Robert Fuller (actor)

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

Robert Fuller(bornLeonard Leroy Lee;July 29, 1933) is an American horse rancher and retired actor. He began his career on television, guest-starring primarily onWesternprograms, while appearing in several movies, including:The Brain from Planet Arous,Teenage Thunder(both in 1957),Return of the Seven(1966),Incident at Phantom Hill(1966), andThe Hard Ride(1971). In his five decades of television, Fuller was known for his deep, raspy voice and was familiar to television viewers throughout the 1960s from his co-star roles on the popular 1960s Western seriesLaramieas Jess Harper andWagon Trainas Cooper Smith. He was also well known for his starring role as Dr. Kelly Brackett in the 1970s 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(s)	Actor, horse rancher
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

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, at the age of 6, his family and he moved to Key West, Florida, where, already known by the nickname of "Buddy", he took the nameRobert Simpson Jr.The early highlights of his life were acting and dancing. His parents owned a dancing school in Florida. His family also moved to Chicago, where they lived 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 in 1948, at the age of 14, because he disliked school and was doing poorly there. In 1950, at the age of 16, he traveled with his family to Hollywood, California, where his first job was as astunt man.He also worked atGrauman's Chinese Theatre,beginning as a doorman and working his way up to assistant manager by age 18. At the urging of friends, Simpson, Jr., joined theScreen Actors Guild,embarked on a career in acting, and changed his name to Robert Fuller, the name by which he was known at his most prominent.

Career

Early career

Fuller's first small role was as an extra in the 1952 filmAbove and Beyond.This part led to much extra work on many projects, one of which was inI Love Melvin.In 1953, he again had uncredited bit parts inGentlemen Prefer Blondes(which starredMarilyn Monroe) and theDoris Dayclassic,Calamity Jane.His career went on hold for service in theUnited States Army.He served a tour of duty inKoreaand returned to the United States in 1955.

Although he had been considering 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 speaking role was inFriendly Persuasionin 1956, where he worked with his futureLaramieco-starJohn Smithand another close friend,Doug McClure.

In the 1956 episode "The Comeback" in the religionanthology series,Crossroads,Fuller played the part of 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

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.He appeared in the seriesStrange Intruderas avillainwho dies in the third episode.

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 a 1958 episode ofDeath Valley Days,the Gunsmith in support of guest starAnthony Carusoand returned to the show in 1959 to play clever Mexican-American cattle rustler Johnny Santos in the episode, "Ten in Texas".

On February 24, 1959, Fuller guest-starred in the episode "Blind is the Killer," inNBC'sCimarron Citytelevision series. This appearance propelled him into a lead role seven months later inLaramie,one of the comparatively few network programs set inWyoming.Fuller appeared as Joe Cole, a young gunfighter seeking a reputation, who found his target in Cimarron City Mayor Matt Rockford, played byGeorge Montgomery.

In the summer of 1959, Fuller guest starred as young outlaw, Buck Harmon, in the episode "The Friend" on the ABC/Warner Bros.Western series,Lawman.In the story line, Harmon is estranged from his minister father, played byRobert F. Simon.When the outlaw gang comes intoLaramie,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. That same year, Fuller also appeared as Davey Carey in anotherLawmanepisode, "The Souvenir".

Fuller wasDavid Dortort's second choice for the role ofLorne Greene's youngest cocky, impish son,Joseph "Little Joe" Cartwright,on NBC'sBonanza,but he lost the role to another young and then-unknown actor,Michael Landon,whose career was made by that role.About the same time, Fuller landed the co-starring role of Jess Harper onLaramie,which ran from 1959 to 1963, and Fuller was cast opposite another of his best friends,John Smith.Still unknown, Fuller was asked to do a screen test for the character of Slim Sherman, and Smith had originally been cast as Jess Harper. Fuller insisted he would be better cast as Harper, and after the screen test, he won the role of Jess, while Smith got the part of Slim.

Laramiewas eventually aired in more than 70 countries. When it ended its run, Fuller jumped to another Western,Wagon TrainalongsideJohn McIntire(a veteran film actor, a two-time guest-star onLaramie,and a future star ofThe Virginian),Frank McGrathandTerry Wilson.According to an August 17, 2009, interview forOn Screen and Beyond,Fuller noted that he was not brought into the show to replaceRobert Horton(an actor Fuller met in 1954, when his friendJames Druryand he were under contract at MGM, and befriended for 62 years until Horton's death in March 2016) in the role of 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 season earlier, and McIntire had carried the series for a year. Fuller stepped in the following year, where he remained in the series (which switched to ABC in 1962) until it ended its run after two additional seasons. Over the next six years, Fuller appeared in a handful of nondescript films. His career seemingly was stalling, as the Western was slowly being retired from the American film industry. The one exception was his role as Vin inReturn of the Seven(1966), which was a modest, if lackluster, sequel, toThe Magnificent Seven.

In 1966, Fuller starred in the Western filmIncident at Phantom Hill.That same year, he portrayed the ill-fated militaryCaptainWilliam Judd Fettermanin the episode "Massacre at Fort Phil Kearney", nearFort Phil Kearnyin Wyoming, one of NBC'sBob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre.He also appeared in the 1969 thrillerWhat Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?,and co-starred withJoel McCreain the 1976 WesternMustang Country,McCrea's last role. Fuller 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!,that already starred 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 while going fishing with his friends; therefore, Julie London became the show's central character, along withRandolph MantoothandKevin Tighe,whose characters also became the primary focus of the show.

In the 1980s and the 1990s

In 1980, Fuller starred in the pilot of a CBS Western series,Jake's Way,as the title character. But the series failed to sell.

As the 1990s approached, he playedsupporting rolesin 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.Toward the end of his acting career, he had arecurring roleas Jess' supposed great-great-grandson and retired El Paso Texas Ranger Wade Harper onWalker, Texas RangerwithChuck NorrisandClarence Gilyard.He also portrayed another character in the same series, as Ranger Cabe Wallace (in the second part of the episode "Last of a Breed" ) before being cast as Wade. His film appearances were fewer, consisting of a small role as a doctor in the comedy filmRepossessed(1990) and a cameo as a poker player inMaverick(1994).

Personal life

Fuller is an accomplished singer. 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 a vocal rendition of 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 was married for 22 years to Patricia Lee Lyon. The couple wed 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. Since May 19, 2001, he has been married to actressJennifer Savidge,known for her role on NBC'sSt. Elsewhereseries.

From October 9 to 11, 1998, Fuller was reunited with the rest of the survivingEmergency!cast, at the Emergency! Convention '98, which took place at the Burbank Airport Hilton inBurbank, California.All of the main actors attended except forJulie London,who had suffered a stroke in 1995, who later was diagnosed with lung cancer, and died, late in 2000. London's husbandBobby Troupattended just four months before his own death. 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 the mid-2004, Fuller and wife Jennifer Savidge moved from Los Angeles to North Texas to raise horses on a ranch. His neighbor and long-term friendAlex Cordhad urged Fuller to move toCooke County.The two, who are the same age, had 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,despite being seven years apart, both of them, along with their wives, have attended the 100th birthday celebration of their lifelong friend and fellow actorNorman Lloyd,in Los Angeles, California. Best passed away, a few months later, but in 2015.

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