Robert Fuller (actor)

For other people named Robert Fuller, seeRobert Fuller (disambiguation).

Robert Fuller(bornLeonard Leroy Lee;July 29, 1933) is a retired American actor. Fuller was known for his deep “charcoal” voice, his roles on the popular Western seriesLaramieas Jess Harper andWagon Trainas Cooper Smith, and as Dr. Kelly Brackett in the medical/action dramaEmergency!(1972-1977).

Robert Fuller
Fuller in 1968
Born	Leonard Leroy Lee (1933-07-29)July 29, 1933 Troy,New York, U.S.
Other names	Robert Simpson Jr.
Education	Key West High School
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1952–2003
Known for	Emergency! Laramie Wagon Train The Hard Ride
Spouses	Patricia Lee Lyon ​ ​ (m.1962;div.1984)​ Jennifer Savidge ​ (m.2001)​
Website	robertfuller.info/index.html

He was also in several movies, including:The Brain from Planet Arous(1957),Teenage Thunder(1957),Return of the Seven(1966),Incident at Phantom Hill(1966),What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?(1969), andThe Hard Ride(1971).

Early life

Robert Fuller was bornLeonard Leroy Leeon July 29, 1933, in Troy, New York,the only child of Elizabeth Lee, a dance instructor. Later in his childhood, Betty married Robert Simpson Sr., aNaval Academyofficer. In 1939, the family moved to Key West, Florida, where, already known by the nickname of "Buddy", he took the nameRobert Simpson Jr.His parents owned a dancing school in Florida. His family also lived in Chicago for a year before moving back to Florida.

Simpson, Jr., as he was then still formally known, attended the Miami Military School for fifth and sixth grades, andKey West High Schoolfor ninth grade. He dropped out age 14 because he disliked school and was doing poorly there. In 1950, at the age of 16, he and his parents moved to Hollywood, California, where his first job was as astunt man.He also worked atGrauman's Chinese Theatre,beginning as a doorman, becoming assistant manager by age 18. At the urging of friends, Simpson, Jr., joined theScreen Actors Guild,changed his name to Robert Fuller, and embarked on a career in acting.

Career

Early career

He started his career in his teen years, as a dancer, stuntman, and extra.

Fuller's first small role was as an extra in the 1952 filmAbove and Beyond.This was the first of many projects, including as a cheerleader and football player inI Love Melvin.In 1953, he again had uncredited parts inGentlemen Prefer Blondes(which starredMarilyn Monroe) and theDoris Dayclassic,Calamity Jane.His career went on hold for military service in Korea in theUnited States Army.He returned to the United States in 1955.

Although he had considered giving up acting, Fuller, at the suggestion of his best friend,Chuck Courtney,attendedRichard Boone's acting classes. Boone suggested that Fuller study under the tutelage ofSanford Meisnerat New York City'sNeighborhood Playhouse.

Fuller's first recorded speaking role was inFriendly Persuasionin 1956, where he worked with futureLaramieco-starJohn Smithand another close friend,Doug McClure,as well asGary Cooper.His speaking part was cut, though he can be seen in two separate roles in the film.He portrayed a POW in 1956’sStrange Intruder.

In the 1956 episode "The Comeback" in the religiousanthology series,Crossroads,Fuller played a former soldier. In 1957, Fuller was cast in his first major film role inTeenage Thunder.He said of it:

I always wanted to be in show business and with the help of my best buddy, Chuck Courtney, who was an actor then, he helped get me my first starring role in a movie calledTeenage Thunder.It was a break for me, and since Chuck had the pull at the time to get the director, Paul Helmick, use me for the bad guy and not another actor that he really wanted. It was the gateway to many other roles, which led to theLaramieseries and so on and so forth.

— Robert Fuller, emergencyfans.com

Television work in the late 1950s and 1960s

Fuller became an immensely popularcharacter actor,guest-starring in dozens of television programs includingBuckskin,The Big Valley,The Californians,The Restless Gun,The Lawless Years,U.S. Marshal,Panic!,M Squad,The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin,The Monroes,andLux Playhouse.

In 1959, he played a character accused of arson inBroderick Crawford'ssyndicatedseries,Highway Patrol.He also made appearances inABC'sThe Life and Legend of Wyatt EarpandMickey Spillane's syndicatedMike Hammer.

Fuller as Cooper Smith inWagon Train

He played Alex in the 1958 “Gunsmith” episode ofDeath Valley Days,then portrayed the clever Mexican-American cattle rustler Johnny Santos in the episode "Ten in Texas" in 1959.

On February 24, 1959, Fuller guest-starred as Joe Cole in the "Blind is the Killer" episode ofNBC'sCimarron City,a young gunfighter seeking a reputation who found his target in mayor Matt Rockford played byGeorge Montgomery.(This appearance propelled him into a lead role seven months later inLaramiewithCimarron Cityregular John Smith.)

In the summer of 1959, Fuller guest starred as young outlaw Buck Harmon in the episode "The Friend" on the ABC/Warner Bros.series,Lawman.In the story line, Harmon is estranged from his minister father, played byRobert F. Simon.When the outlaw gang comes toLaramie,Buck switches sides to help his old friend, Deputy Johnny McKay (Peter Brown). In the shootout, Harmon is gunned down, but his father is spared. Fuller also appeared as Davey Carey in anotherLawmanepisode, "The Souvenir", in 1959.

Fuller wasDavid Dortort's second choice for the role ofLorne Greene's youngest cocky, impish son,Joseph "Little Joe" Cartwright,on NBC'sBonanza,but the role went toMichael Landon.Fuller then landed the role of Jess Harper onLaramie,which ran from 1959 to 1963. Fuller was cast opposite one of his best friends,John Smith.Smith had already been cast as Jess Harper; Fuller was asked to screen test for the character of Slim Sherman. Fuller insisted he would be better as Harper, and after the screen test, he became Jess and Smith got the part of Slim.

Laramieeventually aired in more than 70 countries. When it ended its run in 1963, Fuller jumped to another Western,Wagon TrainalongsideJohn McIntire(a veteran film actor, a two-time guest-star onLaramie),Frank McGrath,andTerry Wilson.According to an August 17, 2009, interview for On Screen and Beyond, Fuller noted that he was not brought in to replaceRobert Horton(a lifelong friend Fuller had met in 1954) as the wagon train scout. He resembled Horton and the two shared the same birthday, but Horton was nine years Fuller's senior.Horton had already departed from the cast a year prior to Fuller’s stepping in to complete the series’ final two seasons.

Though the genre was fading in the late 1960s, Fuller appeared in a handful more westerns in 1966. He starred inIncident at Phantom Hill.He portrayed the ill-fated militaryCaptainWilliam Judd Fettermanin "Massacre at Fort Phil Kearney" on NBC'sBob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre.He was Vin inReturn of the Seven(1966), a sequel toThe Magnificent Seven.He portrayed Captain Jeffrey Stone in the “Court Martial” episode ofThe Monroes(1966).

He also appeared in the 1969 thrillerWhat Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?,and worked withJoel McCreain the 1976 WesternMustang Country,McCrea's last role. Fuller also appeared in the 1979 TV action movieDisaster on the Coastliner.

Emergency!

Main article:Emergency!

Cast of TV'sEmergency!(1973), L-R:Kevin Tighe,Robert Fuller,Julie London,Bobby Troup,andRandolph Mantooth

After producerJack Webbsaw Fuller in the 1971 movieThe Hard Ride,he insisted Fuller star in his new NBC medical drama,Emergency!.He had already cast singer and actress,Julie London,a best friend of Fuller's, in the role of Dixie McCall, Chief Nurse of The Emergency Room. Fuller was reluctant to play a doctor, especially in a series with a contemporary urban setting. The persistent Webb convinced him to accept the role of Dr. Kelly Brackett, Chief of Emergency Medicine, at the fictitious Rampart General Hospital. In the aforementioned 2009 interview withOn Screen and Beyond,Fuller said that he had twice, politely, rejected the role of Brackett. Webb then reminded Fuller, much less politely, that Western shows had been repeatedly cancelled over the previous five years and that the genre was on the decline.

Fuller's on-screen appearances on the last season ofEmergency!had been reduced, because not only did the show go into a completely different direction, he also wanted to look for more work in Westerns and go fishing with his friends; the series then focused much more onRandolph MantoothandKevin Tighe’s characters.

In the 1980s and the 1990s

In 1980, Fuller starred in the pilot of a CBS Western seriesJake's Wayas the title character, but the series failed to sell.

As the 1990s approached, he guest starred in more than 20 television shows, includingThe Love Boat,The Fall Guy(two episodes),Murder, She Wrote,Matt Houston,Tour of Duty,The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.,JAG,andDiagnosis: Murder(two episodes). He had arecurring roleas Laramie’s Jess Harper’s great-great-grandson and retired El Paso Texas Ranger Wade Harper onWalker, Texas RangerwithChuck NorrisandClarence Gilyard.He also portrayed Ranger Cabe Wallace in the episode "Last of a Breed.”

His final film appearances included portraying Dr. Hackett, based on his Emergency! character, in the parody filmRepossessed(1990) and a cameo as a poker player along with many other old western stars inMaverick(1994).

Personal life

Fuller dabbled in singing. He did several "bandstand" gigs with Bill Aken's Los Nomadas rock group at holiday festivities in Whiskey Flats, California. While acting as grand marshal for the localMemorial Dayparade, he performed the 1950s song "Caribbean", singing the same verse over and over. He later told the band that he only knew the first verse of the song.

In 1967, he recorded an LP inMunich,Germany. Most of the songs were recorded in German, including "Ein einsamer Cowboy"(" Lonesome Cowboy "),"Adios Mexicana"(" Goodbye Mexican Girl "),"Überall auf der Welt"(" All Over the World "), and"Sind wie Blumen"(" Girls Are Like Flowers ").

Fuller and Patricia Lee Lyon married on December 20, 1962, and had three children. The two divorced in 1984; Lyon died of cancer in 1994.

By the 1990s, Fuller had largely retired from the film business. His last acting credit was in 2001. He married actressJennifer Savidge,known for her role on NBC'sSt. Elsewhereseries, on May 19, 2001.

Fuller reunited with the rest of the survivingEmergency!cast at the Emergency! Convention '98, at the Burbank Airport Hilton, October 9-11, 1998. All of the main actors attended except forJulie London,who had suffered a stroke in 1995, and was later diagnosed with lung cancer. London's husbandBobby Trouppassed away just four months after the reunion. Fuller and the rest of the cast and crew answered fans' questions and reminisced about their time together, during which the castmates said they got along well.

On March 10, 2010, Fuller presentedJames Drurywith the "Cowboy Spirit Award" at the Festival of the West.He also paid tribute to late co-starJohn Smith.During the tribute, he recounted many details about Smith's life, especially their on- and off-screen chemistry during their days onLaramie.Smith had also attended the Festival of the West for two seasons before his declining health rendered his appearance impossible.

In 2004, Fuller and wife Jennifer Savidge moved from Los Angeles to a ranch in north Texas. His neighbor and long-term friendAlex Cordhad urged Fuller to move toCooke County.The two met in 1961 on the set ofLaramiewhen Cord made his television acting debut.

Fuller's stepfather, Robert Simpson Sr., died in 2009.

On October 9, 2010, Fuller, Drury, and Don Reynolds participated in the Wild West Toy Show, sponsored by Bob Terry inAzle, TexasnearFort Worth.The event promotes horse riding and the purchase and exchange of Western merchandise.

In September 2012, Fuller, along with several other Western celebrities, attended the first-ever Spirit of the Cowboy Western Festival held at Chestnut Square inMcKinney,Texas. The event is billed as the biggest and best Western festival in north Texas.

On July 29, 2013, Fuller celebrated his 80th birthday with his fans and his wife while vacationing on a ranch inLibby, Montana.

On November 9, 2014, Fuller and fellow actor/fishing buddy,James Best,whom he met on the sixth episode ofLaramie,attended the 100th birthday celebration of their lifelong friend and fellow actorNorman Lloyd,in Los Angeles, California. Best passed away a few months later.

Awards

In 1961, Fuller won the Best Actor Award in Japan and the Japanese Golden Order of Merit, presented by the Empress of Japan. Fuller was the first American ever to earn this award.

In 1970, he won five Ottos, which are the German equivalent of theEmmy Awards.That same year, he won theBuffalo Billaward for Outstanding Western Entertainment.

On April 16, 1974, Fuller won the Outstanding Service Award from the Huntsville (Alabama) Fire Department.

For his contribution to the television industry, Robert Fuller has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fameat 6608 Hollywood Blvd.

In 1989, he won theGolden Boot Award.

On March 18, 2006, a bronze sculpture of Jess Harper on Traveller was awarded to him by the Robert Fuller Fandom and the National Festival of the West.

On October 12, 2007, he won the Silver Spur Award along withStuart Whitman,Peter Brown, and Dean Smith, who received a lifetime achievement award.

On April 12, 2008, Fuller was inducted into theNational Cowboy and Western Heritage MuseuminOklahoma City.

On October 12, 2013, Fuller was the first recipient of the Spirit of the Cowboy Lonestar Legacy Award.

On October 27, 2018, Fuller was inducted into the Texas Trail Of Fame.

On April 11, 2019, Fuller was inducted into the Newhall Walk of Western Stars.

Filmography

• 1971:The Virginian (TV series)(TV) season 9 episode 19(Flight from Memory):Carl Ellis
• 1989:Paradise (American TV series)(TV) season 2 episode 3(Home Again):Sam Clanton
• 2001:JAG (American TV series)(TV) Season 6 Episode 16(Retreat, Hell):Marine Corps General

External links

• Robert FulleratIMDb