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Robert Walker (actor, born 1940)

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Robert Walker Jr.
Walker in 1963
Born
Robert Hudson Walker Jr.

(1940-04-15)April 15, 1940
DiedDecember 5, 2019(2019-12-05) (aged 79)
Years active1962–2019
Spouses
Ellie Wood Walker
(m. 1962; div. 1976)
Judy Motulsky
(m. 1978; div. 1980)
Dawn Walker
(m. 1981)
Children7
Parent(s)Robert Walker
Jennifer Jones

Robert Hudson Walker Jr. (April 15, 1940 – December 5, 2019) was an American actor who appeared in films including Easy Rider (1969) and was a familiar presence on television in the 1960s and early 1970s. He became less active in later decades.

Early life

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Walker was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York; his parents were actors Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones.[1][2] He attended The Lawrenceville School and trained as an actor at the Actors Studio.[1][3]

He studied tai chi under Marshall Ho'o, a skill that he later exhibited in his role in Easy Rider.[4]

Career

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Walker began his acting career in 1962 with TV roles on Route 66 ("Across Walnuts and Wine") and Naked City ("Dust Devil on a Quiet Street", playing the title role of an emotionally disturbed actor who lived and performed on the streets and in circuses). His film debut was in The Hook in 1963;[1] other film appearances, in addition to Easy Rider, included the title role in Ensign Pulver (1964) with Burl Ives and Walter Matthau; The War Wagon (1967) with John Wayne and Kirk Douglas; the title role in Young Billy Young (1969), alongside Robert Mitchum; and Beware! The Blob, or—Son of Blob (1972). He starred in Angkor: Cambodia Express (1982) with Nancy Kwan, Christopher George, Woody Strode, and Sorapong Chatree.

On television in the 1960s, in The Big Valley episode "My Son, My Son" (1965), Walker portrayed Evan Miles, an emotionally disturbed college dropout who becomes obsessed with childhood friend Audra Barkley. In 1966, at the age of 26, he was cast in the Star Trek episode "Charlie X" (1966) as Charles 'Charlie' Evans, a 17-year-old social misfit with psychic powers.[5][6][7] Also in 1966, he appeared in the fifth season of the series Combat! in the episode "Ollie Joe" . He had the title role in an episode of The Time Tunnel titled "Billy the Kid" (1967). He also portrayed Nick Baxter, an ill alien who caused the deaths of humans by touch, in an episode of The Invaders ("Panic", 1967). He played Mark Cole in an episode of Bonanza ("The Gentle Ones", 1967).

In the 1970s, Walker had a role in an episode of Columbo ("Mind Over Mayhem", 1974), and as an innocent longshoreman who takes the blame for a murder on Quincy, M.E. ("The Hero Syndrome", 1977). He also appeared in the pilot episode of The Eddie Capra Mysteries (1978).

Walker maintained a presence on episodic television in the 1980s and 1990s. He guest-starred in two episodes of Murder, She Wrote with Angela Lansbury, the first time in "The Corpse Flew First Class" (1987), and as a mentally handicapped man in "Shear Madness" (1990). He appeared in L.A. Law and In the Heat of the Night, both in 1991. He also made a television series appearance in 1993 and had a small role in the film Beyond the Darkness (2018) before officially retiring in 2018.

Personal life and death

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Walker was married three times, to Ellie Wood, to Judy Motulsky, and finally to Dawn Walker. He had seven children.[2][3][8]

He died at the age of 79 at his home in Malibu, California, on December 5, 2019.[1][2][8][9]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1962 Naked City Neil McCaw Episode: "Dust Devil on a Quiet Street"
1962 Route 66 Michael Ely Episode: "Across Walnuts and Wine"
1962-1964 Ben Casey Larry Franklin/David Duncan 2 episodes
1963 The Hook Pvt. O.A. Dennison
1963 The Ceremony Dominic
1964 Ensign Pulver Ensign Frank Pulver feature film
1964 Dr. Kildare Neal Tomlinson Episode: "Quid Pro Quo"
1965 The Touching and the Not Touching
1965 The Defenders Erik Davis 2 episodes
1965 The Big Valley Evan Miles Episode: “My Son, My Son"
1966 COMBAT! Ollie Joe Brown Episode: "Ollie Joe"
1966 12 O'Clock High Master Sgt. Heinz Reiniger 2 episodes
1966 The Trials of O'Brien Arthur Barry Episode: "The Only Game in Town"
1966 Star Trek Charlie Evans S1:E2, "Charlie X"
1966-1968 The F.B.I. Paul Donald Thorpe/Willard Smith 2 episodes
1967 The Monroes Quint Gregger Episode: "Killer Cougar"
1967 The Time Tunnel Billy the Kid (William H. Bonney) Episode: "Billy the Kid"
1967 The Happening Herby
1967 The War Wagon Billy Hyatt
1967 Bonanza Mark Cole Episode: "The Gentle Ones"
1967 The Invaders Nick Baxter Episode: "Panic"
1968 The Savage Seven Johnnie
1968 Eve Mike Yates
1968 Killers Three Johnny Warder
1969 Agilok & Blubbo Agilok
1969 Easy Rider Jack
1969 Young Billy Young Billy Young
1970 The Man from O.R.G.Y. Steve Victor
1970 Road to Salina Jonas
1972 Beware! The Blob Bobby Hartford
1973 Marcus Welby, M.D. Denny Reed Episode: "A More Exciting Case"
1973 Don Juan, or If Don Juan Were a Woman Le guitariste
1973 Hex Chupo [10]
1974 The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe
1974 Gone with the West Sheriff of Black Miller
1974 Cannon Del Foxworth Episode: "The Avenger"
1974 Columbo Neil Cahill Episode: "Mind Over Mayhem"
1975 The Streets of San Francisco Gene Watson Episode: "Asylum"
1976 Police Woman Nat Stark Episode: "Tender Soldier"
1976 The Passover Plot Bar Talmi
1977 Quincy, M.E. Peter Thorwald Episode: "The Hero Syndrome"
1977 Evil Town Mike Segal
1978 The Six Million Dollar Man Cloche / Bell 2 episodes
1978 The Eddie Capra Mysteries Toby Lloyd Episode: "Nightmare at Pendragon Castle"
1978 The Next Step Beyond Walter Hastings Episode: "Other Voices"
1979 Charlie's Angels Burt Marshall Episode: "Angels at the Altar"
1980 Beulah Land Bruce Davis 3-part miniseries
1982 CHiPs Tom Corey Episode: "Ice Cream Man"
1982 Angkor: Cambodia Express Andrew Cameron
1983 Olivia Michael 'Mike' Grant
1983 Making of a Male Model Joseph TV movie
1983 The Devonsville Terror Matthew Pendleton
1983 Matt Houston Adrian Harcomb Episode: "The Outsider"
1983 Hambone and Hillie The Wanderer
1985 Simon & Simon Mr. Matt Glass Episode: "Slither"
1985 Riptide Oscar Davenport Episode: "The Bargain Department"
1985-1986 Dallas Harding Devers 3 episodes
1986 The Fall Guy Eye-patch Poker Player 2 episodes
1986 Days of Our Lives Dr. Collins 2 episodes
1989 Dragnet Bruce Fellows Episode: "Where's Sadie?"
1990 Murder, She Wrote George Owens 2 episodes
1991 In the Heat of the Night Ray Garrett Episode: "An Execution of Trust"
1991 LA Law William Lowell Episode: "Good to the Last Drop"
1992 Santa Barbara Dr. Pressman
1993 FBI: The Untold Stories Berry Episode: "Kill for Love"
2017 Lock It Up Dog Vladimir
2018 Beyond the Darkness Agent Mills (final film role)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Mike Barnes (December 6, 2019). "Robert Walker Jr., 'Star Trek' Actor and Son of Hollywood Superstars, Dies at 79". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Dena Miller (January 15, 2020). "Actor Robert Walker Jr. Dies". Taos News. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Harris M. Lentz III (2020). "Walker, Robert, Jr.". Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2019. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. pp. 437–38. ISBN 9781476679785. Archived from the original on 2021-12-20. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
  4. ^ "Tai Chi In The Movie Easy Rider". Slanted Flying. May 9, 2014. Archived from the original on October 17, 2019. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  5. ^ "Robert Walker Jr., 1940-2019". www.startrek.com. 2023-07-25. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
  6. ^ "Robert Walker, Jr. from Star Trek's "Charlie X" has died". www.dailystartreknews.com. 2019-12-08. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
  7. ^ "Walker Passes". trektoday.com. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
  8. ^ a b "Obituary: Robert Walker". Malibu Times. December 21, 2019. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
  9. ^ Will Thorne (December 7, 2019). "'Star Trek' Actor Robert Walker Jr. Dies at 79". Variety. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  10. ^ "Robert Walker Jr". TCM.com. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
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