Robert Young (actor)

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This article is about Robert Young the actor. For other persons of the same name, see Robert Young.

Robert Young (February 22, 1907 - July 21, 1998) was a popular American actor, who was the son of an Irish immigrant father and an American-born mother.

After having appeared on stage, Young was signed to an MGM contract -- "the studio that had more stars than heaven" -- and in spite of having a "tier B" leading man status, he co-starred with some of the studio's most illustrious actresses, e.g., Margaret Sullavan, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Helen Hayes, Luise Rainer, and Helen Twelvetrees, among many, many others. Yet, most of his assignments comprised "B-movies," also known as programmers, which required a mere two to three weeks of shooting. And those actors who were relegated to such a hectic schedule appeared, as Young did, in some six to eight movies per year.

He received one of his most rewarding roles late in his MGM career, that in H.M. Pulham, Esq., featuring one of Hedy Lamarr's rarely lauded performances, and once remarked that he was assigned only those roles which Robert Montgomery and other "A-list" actors had rejected. So precarious was the condition of an MGM contract player, that when Young was instructed to appear in two movies filmed in Britain in the mid-30s - one of which co-starred the mythic actress/dancer, Jessie Matthews (whom dance enthusiasts quixotically fantasized co-starring sometime with Fred Astaire) - he assumed that his termination from the studio was inevitable (he was mistaken).

Young appeared in 100 movies, and his film career spanned the period from 1931 to 1952. He then started his TV career, which extended to 1988. He is best known for his roles in Father Knows Best (1954 to 1963) for which he and his co-star, Jane Wyatt, won several Emmy Awards, and Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969 to 1976) for which he won the Emmy for best leading actor in a drama series.

He was married to Betty Henderson from 1933 until her death in 1994, and they had four daughters.

Young is a notable graduate of Abraham Lincoln High School of Los Angeles, California.

Despite the fact that he portrayed happy, well-adjusted characters, Young suffered from depression and alcoholism. He also suffered from a chemical imbalance that led to a suicide attempt in 1991.

After his death from respiratory failure at his home in Westlake, Los Angeles, California, aged 91, he was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, in Glendale, California.