Robert Taylor

Acting

Robert Taylor

Born 1911-08-05 · Filley, Nebraska, USA

Robert Taylor (born Spangler Arlington Brugh; August 5, 1911 – June 8, 1969) was an American film and television actor who was one of the most popular leading men of his time. Taylor began his career in films in 1934 when he signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He won his first leading role the following year in Magnificent Obsession. His popularity increased during the late 1930s and 1940s with appearances in A Yank at Oxford (1938), Waterloo Bridge (1940), and Bataan (1943). During World War II, he served in the United States Naval Air Corps, where he worked as a flight instructor and appeared in instructional films. From 1959 to 1962, he starred in the ABC series The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor. In 1966, he took over hosting duties from his friend Ronald Reagan on the series Death Valley Days. Taylor was married to actress Barbara Stanwyck from 1939 to 1951. He married actress Ursula Thiess in 1954, and they had two children. A chain smoker, Taylor was diagnosed with lung cancer in October 1968. He died of the disease on June 8, 1969 at the age of 57.

Acting credits

Return of the Gunfighter poster
6.1

A gunfighter and a cowboy help a Mexican girl avenge the land-related murder of her parents.

Return of the Gunfighter

1967

Bataan poster
6.4

During Japan's invasion of the Philippines in 1942, Capt. Henry Lassiter, Sgt. Bill Dane and a diverse group of American soldiers are ordered to destroy and hold a strategic bridge in order to delay the Japanese forces and allow Gen. MacArthur time to secure Bataan. When the Japanese soldiers begin to rebuild the bridge and advance, the group struggles with not only hunger, sickness and gunfire, but also the knowledge that there is likely no relief on the way.

Bataan

1943

Quo Vadis poster
7.1

After fierce Roman commander Marcus Vinicius becomes infatuated with beautiful Christian hostage Lygia, he begins to question the tyrannical leadership of the despotic emperor Nero.

Quo Vadis

1951

Ivanhoe poster
6.8

Sir Walter Scott's classic story of the chivalrous Ivanhoe who joins with Robin of Locksley in the fight against Prince John and for the return of King Richard the Lionheart.

Ivanhoe

1952

Waterloo Bridge poster
7.5

On the eve of World War II, a British officer revisits Waterloo Bridge and recalls the young man he was at the beginning of World War I and the young ballerina he met just before he left for the front.

Waterloo Bridge

1940

Camille poster
7.0

Life in 1847 Paris is as spirited as champagne and as unforgiving as the gray morning after. In gambling dens and lavish soirees, men of means exert their wills and women turned courtesans exult in pleasure. One such woman is Marguerite Gautier, who begins a sumptuous romance with Armand Duval.

Camille

1936

Knights of the Round Table poster
6.0

In Camelot, kingdom of Arthur and Merlin, Lancelot is well known for his courage and honor. But one day he must quit Camelot and the Queen Guinevere's love, leaving the Round Table without protection.

Knights of the Round Table

1953

Hondo and the Apaches poster
7.2

Two episodes from the TV series "Hondo" edited together and released as a feature.

Hondo and the Apaches

1967

Party Girl poster
6.8

Slick lawyer Thomas Farrell has made a career of defending mobsters in trials. It's not until he meets a lovely showgirl at a mob party that he realizes that there's more to life than winning trials. Farrell tries to quit the racket, but mob boss Rico Angelo threatens to hurt the showgirl if Farrell leaves him.

Party Girl

1958

Westward the Women poster
7.0

There's a deficit of good, honest women in the West, and Roy Whitman wants to change that. His solution is to bring a caravan of over 100 mail-order brides from Chicago to California. It will be a long, difficult and dangerous journey for the women. So Whitman hires hardened, cynical Buck Wyatt to be their guide across the inhospitable frontier. But as disaster strikes on the trail, Buck just might discover that these women are stronger than he thinks.

Westward the Women

1951

Above and Beyond poster
6.2

The story of Colonel Paul Tibbets, the pilot that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Although unaware of the full potential of this new weapon, he knows that it can do tremendously more damage than any other weapon used before, and that the death toll resulting from it will be huge. He is reluctant to be the person who will end so many lives, but as time goes on, the pressure upon him only increase.

Above and Beyond

1953

The Hangman poster
6.5

A marshal nicknamed "The Hangman" because of his track record in hunting down and capturing wanted criminals traces a robbery suspect to a small town. However, the man is known and liked in the town, and the citizens band together to try to help him avoid capture.

The Hangman

1959

Devil's Doorway poster
6.9

A Native American Civil War hero returns home to fight for his people.

Devil's Doorway

1950

Broadway Melody of 1938 poster
6.6

Steve Raleight wants to produce a show on Broadway. He finds a backer, Herman Whipple and a leading lady, Sally Lee. But Caroline Whipple forces Steve to use a known star, not a newcomer. Sally purchases a horse, she used to train when her parents had a farm before the depression and with to ex-vaudevillians, Sonny Ledford and Peter Trott she trains it to win a race, providing the money Steve needs for his show.

Broadway Melody of 1938

1937

Valley of the Kings poster
4.9

Hard-boiled archeologist Mark Brandon is searching for ancient tombs in Egypt when he is approached by beautiful Ann Mercedes, who convinces him to help her fulfill her deceased father's life's ambition - to provide solid proof of the biblical Joseph's travels in ancient Egypt. As an ex-pupil of Ann's father, Mark accepts and the two embark on a search for the tomb of the Pharoah Ra Hotep, said to have had some connection with Joseph. The trail to the tomb is fraught with intrigue, betrayal, murder, and the possibility that the tomb itself has been emptied of all its artifacts by ancient looters.

Valley of the Kings

1954

Undercurrent poster
5.9

After a rapid engagement, a dowdy daughter of a chemist weds an industrialist, knowing little of his family or past. He transforms her into an elegant society wife, but becomes enraged whenever she asks about Michael, his mysterious long-lost brother.

Undercurrent

1946

Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire poster
6.5

Actress Sally Field looks at the dramatic life and successful career of the superb actress Barbara Stanwyck (1907-90), a Hollywood legend.

Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire

1991

Conspirator poster
5.8

A newlywed suspects her husband of being a Communist spy.

Conspirator

1949

D-Day the Sixth of June poster
5.3

En route to Normandy, an American and a British officer reminisce in flashback about their romances with the same woman.

D-Day the Sixth of June

1956

The Real Charlie Chaplin poster
7.7

A look at the life and work of Charlie Chaplin in his own words featuring an in-depth interview he gave to Life magazine in 1966.

The Real Charlie Chaplin

2021

Ride, Vaquero! poster
6.1

Two Mexican outlaws, Rio and Esqueda, raised as stepbrothers, have a showdown over the issue of whether to evict new settlers from their Texas border territory.

Ride, Vaquero!

1953

The Bribe poster
6.3

United States Federal agent Rigby travels to the Central American island Carlotta to investigate a stolen aircraft engines smuggling racket.

The Bribe

1949

Small Town Girl poster
6.0

Kay is a girl living in a small rural town whose life is just too dull and repetitious to bear. One night, she meets young, handsome, and rich Bob Dakin, who asks her for directions while drunk and then proceeds to take her out on a night on the town. Kay likes the stranger, and when the drunken Bob decides that they should get married, Kay hesitates little before consenting. The morning after the affair, Bob, once sober, regrets his mistake. His strict and upright parents, however, insist that the young couple pretend marriage for 6 months before divorcing, in order to avoid bad publicity. Bob resents Kay for standing in the way of him and his fiancée, Priscilla, but Kay still hopes that he'd have a change of heart.

Small Town Girl

1936

Hollywood: The Dream Factory poster
7.2

A documentary about the glorious history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and its decline leading to the sale of its back lot and props. By extension this provides a general history of Hollywood's Golden Age and the legendary studio system.

Hollywood: The Dream Factory

1972

Behind the camera

No artwork available
NR

Two young pilot trainees arrive for primary flight training and meet their instructor, Navy pilot Lt. Taylor. Lt. Taylor talks to the men about the necessity of becoming practiced in the way of the aircraft in such a way as to enable them to rely on their senses much of their time in the air, as reliance on instruments can be confusing for beginning pilots. He explains that, at first, flying will be like walking or riding a bicycle were first learned -- by trial and error and following strict instructions. But with practice, eventually the pilot's senses will take over and much of the process of flying will rely more on his feel for the plane and less on rote following of instructions.

Primary Flight Training: Flight Sense

1944

No artwork available
NR

In this government documentary short film, a U.S. Navy flight instructor demonstrates to a young pilot trainee the proper methods for taxiing an aircraft at an airfield. He also illustrates proper take-off procedure and many of the common mistakes made during both these activities. The dangers of getting too close to other planes whose engines are running are also show. A young cadet named McDribble is presented with evidence of his failures to follow procedure and given punishment duty.

Primary Flight Training: Taxiing and Take-offs

1945

No artwork available
NR

In this documentary short film for the U.S. Navy, proper spin and stall techniques for pilot trainees are explored. After Cadet McDribble nearly collides with a squadron of Navy planes because he has practiced spins through clouds, Lt. Taylor shows his student the proper way to deliberately stall the aircraft and to recover from spins.

Primary Flight Training: Keep It Flying, Part 2

1945

No artwork available
NR

This documentary short film is intended to instruct U.S. Navy pilot trainees in the proper preparation of their airplane and their equipment prior to flight. A chief flight instructor demonstrates the correct method of holding, carrying, and wearing the parachute, but Mac, a trainee who thinks he has all the answers already, fails to pay attention and finds himself in deep trouble. Lt. Taylor, another instructor, shows a more attentive pilot trainee through the process of inspection of the plane and engine. But for every step this trainee learns well, Mac is elsewhere showing what can happen when one doesn't pay attention.

Primary Flight Training: Before You Fly

1945

No artwork available
NR

This documentary short film is one of a series of U.S. Navy training films instructing new pilots on flight technique. In this, an instructor lectures (with live and animated film footage) pilot trainees on the initial techniques of maintaining proper aircraft attitude while in flight. Straight and level flying, climbing, turning, gliding, and slow flying all require the plane to maintain the correct physical attitude, and proper methods and the possibility of mistakes are demonstrated.

Primary Flight Training: Attitudes of Flight: Part 1

1945

No artwork available
9.0

In this government documentary short film for the U.S. Navy, pilot trainees are instructed in the basics of take-off preparation, including the plane captain's inspection and the checklists of notations from prior flights of the same aircraft. Instructor Lt. Taylor gives one trainee a lesson in the aerodynamics of wing construction and how airflow creates lift on the wings when the engine propels it through the air.

Primary Flight Instruction: Stearman N2-S Part 1

1945

No artwork available
8.0

In this continuation of a prior government documentary short film, a pilot trainee continues his first flight instruction. His instructor demonstrates the use of ailerons, elevators, and rudder to control the plane in banks and turns, and illustrates the necessity of using them simultaneously in a coordinated manner. Occasionally, a less attentive pilot, McDribble, is shown failing properly to execute the maneuvers in the prescribed manner.

Primary Flight Training: First Flight, Part 2

1945

No artwork available
NR

In this documentary short film from the U.S. Navy, a naval flight instructor demonstrates to a pair of cadet pilot trainees the proper means of maintaining stable flight without danger of stalling. He explains the principles of lift versus weight, and how the angle of attack determines the speed and attitude necessary to avoid stalling.

Primary Flight Training: Keep It Flying, Part 1

1945

No artwork available
NR

In this government documentary short film, a Navy lieutenant explains the proper procedures for standard "stall" landings. Illustrating the nose-up attitude of a proper landing by means of footage of birds landing in a similar attitude, the instructor points out how wind direction is vital to landing decisions. Warnings against both "ballooning" (allowing the nose to come up too high before the plane is close enough to the ground) and "landing into the ground" (allowing the plane to lose lift before it is in the proper three-point landing attitude) follow, as well as instructions for keeping one's attention moving constantly in order to take in all variables.

Primary Flight Training: Landings

1945