Love
as Steve Blair
- 1962 How the West Was Won
as Roger Morgan
- 1962 The Music Man
as Harold Hill
- 1960 The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
as Rubin Flood
- 1956 Made in Heaven
as Zachary Meredith
- 1956 Sentinels in the Air
as Narrator (voice)
- 1955 The Last Frontier
as Col. Frank Marston
- 1955
- 1954
- 1953
- 1952 Face to Face
as Jack Potter
- 1951
- 1951 My Outlaw Brother
as Joe Walter
- 1951 Best of the Badmen
as Matthew Fowler
- 1951 Cloudburst
as John Graham
- 1951 When I Grow Up
as Father Reed
- 1950 Lux Video Theatre · TV
as Phil Baxter / Dowey / Jed Kennedy / Kelly / Isaac Eaton / Tom · 6 episodes
- 1950
- 1950 The Sundowners
as James Cloud ('Kid Wichita')
- 1950
- 1949 The Lady Gambles
as David Boothe
- 1949 Tulsa
as Brad Brady
- 1948 Whispering Smith
as Murray Sinclair
- 1948 Blood on the Moon
as Tate Riling
- 1948 Big City
as Rev. Philip Y. Andrews
- 1947 Wild Harvest
as Jim Davis
- 1947 Variety Girl
as Robert Preston
- 1947 The Macomber Affair
as Francis Macomber
- 1943 Night Plane from Chungking
as Nick Stanton
- 1942 Wake Island
as Pvt. Joe Doyle
- 1942 This Gun for Hire
as Det. Michael Crane
- 1942 Reap the Wild Wind
as Dan Cutler
- 1942 Star Spangled Rhythm
as Robert Preston (uncredited)
- 1941 Pacific Blackout
as Robert Draper
- 1941 The Night of January 16th
as Steve Van Ruyle
- 1941 New York Town
as Paul Bryson, Jr.
- 1941 Parachute Battalion
as Donald Morse
- 1941 The Lady from Cheyenne
as Steve Lewis
- 1940 North West Mounted Police
as Ronnie Logan
- 1940 Moon Over Burma
as Chuck Lane
- 1940 Typhoon
as Johnny Potter
- 1939 Beau Geste
as Digby Geste
- 1939 Union Pacific
as Dick Allen
- 1939 Disbarred
as Bradley Kent
- 1938 Illegal Traffic
as Charles Bent Martin
- 1938 King of Alcatraz
as Robert MacArthur
Talk shows and appearances (12)
- 2015
- 2004
- 1994 The World of Hammer
1 episode
- 1985
- 1984
- 1982
- 1962 The Merv Griffin Show
1 episode
- 1959 The Bell Telephone Hour
1 episode
- 1956
- 1956 Tony Awards
6 episodes
- 1950 What's My Line?
4 episodes
- 1943