Jason Robards

Jason Robards Sr. circa 1915

Robards was born July 26, 1922, in Chicago, Illinois, the son of actor Jason Robards Sr. and Hope Maxine Robards (née Glanville).[1] He was of German, English, Welsh, Irish, and Swedish descent.[2][3] 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 world view.

As a youth, Robards also experienced 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 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. (Note: The California state high school mile run record in 1940 was 4:26.) Although his prowess in sports attracted interest from several universities, Robards decided to enlist in the United States Navy upon his graduation in 1940.

Following the completion of recruit training and radio school, Robards was assigned to the heavy cruiser USS Northampton in 1941 as a radioman 3rd class.[4] On December 7, 1941, Northampton was at sea in the Pacific Ocean about 100 miles (160 km) off Hawaii. Contrary to some stories, he did not see the devastation of the Japanese attack on Hawaii until Northampton returned to Pearl Harbor two days later.[5] 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.[4]

During the Battle of Tassafaronga in the waters north of Guadalcanal on the night of November 30, 1942, 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, Northampton was awarded six battle stars. Two years later, in November 1944, Robards was radioman aboard the light cruiser USS Nashville, 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 the plane's two bombs set the midsection of the ship ablaze. With this damage and 223 casualties, 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,[6][7] contrary to what has been reported in numerous sources. The inaccurate story derives from a 1979 column by Hy Gardner.[8] Aboard Nashville, Robards first found a copy of Eugene O'Neill's play Strange Interlude in the ship's library.[9][10] Also while in the Navy, 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 (AADA) in New York City, from which he graduated in 1948.[9][11] Robards left the Navy in 1946 as a Petty officer first class. He was awarded the Good Conduct Medal of the Navy, the American Defense Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.

Robards and Maureen Stapleton in Toys in the Attic (Broadway, 1960)

Robards moved to New York City and began working on radio and stage. His first role was the 1947 short film Follow That Music. His big break was landing the starring role in José 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 originated the role of Jamie Tyrone Jr. in the original Broadway production of O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning Long Day's Journey into Night (1956), which was also directed by Quintero. For his performance he earned the Theatre World Award and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.[12]

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 film debut in the Anatole Litvak directed drama The Journey (1959) starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr. During this time he appeared on television anthology series, including two segments in the mid-1950s of CBS's Appointment with Adventure. He returned to Broadway acting in the Lillian Hellman play Toys in the Attic (1960) acting opposite Maureen Stapleton and Irene Worth. For the role he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.[13]

Robards in a publicity photo for Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

He became a familiar face to movie audiences throughout the 1960s. He played playwright George S. Kaufman in the film Act One (1963) based on the Moss Hart play of the same name. Robards acted alongside George Hamilton, George Segal, Jack Klugman and Eli Wallach.[14] The following year he played Murray Burns in the comedy-drama A Thousand Clowns (1965) repeating his stage performance, for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. In 1967 he portrayed Doc Holliday in the western film Hour of the Gun and played Al Capone in The St. Valentine's Day Massacre. That same year he acted in Divorce American Style acting alongside Dick Van Dyke, Debbie Reynolds, Van Johnson, and Jean Simmons.[15]

The following year he played Manuel "Cheyenne" Gutiérrez in the Sergio Leone western film Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). He acted opposite Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, and Claudia Cardinale.[16] That year he also acted in the William Friedkin directed musical comedy The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and the biographical drama Isadora. Robards acted in the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!, a depiction of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, that led the United States into World War II. 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, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. 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 à clef The Company.

During this time he continued to act in theatre including Arthur Miller's After the Fall (1964), Clifford Odets's The Country Girl (1972) earning Tony Award nominations for both. 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 played Dr. Russell Oakes in the 1983 television film The Day After. Robards appeared in the lead role of James Tyrone Sr., in a 1988 production of the same play. Robards also appeared onstage in a revival of O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness! (1988) directed by Arvin Brown, as well as Harold Pinter's No Man's Land (1994). In 1989 he acted in the Ron Howard directed comedy-drama Parenthood starring Steve Martin and Dianne Wiest and the British drama Reunion with a screenplay by Harold Pinter.[17][18] That year he also acted in the comedy Dream a Little Dream and the psychological thriller Black Rainbow. The following year he acted in the crime comedy Quick Change starring Bill Murray, Geena Davis, and Randy Quaid.[19] In 1993 he acted in Harold Pinter's British legal film The Trial opposite Kyle MacLachlan and Anthony Hopkins and the AIDs legal thriller Philadelphia starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington.[20][21]

Robards portrayed three presidents in films. He played Abraham Lincoln in the television film 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 the documentary Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio and played a cancer patient in the Paul Thomas Anderson directed drama Magnolia (1999).[22]

Robards was married four times and had six children. With his first wife, Eleanor Pittman, Robards had three children, including Jason Robards III. His second marriage to actress Rachel Taylor lasted from April 1959 to May 1961. He and actress Lauren Bacall, his third wife whom he married in 1961, had one son, actor Sam Robards. Robards and Bacall divorced in 1969, in part due to his alcoholism.[23] Robards had two more children with his fourth wife, Lois O'Connor, and they remained married until his death.

In 1972, Robards was seriously injured in an automobile crash when he drove his car into the side of a mountain on a winding California road, requiring extensive surgery and facial reconstruction. The crash may have been related to his longtime struggle with alcoholism.[9][10] Robards overcame his addiction and went on to publicly campaign for alcoholism awareness.[24][25] 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.

Robards was a resident of the Southport section of Fairfield, Connecticut.[26] He died of lung cancer in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on December 26, 2000. His remains were buried at Oak Lawn Cemetery in Fairfield.[27]

Source: "Jason Robards, Jr". Playbill Vault. Retrieved September 20, 2013.