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<tr><td colspan="2" align="center"> <tr valign="top"><th style="text-align:right;">Died</th> <td>21 March1987
Montecito, California</td></tr>

Robert Preston
Born	8 June 1918 Newton, Massachusetts

Robert Preston Meservey (June 8 1918 - March 21 1987), better known as Robert Preston, was an American actor.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Selected Films 4 Broadway Shows 5 External links

[edit] Early life

Preston was born in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of a garment worker. After attending Abraham Lincoln High School in Los Angeles, California, he studied acting at the Pasadena Community Playhouse. He would later serve as an intelligence officer with the U.S. 9th Air Force during World War II.

[edit] Career

Preston appeared in many Hollywood films, predominantly Westerns, but is probably best remembered for his portrayal of the character "Professor" Harold Hill in Meredith Willson's musical, The Music Man (1962). He won a Tony Award for his performance in the original Broadway production. In 1974, he starred opposite Bernadette Peters in the Broadway musical "Mack and Mabel" as Mack Sennett, the famous silent film director.

Although he was not a singer, he appeared in several other stage and film musicals, notably Mame (1974) and Victor/Victoria (1982), for which he received an Academy Award nomination. His final role was in the TV movie Outrage! (1986). His final role in a film made for theatres was in The Last Starfighter, in which he played intergalactic con man/military recruiter "Centauri".

He died of lung cancer in 1987, aged 68.

[edit] Selected Films

• King of Alcatraz (1938)
• Union Pacific (1939)
• Beau Geste (1939)
• North West Mounted Police (1940)
• The Lady from Cheyenne (1941)
• Reap the Wild Wind (1942)
• This Gun for Hire (1942)
• Wake Island (1942)
• Whispering Smith (1948)
• Tulsa (1949)
• The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960)
• The Music Man (1962)
• How the West Was Won (1962)
• All the Way Home (1963)
• Child's Play (1972)
• Junior Bonner (1972)
• Mame (1974)
• Semi-Tough (1977)
• S.O.B. (1981 film) (1981)
• Victor/Victoria (1982)
• The Last Starfighter (1984)

[edit] Broadway Shows

• The Male Animal (May 15, 1952 - Jan 31, 1953)
• Men of Distinction (Apr 30, 1953 - May 2, 1953)
• His and Hers (Jan 7, 1954 - Mar 13, 1954)
• The Magic and the Loss (Apr 9, 1954 - May 1, 1954)
• The Tender Trap (Oct 13, 1954 - Jan 8, 1955)
• Janus (Nov 24, 1955 - Jun 30, 1956)
• The Hidden River (Jan 23, 1957 - Mar 16, 1957)
• The Music Man (Dec 19, 1957 - Apr 15, 1961)
• Too True to be Good (Mar 12, 1963 - Jun 1, 1963)
• Nobody Loves an Albatross (Dec 19, 1963 - Jun 20, 1964)
• Ben Franklin in Paris (Oct 27, 1964 - May 1, 1965)
• The Lion in Winter (Mar 3, 1966 - May 21, 1966)
• I Do! I Do! (Dec. 5, 1966 - June 15, 1968)
• Mack & Mabel (Oct 6, 1974 - Nov 30, 1974)
• Sly Fox (Dec 14, 1976 - Feb 19, 1978)

[edit] External links

• Robert Preston at the Internet Movie Database
• Find-A-Grave profile for Robert Preston
• Robert Preston at the Internet Broadway Database