- Known For
- Acting
- Born
- June 8, 1918
- Place of Birth
- Newton Highlands, Massachusetts, USA
- Died
- March 21, 1987
Robert Preston
Robert Preston (June 8, 1918 – March 21, 1987) was an American stage and film actor and singer, best known for his collaboration with composer Meredith Willson and originating the role of Professor Harold Hill in the 1957 musical The Music Man and the 1962 film adaptation; the film earned him his first of two Golden Globe Award nominations. Preston collaborated twice with filmmaker Blake Edwards, first in S.O.B. (1981) and again in Victor/Victoria (1982). For portraying Carroll "Toddy" Todd in the latter, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 55th Academy Awards. Preston was born Robert Preston Meservey in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of a garment worker and a record store clerk. He attended Abraham Lincoln High School, training as a musician and playing several instruments, but quit at age sixteen to study acting at the Pasadena Community Playhouse. …
Filmography
movieDisclosure
2020 · Carole 'Toddy' Todd (archive footage)
movieChita Rivera: A Lot Of Livin' To Do
2015 · Self (archive footage)
movieSam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
2004 · Self (archive footage)
movieBroadway's Lost Treasures
2003 · Harold Hill (segment "The Music Man")
tvThe World of Hammer
1994 · Self (archive footage)
movieOutrage!
1986 · Dennis Riordan
movieNight of 100 Stars II
1985 · Self
movieFinnegan Begin Again
1985 · Mike Finnegan
movieThe Last Starfighter
1984 · Centauri
movieGoing Hollywood: The '30s
1984 · Self - Host
movieSeptember Gun
1983 · Ben Sunday
movieRehearsal for Murder
1982 · Alex Dennison
movieVictor/Victoria
1982 · Carroll "Toddy" Todd
movieNight of 100 Stars
1982 · Self
movieS.O.B.
1981 · Dr. Irving Finegarten
movieThe Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg
1980 · Stranger
tvThe Chisholms
1979 · Hadley Chisholm
movieSemi-Tough
1977 · Big Ed Bookman
movieMy Father's House
1975 · Tom Lindholm Sr.
movieMame
1974 · Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside
movieChild's Play
1972 · Joseph Dobbs
movieJunior Bonner
1972 · Ace Bonner
movieAll the Way Home
1963 · Jay Follet
movieIsland of Love
1963 · Steve Blair
movieHow the West Was Won
1962 · Roger Morgan
tvThe Merv Griffin Show
1962 · Self
movieThe Music Man
1962 · Harold Hill
movieThe Dark at the Top of the Stairs
1960 · Rubin Flood
tvThe Bell Telephone Hour
1959 · Self
movieMade in Heaven
1956 · Zachary Meredith
movieConfession
1956 · Self - Host
tvTony Awards
1956 · Self - Host / Nominee/ Performer, Self - Presenter, Self - Performer, Self - Presenter / Performer
movieSentinels in the Air
1956 · Narrator (voice)
movieThe Last Frontier
1955 · Col. Frank Marston
tvThe 20th Century Fox Hour
1955
tvClimax!
1954 · William Struthers, Cleve Gordon, Lt. Hogue
tvGeneral Electric Theater
1953 · Jim Tweedy
movieFace to Face
1952 · Jack Potter
tvSchlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
movieMy Outlaw Brother
1951 · Joe Walter
movieBest of the Badmen
1951 · Matthew Fowler
movieCloudburst
1951 · John Graham
movieWhen I Grow Up
1951 · Father Reed
Lux Video Theatre
tvLux Video Theatre
1950 · Phil Baxter, Dowey, Jed Kennedy, Kelly, Isaac Eaton, Tom
tvYour Show of Shows
1950
movieThe Sundowners
1950 · James Cloud ('Kid Wichita')
tvWhat's My Line?
1950 · Self - Mystery Guest
tvRobert Montgomery Presents
1950 · Jeff Frazer, Professor Richard Wanley
movieThe Lady Gambles
1949 · David Boothe
movieTulsa
1949 · Brad Brady
movieWhispering Smith
1948 · Murray Sinclair
movieBlood on the Moon
1948 · Tate Riling
movieBig City
1948 · Rev. Philip Y. Andrews
movieWild Harvest
1947 · Jim Davis
movieVariety Girl
1947 · Robert Preston
movieThe Macomber Affair
1947 · Francis Macomber
movieNight Plane from Chungking
1943 · Nick Stanton
movieWings Up
1943 · Himself
movieWake Island
1942 · Pvt. Joe Doyle
movieThis Gun for Hire
1942 · Det. Michael Crane
movieReap the Wild Wind
1942 · Dan Cutler
movieStar Spangled Rhythm
1942 · Robert Preston (uncredited)
moviePacific Blackout
1941 · Robert Draper
movieThe Night of January 16th
1941 · Steve Van Ruyle
movieNew York Town
1941 · Paul Bryson, Jr.
movieParachute Battalion
1941 · Donald Morse
movieThe Lady from Cheyenne
1941 · Steve Lewis
movieNorth West Mounted Police
1940 · Ronnie Logan
movieMoon Over Burma
1940 · Chuck Lane
movieTyphoon
1940 · Johnny Potter
movieBeau Geste
1939 · Digby Geste
movieUnion Pacific
1939 · Dick Allen
movieDisbarred
1939 · Bradley Kent
movieIllegal Traffic
1938 · Charles Bent Martin
movieKing of Alcatraz
1938 · Robert MacArthur