| Robert Walker | |
|---|---|
 from the trailer for Strangers on a Train (1951) | |
| Born | Robert Hudson Walker October 13, 1918 Salt Lake City, Utah, United States |
| Died | August 28, 1951 (aged 32) Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1939–1951 |
| Spouse | Jennifer Jones (m. 1939–1945) Barbara Ford (m. 1948–1948) |
Early life
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Zella (née McQuarrie) and Horace Walker, he was the youngest of four sons. Emotionally scarred by his parents' divorce when he was still a child, he subsequently developed an interest in acting which led to his maternal aunt Hortense (McQuarrie) Odlum (the president of Bonwit Teller) to offer to pay for his enrollment at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City in 1937. Walker lived in her home during his first year in the city.
Career and personal life
While attending the AADA, Walker met fellow aspiring actress Phylis Isley, who later became the film star Jennifer Jones. After a brief courtship, the couple were married in Tulsa, Oklahoma on January 2, 1939 and moved to Hollywood to find work in films but their prospects proved to be meager and they soon returned to New York. Walker soon found work in radio while Phylis stayed home and gave birth to two sons in quick succession, actor Robert Walker, Jr., born April 15, 1940, and Michael Walker, born March 13, 1941. Phylis then returned to auditioning where her luck changed when she was discovered in 1941 by producer David O. Selznick, who changed her name to Jennifer Jones and groomed her for stardom. During their initial meetings Selznick was highly attracted to Jones and they quietly began an affair. She eventually landed the plum role of Bernadette Soubirous in the Twentieth Century Fox production The Song of Bernadette (1943).
The couple returned to Hollywood, and Selznick's connections helped Walker secure a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he started work on the war drama Bataan (1943). Walker's charming demeanor and boyish good looks caught on with audiences, and he worked steadily playing "boy-next-door" roles in films such as See Here, Private Hargrove (1944) and Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945). He also appeared in Selznick's Since You Went Away (1944) in which he and his wife portrayed doomed young lovers. By that time Selznick and Jones' affair was common knowledge, and Jones and Walker separated in November 1943, in the midst of production. The filming of their love scenes was tortuous as Selznick insisted that Walker perform take after take of each love scene with Jones. She filed for divorce in April 1945.
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| Robert Walker and Hedy Lamarr in Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945) |
That year, Walker starred in the film The Clock opposite Judy Garland in her first straight dramatic film. Although Walker continued to work steadily in Hollywood, he was distraught over the divorce and was soon prone to drinking, emotional outbursts and eventually, a nervous breakdown. He spent time at the Menninger Clinic in 1949 where he was treated for a psychiatric disorder.
In 1946, Walker starred in Till the Clouds Roll By, where he played the song writer Jerome Kern. He starred as composer Johannes Brahms in Song of Love (1947), which co-starred Katharine Hepburn and Paul Henreid. In 1948, Walker starred with Ava Gardner in the film One Touch of Venus, directed by William A. Seiter. The film was a non-musical comedy adapted from a Broadway show with music by Kurt Weill.
Following his dismissal from the Menninger Clinic, he was hired by director Alfred Hitchcock for Strangers on a Train (1951). His performance as the psychopathic closeted homosexual Bruno Anthony was highly lauded and considered to be his finest role. His emotional problems largely behind him, and his career in an upswing following an acclaimed performance, Walker spent the summer with his sons, and was considering the possibility of remarrying. (He had married Barbara Ford, the daughter of director John Ford, in July 1948, but the marriage lasted only five months.)
Death
On the night of August 28, 1951, Walker's housekeeper found him in an emotional state. She called his psychiatrist, who arrived and administered sodium amytal to Walker in an effort to calm him down. Walker suffered an acute allergic reaction to the drug, and stopped breathing. All efforts to resuscitate him failed. Walker was 32 years old.
Walker was buried at Washington Heights Memorial Park in Ogden, Utah.
Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
1939 Winter Carnival Wes Uncredited
These Glamour Girls College Boy Uncredited
Dancing Co-Ed Boy Uncredited
Alternative title: Every Other Inch a Lady
1943 Bataan Leonard Purckett
Madame Curie David Le Gros
1944 See Here, Private Hargrove Private Marion Hargrove
Since You Went Away Corporal William G. "Bill" Smollett II
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo David Thatcher (Crew of the Ruptured Duck)
1945 The Clock Corporal Joe Allen Alternative title: Under the Clock
Her Highness and the Bellboy Jimmy Dobson
What Next, Corporal Hargrove? Corporal Marion Hargrove
The Sailor Takes a Wife John Hill
1946 Till the Clouds Roll By Jerome Kern
1947 The Beginning or the End Colonel Jeff Nixon
The Sea of Grass Brock Brewton
Song of Love Johannes Brahms
1948 One Touch of Venus Eddie Hatch
1950 Please Believe Me Terence Keath
The Skipper Surprised His Wife Commander William J. Lattimer
1951 Vengeance Valley Lee Strobie
Strangers on a Train Bruno Anthony
1952 My Son John John Jefferson
Bibliography
Beverly Linet, Star Crossed: The Story of Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1985) ISBN 0-399-13194-9
(source:wikipedia)
