Robert Preston
Acting
Born 1918-06-08
Died 1987-03-21
Newton Highlands, Massachusetts, USA
75 credits
Read biography
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.
Preston made his Broadway debut in 1940 in the play The Philadelphia Story. He went on to star in a number of successful Broadway musicals, including The Pajama Game (1954), Damn Yankees (1955), and I Do! I Do! (1966). He also appeared in a number of films, including The Music Man (1962), The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960), and Victor/Victoria (1982).
Preston was a versatile actor who could play a wide range of roles. He was known for his charisma, his singing voice, and his comic timing. He was a two-time Tony Award winner and was nominated for an Academy Award. He was also a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame.
Preston died of cancer in 1987 at the age of 68. He was survived by his wife, Catherine Craig; the couple had no children.
A biography of the actor, @Robert Preston - Forever The Music Man”, was published in 2022.
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Filmography
— top 60 of 75
Acting
57 credits
The World of Hammer
Tony Awards
The Merv Griffin Show
Robert Montgomery Presents
What's My Line?
Climax!
The Bell Telephone Hour
How the West Was Won
Lux Video Theatre
The Last Starfighter
Victor/Victoria
Union Pacific
Mame
The Chisholms
Semi-Tough
The Music Man
Beau Geste
Disclosure
S.O.B.
Reap the Wild Wind
Blood on the Moon
The Last Frontier
Junior Bonner
Night of 100 Stars II
North West Mounted Police
This Gun for Hire
The Lady Gambles
General Electric Theater
Wake Island
Night of 100 Stars
Best of the Badmen
Tulsa
Outrage!
Variety Girl
Star Spangled Rhythm
Whispering Smith
All the Way Home
Broadway's Lost Treasures
The Sundowners
Going Hollywood: The '30s
The Macomber Affair
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
Child's Play
New York Town
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
Typhoon
Island of Love
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg
Chita Rivera: A Lot Of Livin' To Do
Pacific Blackout
Rehearsal for Murder
Big City
Illegal Traffic
Finnegan Begin Again
The Lady from Cheyenne
King of Alcatraz
Wings Up
Other credits
3 credits
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