Jason Robards Biography

Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. (July 26, 1922 - December 26, 2000) was an American actor on stage, and in film and television. He was a winner of the Tony Award, two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award. He was also a United States Navy combat veteran of World War II.

He became famous playing works of American playwright Eugene O'Neill and regularly performed in O'Neill's works throughout his career. Robards was cast both in common-man roles and as well-known historical figures.

Early life and education

Robards was born in Chicago, the son of Hope Maxine (ne Glanville) Robards and Jason Robards, Sr., an actor who regularly appeared on the stage and in such early films as The Gamblers (1929). Robards was of German, English, Welsh, Irish, and Swedish descent.

The family moved to New York City, when Jason Jr. was still a toddler, and then moved to Los Angeles when he was six years old. Later interviews with Robards suggested that the trauma of his parents' divorce, which occurred during his grade-school years, greatly affected his personality and worldview.

As a youth, Robards also witnessed first-hand the decline of his father's acting career. The elder Robards had enjoyed considerable success during the era of silent films, but he fell out of favor after the advent of "talkies" (sound film), leaving the younger Robards soured on the Hollywood film industry.

The teenage Robards excelled in athletics, running a 4:18-mile during his junior year at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles. Although his prowess in sports attracted interest from several universities, Robards decided to join the United States Navy upon his graduation in 1940.

Naval service in World War II

As a radioman 3rd class in the Navy, Robards served aboard a heavy cruiser, the USS Northampton (CA-26) in 1941. On December 7, 1941, he was aboard the Northampton in the Pacific Ocean about off Hawaii. Contrary to some stories, he witnessed the devastation of the Japanese attack on Hawaii only afterwards, when the Northampton returned to Pearl Harbor two days later. The Northampton was later directed into the Guadalcanal campaign in World War II's Pacific theater, where she participated in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands.

During the Battle of Tassafaronga in the waters north of Guadalcanal on the night of November 30, 1942, the Northampton was sunk by hits from two Japanese torpedoes. Robards found himself treading water until near daybreak, when he was rescued by an American destroyer. For its service in the war the Northampton was awarded six battle stars.

Two years later, in November 1944, Robards was radioman on the USS Nashville (CL-43), the flagship for the invasion of Mindoro in the northern Philippines. On December 13, she was struck by a kamikaze aircraft off Negros Island in the Philippines. The aircraft hit one of the port five-inch gun mounts, while its two bombs set the midsection ablaze. There were 223 casualties, and the Nashville was forced to return to Pearl Harbor and then to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, for repairs.

Robards served honorably during the war, but was not a recipient of the U.S. Navy Cross for bravery, as has been recorded in numerous sources. The inaccurate story derives from a 1979 column by Hy Gardner.

It was on the Nashville that Robards first found a copy of Eugene O'Neill's play Strange Interlude in the ship's library. It was also in the Navy that he first started thinking seriously about becoming an actor. He had emceed for a Navy band in Pearl Harbor, got a few laughs and decided he liked it. His father suggested he enroll in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.

Career

Robards decided to get into acting after the war and his career started out slowly. He moved to New York City and found small parts - first in radio and then on the stage. His big break was landing the starring role in Jos Quintero's 1956 off-Broadway-theatre revival production and the later 1960 television film of O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh, portraying the philosophical salesman Hickey; he won an Obie Award for his stage performance. He later portrayed Hickey again in another 1985 Broadway revival also staged by Quintero. Robards also created the role of Jamie Tyrone in the original Broadway production of O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Long Day's Journey into Night, which was also directed by Quintero; Robards appeared in the lead role of James Tyrone, Sr. in a 1988 production of the same play. Other O'Neill plays directed by Quintero and featuring Robards included Hughie (1964), A Touch of the Poet (1977) and A Moon for the Misbegotten (1973). He repeated his role in Long Day's Journey into Night in the 1962 film and televised his performances in A Moon for the Misbegotten (1975) and Hughie (1984).

Robards also appeared onstage in a revival of O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness! (1988) directed by Arvin Brown, as well as Lillian Hellman's Toys in the Attic (1960), Arthur Miller's After the Fall (1964), Clifford Odets's The Country Girl (1972) and Harold Pinter's No Man's Land (1994).

He made his film debut in the two-reel comedy Follow That Music (1947), but after his Broadway success he was invited to make his feature debut in The Journey (1959). He became a familiar face to movie audiences throughout the 1960s, notably for his performances in A Thousand Clowns (1965) (repeating his stage performance), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and Once Upon a Time in the West (1968).

He appeared on television anthology series, including two segments in the mid-1950s of CBS's Appointment with Adventure.

Robards played three different U.S. presidents in film. He played the role of Abraham Lincoln in the TV movie The Perfect Tribute (1991) and supplied the voice for two television documentaries, first for "The Presidency: A Splendid Misery" in 1964, and then again in the title role of the 1992 documentary miniseries Lincoln. He also played the role of Ulysses S. Grant in The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981) and supplied the Union General's voice in the PBS miniseries The Civil War (1990). He also played Franklin D. Roosevelt in FDR: The Final Years (1980).

Robards appeared in two dramatizations based on the Watergate scandal. In 1976 he portrayed Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee in the film All the President's Men, based on the book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. The next year, he played fictional president Richard Monckton (based on Richard Nixon) in the 1977 television miniseries Washington: Behind Closed Doors based on John Ehrlichman's roman clef The Company. In 1983, Robards starred in the television movie The Day After where he played Dr. Russell Oakes. The movie is one of the most viewed television programs of all time.

Robards voiced a number of documentaries, including Ken Burns's Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio (1991).

In Magnolia (1999), his final feature film role, the ailing Robards portrayed a dying man who reconnects with his estranged son, played by Tom Cruise.

Awards

Robards received eight Tony Award nominations, - more than any other male actor . He won the Tony for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for his work in The Disenchanted, (1959); this was also his only stage appearance with his father.

He received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in consecutive years: for All the President's Men (1976), portraying Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, and for Julia (1977), portraying writer Dashiell Hammett (1977). He was also nominated for another Academy Award for his role as Howard Hughes in Melvin and Howard (1980).

Robards received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor - Miniseries or a Movie for Inherit the Wind (1988).

In 1997, Robards received the U.S. National Medal of Arts, the highest honor conferred to an individual artist on behalf of the people. Recipients are selected by the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts and the medal is awarded by the President of the United States.

In 1999, he was among the recipients at the Kennedy Center Honors, an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture.

In 2000, Robards received the 1st Monte Cristo Award, presented by the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, and named after O'Neill's home. Subsequent recipients have included Edward Albee, Kevin Spacey, Wendy Wasserstein, and Christopher Plummer.

Jason Robards narrated the public radio documentary, Schizophrenia: Voices of an Illness, produced by Lichtenstein Creative Media, which was awarded a 1994 George Foster Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting. According to Time Magazine, Robards offered to narrate the schizophrenia program, saying that his first wife had been institutionalized for that illness.

Jason Robards is also a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame. He was inducted in 1979.

Personal life

Robards had six children from his four marriages, including actor Jason Robards III (born 1949) by his first wife, Eleanor Pittman; and actor Sam Robards by his third wife, actress Lauren Bacall, to whom he was married in 1961. They divorced in 1969, in significant part because of his alcoholism.

In 1972 he was seriously injured in an automobile accident when he drove his car into the side of a mountain on a winding California road, requiring extensive surgery and facial reconstruction. The accident may have been related to his longtime struggle with alcoholism. Robards overcame his addiction and went on to publicly campaign for alcoholism awareness.

Robards was an American Civil War buff and scholar, an interest which informed his portrayal of the voice of Ulysses S. Grant in The Civil War series by filmmaker Ken Burns.

Death

Robards was a resident of the Southport section of Fairfield, Connecticut. He died of lung cancer in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on December 26, 2000, at the age of 78. He was cremated.

His death was mourned by both fans and actors. "He was the last of a breed of actors who dedicated themselves to a life in the theater. Without asking for the role, he was our elder statesman," said actor Kevin Spacey.

Legacy

The Jason Robards Award was created by the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York City in his honor and his relationship with the theatre.

Work

Stage

Run	Production	Role	Notes
November 7, 1956 - March 29, 1958	Long Day's Journey into Night	James Tyrone, Jr.	Theatre World Award Nominated-Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play
December 3, 1958 - May 16, 1959	The Disenchanted	Manley Halliday	Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
February 25, 1960 - April 8, 1961	Toys in the Attic	Julian Berniers	Nominated-Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
March 15, 1961 - June 10, 1961	Big Fish, Little Fish	William Baker
April 5, 1962 - April 13, 1963	A Thousand Clowns	Murray Burns
January 23, 1964 - May 29, 1965	After the Fall	Quentin	Nominated-Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
March 12, 1964 - July 2, 1964	But for Whom Charlie	Seymour Rosenthal
December 22, 1964 - January 30, 1965	Hughie	"Erie" Smith	Nominated-Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
November 16, 1965 - January 22, 1966	The Devils	Urbain Grandier
October 16, 1968 - December 29, 1968	We Bombed in New Haven	Captain Starkey
March 15, 1972 - May 6, 1972	The Country Girl	Frank Elgin	Nominated-Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
December 29, 1973 - November 17, 1974	A Moon for the Misbegotten	James Tyrone, Jr.	Nominated-Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
December 28, 1977 - April 30, 1978	A Touch of the Poet	Cornelius Melody	Nominated-Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
April 4, 1983 - January 1, 1984	You Can't Take It with You	Martin Vanderhof
September 29, 1985 - December 1, 1985	The Iceman Cometh	Theodore Hickman "Hickey"
April 16, 1987 - April 18, 1987	A Month of Sundays (play)	Cooper
June 23, 1988 - July 23, 1988	Ah, Wilderness!	Nat Miller
June 14, 1988 - July 23, 1988	Long Day's Journey into Night	James Tyrone
October 31, 1989 - January 21, 1990	Love Letters	Andrew Makepiece Ladd III
November 17, 1991 - February 22, 1992	Park Your Car in Harvard Yard	Jacob Brackish
January 27, 1994 - March 20, 1994	No Man's Land	Hirst

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Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1959	The Journey	Paul Kedes
1961	By Love Possessed	Julius Penrose
1962	Tender Is the Night	Dr. Richard "Dick" Diver
	Long Day's Journey into Night	Jamie Tyrone	Best Actor Award National Board of Review Award for Best Actor
1963	Act One	George S. Kaufman
1965	A Thousand Clowns	Murray Burns	Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1966	A Big Hand for the Little Lady	Henry Drummond
	Any Wednesday	John Cleves
1967	Divorce American Style	Nelson Downes
	The St. Valentine's Day Massacre	Al Capone
	Hour of the Gun	Doc Holliday
1968	Once Upon a Time in the West	Manuel 'Cheyenne' Gutirrez
	The Night They Raided Minsky's	Raymond Paine
	Isadora	Singer
1970	Rosolino Patern, soldato"?	Sam Armstrong
	The Ballad of Cable Hogue	Cable Hogue
	Julius Caesar	Marcus Brutus
	Tora! Tora! Tora!	Lt. Gen. Walter C. Short
	Fools	Matthew South
1971	Johnny Got His Gun	Joe's Father
	Murders in the Rue Morgue	Cesar Charron
1972	The War Between Men and Women	Stephen Kozlenko
1973	Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid	Governor Wallace
1975	A Boy and His Dog	Lou Craddock
	Mr. Sycamore	John Gwilt
1976	All the President's Men	Ben Bradlee	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated-BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
	The Spy Who Never Was	Inspector Barkan
1977	Julia	Dashiell Hammett	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated-BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
1978	Comes a Horseman	Jacob "J.W." Ewing
1979	Hurricane	Captain Bruckner
1980	Cabo Blanco	Gunther Beckdorff
	Raise the Titanic	Admiral James Sandecker
	Melvin and Howard	Howard Hughes	Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor (3rd place) New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor (2nd place) Nominated-Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
1981	The Legend of the Lone Ranger	Ulysses S. Grant
1983	Max Dugan Returns	Max Dugan
	Something Wicked This Way Comes	Charles Halloway
	The Day After	Dr. Russell Oakes
1987	Square Dance	Dillard
1988	Bright Lights, Big City	Mr. Hardy	uncredited
	The Good Mother	Muth
1989	Dream a Little Dream	Coleman Ettinger
	Reunion	Harry Strauss
	Parenthood	Frank Buckman
	Black Rainbow	Walter Travis
1990	Quick Change	Chief Rotzinger
1992	Deceptions	Clay
	Storyville	Clifford Fowler
1993	The Adventures of Huck Finn	The King
	The Trial	Doctor Huld
	Heidi	Grandfather
	Philadelphia	Charles Wheeler
1994	The Paper	Graham Keighley
	Little Big League	Thomas Heywood
1995	Crimson Tide	Rear Admiral Anderson	uncredited
1997	A Thousand Acres	Larry Cook
1998	Heartwood	Logan Reeser
	The Real Macaw	Grandpa Girdis
	Beloved	Mr. Bodwin
	Enemy of the State	Congressman Phillip Hammersley	uncredited
1999	Magnolia	Earl Partridge	Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cast Nominated-Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951-1954	The Big Story	Mr. Simms Aaron Dudley	episode: Arthur Mielke of the Washington Times Herald episode: Aaron Dudley, Reporter
1955	The Philco Television Playhouse	Mason Joe Grant	episode: The Outsiders episode: The Death of Billy the Kid
1955-1956	Armstrong Circle Theatre	Paul Foster Ralph Sawyer Reinhardt Schmidt	episode: Man in Shadow episode: The Town That Refused to Die episode: Lost $2 Billion: The Story of Hurricane Diane
	Justice	Karder	episode: Pattern of Lies episode: Decision by Panic
1956-1957	The Alcoa Hour	Jayson Bert Palmer Bridger	episode: Night episode: The Big Build-Up episode: Even the Weariest River
1955-1957	Studio One in Hollywood	Prisoner Leonard O'Brien Cameron	episode: Twenty-Four Hours episode: The Incredible World of Horace Ford episode: A Picture in the Paper
1958	Omnibus	Prime Minister	episode: Moment of Truth
1959	Playhouse 90	Robert Jordan	episode: For Whom the Bell Tolls: Part 2
	NBC Sunday Showcase	Alex Reed	episode: People Kill People Sometimes
	A Doll's House (TV movie)	Dr. Rank
1960	Dow Hour of Great Mysteries	Detective Anderson	episode: The Bat by Mary Roberts Rinehart
	The Play of the Week	Theodore 'Hickey' Hickman	episode: The Iceman Cometh
1962	Westinghouse Presents: That's Where the Town is Going (TV movie)	Hobart Cramm
1964	Abe Lincoln in Illinois (TV movie)	Abraham Lincoln	Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
1963-1966	Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre	Irish LaFontain Ivan Denisovich	episode: Shipwrecked episode: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
1966	ABC Stage 67	Royal Earle Thompson	episode: Noon Wine
1969	Spoon River (TV movie)	Reader
1972	Circle of Fear	Elliot Brent	episode: The Dead We Leave Behind
	The House Without a Christmas Tree (TV movie)	Jamie Mills
1973	The Thanksgiving Treasure (TV movie)	James Mills
1974	The Country Girl	Frank Elgin
1975	The Easter Promise (TV movie)	Jamie
	A Moon for the Misbegotten	James Tyrone Jr.	Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Special Program - Drama or Comedy
1976	Addie and the King of Hearts (TV movie)	Jamie Mills
1977	Washington: Behind Closed Doors (TV miniseries)	President Richard Monckton	6 episodes Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series
1978	A Christmas to Remember (TV movie)	Daniel Larson
1980	F.D.R.: The Last Year (TV movie)	President Franklin D. Roosevelt	Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special
	Haywire (TV movie)	Leland Hayward
1983	The Day After	Dr. Russell Oakes
1984	American Playhouse	Erie Smith	episode: Hughie
	Sakharov	Andrei Sakharov	Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film
	Great Performances	Grandpa Martin Vanderhof	episode: You Can't Take It with You
1985	The Atlanta Child Murders	Alvin Binder
	The Long Hot Summer	Will Varner
1986	Johnny Bull (TV movie)	Stephen Kovacs
	The Last Frontier	Ed Stenning
1987	Laguna Heat (TV movie)	Wade Shepard
	Breaking Home Ties	Lloyd
1988	Inherit the Wind	Henry Drummond	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special
	The Christmas Wife (TV movie)	John Tanner
	Thomas Hart Benton (TV movie)	Narrator
1990	The Civil War	Ulysses S. Grant	9 episodes
1991	The Perfect Tribute	Abraham Lincoln
	Chernobyl: The Final Warning	Dr. Armand Hammer
	An Inconvenient Woman	Jules Mendelson
	American Masters	Narrator	episode: Helen Hayes: The First Lady of the American Theatre
	On the Waterways	Narrator	13 episodes
	Mark Twain and Me (TV movie)	Mark Twain	Nominated- CableACE Award for Best Actor in a Movie or Miniseries
1992	Lincoln (TV movie)	Abraham Lincoln	(voice)
1993	Heidi	Grandfather
1994	The Enemy Within	General R. Pendleton Lloyd
1995	My Antonia	Josea Burden
	Journey	Marcus
1996-1997	The American Experience	Narrator	episode: Truman: Part I episode: T.R.: The Story of Theodore Roosevelt (Part I)
2000	Going Home	Charles Barton

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