Jason Robards

Jason Nelson Robards Jr. (July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He was a winner of a Tony Award, two Academy Awards and an Emmy Award. He was also a United States Navy combat veteran of World War II.
He became famous playing works of American playwright Eugene O'Neill and regularly performed in O'Neill's works throughout his career. Robards was cast both in common-man roles and as well-known historical figures.
== Early life and education ==
Robards was born July 26, 1922, in Chicago, the son of Hope Maxine (née Glanville) Robards and Jason Robards Sr.,[2] an actor who regularly appeared on the stage and in such early films as The Gamblers (1929). Robards was of German, English, Welsh, Irish, and Swedish descent.[3][4]
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 witnessed first-hand 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 "talkies" (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. Although his prowess in sports attracted interest from several universities, Robards decided to enlist in the United States Navy upon his graduation in 1940.
== Naval service in World War II ==
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. 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.
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 her service in the war, Northamptonwas 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 for bravery,[6] contrary to what has been reported in numerous sources. The inaccurate story derives from a 1979 column by Hy Gardner.[7]
Aboard Nashville, Robards first found a copy of Eugene O'Neill's play Strange Interlude in the ship's library.[8][9] 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 in New York City.[8]
Robards 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.
== Career ==
Robards got into acting after the war and his career began slowly. He moved to New York City and found small parts – first in radio and then on the stage. His first film was Follow That Music, a short movie from 1947. 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 Broadwayrevival also staged by Quintero. Robards created the role of Jamie Tyrone in the original Broadway production of O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning Long Day's Journey into Night, which was also directed by Quintero; Robards appeared in the lead role of James Tyrone Sr., in a 1988 production of the same play. Other O'Neill plays directed by Quintero and featuring Robards includedHughie (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 filmand televised his performances in A Moon for the Misbegotten (1975) and Hughie (1984).
Robards also appeared onstage in a revival of O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness! (1988) directed by Arvin Brown, as well as Lillian Hellman's Toys in the Attic (1960), Arthur Miller's After the Fall (1964), Clifford Odets's The Country Girl (1972), and Harold Pinter's No Man's Land (1994).
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 debut in The Journey (1959). He became a familiar face to movie audiences throughout the 1960s, notably for his performances in A Thousand Clowns (1965) repeating his stage performance, Hour of the Gun as Doc Holliday (1967), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968), and Once Upon a Time in the West (1968).
He appeared on television anthology series, including two segments in the mid-1950s of CBS's Appointment with Adventure.
Robards played three different U.S. presidents in film. He played the role of Abraham Lincoln in the TV 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 PBSminiseries The Civil War (1990). He also played Franklin D. Roosevelt in FDR: The Final Years (1980). Robards also played 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. 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. In 1983, Robards starred in the television movie The Day After where he played Dr. Russell Oakes.
Robards voiced a number of documentaries, including Ken Burns' Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio (1991).
In Paul Thomas Anderson's third film Magnolia (1999), he played Earl Partridge, a cancer patient.
== Awards ==
Robards received eight Tony Award nominations,[10] – more than any other male actor as of March 2017. He won the Tony for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for his work in The Disenchanted, (1959); this was also his only stage appearance with his father.
He received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in consecutive years: for All the President's Men (1976), portraying Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, and for Julia (1977), portraying writer Dashiell Hammett (1977).[11] He was also nominated for another Academy Award for his role as Howard Hughesin Melvin and Howard (1980).
Robards received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his role in the television film Inherit the Wind(1988).[12]
In 1997, Robards received the U.S. National Medal of Arts, the highest honor conferred to an individual artist on behalf of the people. Recipients are selected by the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts and the medal is awarded by the President of the United States.
In 1999, he was among the recipients at the Kennedy Center Honors, an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture.[13]
In 2000, Robards received the first Monte Cristo Award, presented by the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, and named after O'Neill's home. Subsequent recipients have included Edward Albee, Kevin Spacey, Wendy Wasserstein, and Christopher Plummer.
Robards narrated the public radio documentary, Schizophrenia: Voices of an Illness, produced by Lichtenstein Creative Media, which was awarded a 1994 George Foster Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting. According to Time, Robards offered to narrate the schizophrenia program, saying that his first wife had been institutionalized for that illness.[14]
Robards is in the American Theater Hall of Fame, inducted in 1979.[15][16]
== Military awards ==
1st Row	Navy Good Conduct Medal	Navy Good Conduct Medal	Navy Good Conduct Medal 	American Defense Service Medal	American Defense Service Medal	American Defense Service Medal
2nd Row	American Campaign Medal	American Campaign Medal	Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal	Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal	World War II Victory Medal 	World War II Victory Medal
== Personal life and death ==
Robards had six children from his four marriages, including actor Jason Robards III and two others with his first wife, Eleanor Pittman; actor Sam Robards with his third wife, actress Lauren Bacall, to whom he was married in 1961. They divorced in 1969, in part because of his alcoholism.[17] Robards had two more children with his fourth wife (widow), Lois O'Connor.
In 1972, he was seriously injured in an automobile accident when he drove his car into the side of a mountain on a winding California road, requiring extensive surgery and facial reconstruction. The accident may have been related to his longtime struggle with alcoholism.[8][9] Robards overcame his addiction and went on to publicly campaign for alcoholism awareness.[18][19]
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.[20] He died of lung cancer in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on December 26, 2000, at the age of 78. He was cremated.
== Legacy ==
The Jason Robards Award was created by the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York City in his honor and his relationship with the theatre.
== Work ==
=== Stage ===
Run 	Production 	Role 	Notes
November 7, 1956 – March 29, 1958 	Long Day's Journey into Night	James Tyrone Jr. 	Theatre World Award
Nominated-Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play
December 3, 1958 – May 16, 1959 	The Disenchanted 	Manley Halliday 	Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
February 25, 1960 – April 8, 1961 	Toys in the Attic 	Julian Berniers 	Nominated-Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
March 15, 1961 – June 10, 1961 	Big Fish, Little Fish 	William Baker 	
April 5, 1962 – April 13, 1963 	A Thousand Clowns 	Murray Burns 	
January 23, 1964 – May 29, 1965 	After the Fall 	Quentin 	Nominated-Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
March 12, 1964 – July 2, 1964 	But for Whom Charlie 	Seymour Rosenthal 	
December 22, 1964 – January 30, 1965 	Hughie 	"Erie" Smith 	Nominated-Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
November 16, 1965 – January 22, 1966 	The Devils 	Urbain Grandier 	
October 16, 1968 – December 29, 1968 	We Bombed in New Haven 	Captain Starkey 	
March 15, 1972 – May 6, 1972 	The Country Girl 	Frank Elgin 	Nominated-Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
December 29, 1973 – November 17, 1974	A Moon for the Misbegotten 	James Tyrone Jr. 	Nominated-Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
December 28, 1977 – April 30, 1978 	A Touch of the Poet 	Cornelius Melody 	Nominated-Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
April 4, 1983 – January 1, 1984 	You Can't Take It with You 	Martin Vanderhof 	
September 29, 1985 – December 1, 1985	The Iceman Cometh 	Theodore Hickman "Hickey"	
April 16, 1987 – April 18, 1987 	A Month of Sundays 	Cooper 	
June 23, 1988 – July 23, 1988 	Ah, Wilderness! 	Nat Miller 	
June 14, 1988 – July 23, 1988 	Long Day's Journey into Night	James Tyrone 	
October 31, 1989 – January 21, 1990 	Love Letters 	Andrew Makepiece Ladd III	
November 17, 1991 – February 22, 1992	Park Your Car in Harvard Yard	Jacob Brackish 	
January 27, 1994 – March 20, 1994 	No Man's Land 	Hirst 	
=== Film ===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1959	The Journey 	Paul Kedes 	
1961	By Love Possessed 	Julius Penrose 	
1962	Tender Is the Night 	Dr. Richard "Dick" Diver 	
1962	Long Day's Journey into Night 	Jamie Tyrone 	Best Actor Award
National Board of Review Award for Best Actor
1963	Act One 	George S. Kaufman 	
1965	A Thousand Clowns 	Murray Burns 	Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1966	A Big Hand for the Little Lady 	Henry Drummond 	
1966	Any Wednesday 	John Cleves 	
1967	Divorce American Style 	Nelson Downes 	
1967	The St. Valentine's Day Massacre	Al Capone 	
1967	Hour of the Gun 	Doc Holliday 	
1968	Isadora 	Singer 	
1968	Once Upon a Time in the West 	Manuel 'Cheyenne' Gutiérrez 	
1968	The Night They Raided Minsky's 	Raymond Paine 	
1970	Rosolino Paternò, soldato… 	Sam Armstrong 	
1970	The Ballad of Cable Hogue 	Cable Hogue 	
1970	Julius Caesar 	Marcus Brutus 	
1970	Tora! Tora! Tora! 	Lt. Gen. Walter C. Short 	
1970	Fools 	Matthew South 	
1971	Jud 	 	
1971	Johnny Got His Gun 	Joe's Father 	
1971	Murders in the Rue Morgue 	Cesar Charron 	
1972	The War Between Men and Women 	Stephen Kozlenko 	
1973	Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid 	Governor Wallace 	
1975	A Boy and His Dog 	Lou Craddock 	
1975	Mr. Sycamore 	John Gwilt 	
1976	All the President's Men 	Ben Bradlee 	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated-BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
1976	The Spy Who Never Was 	Inspector Barkan 	
1977	Julia 	Dashiell Hammett 	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated-BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
1978	Comes a Horseman 	Jacob "J.W." Ewing 	
1979	Hurricane 	Captain Bruckner 	
1980	Cabo Blanco 	Gunther Beckdorff 	
1980	Raise the Titanic 	Admiral James Sandecker 	
1980	Melvin and Howard 	Howard Hughes 	Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor (third place)
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor (second place)
Nominated-Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
1981	The Legend of the Lone Ranger 	Ulysses S. Grant 	
1983	Max Dugan Returns 	Max Dugan 	
1983	Something Wicked This Way Comes 	Charles Halloway 	
1983	The Day After 	Dr. Russell Oakes 	
1987	Square Dance 	Dillard 	
1988	Bright Lights, Big City 	Mr. Hardy 	Uncredited
1988	The Good Mother 	Muth 	
1989	Dream a Little Dream 	Coleman Ettinger 	
1989	Reunion 	Harry Strauss 	
1989	Parenthood 	Frank Buckman 	
1989	Black Rainbow 	Walter Travis 	
1990	Quick Change 	Chief Rotzinger 	
1992	Storyville 	Clifford Fowler 	
1993	The Adventures of Huck Finn 	The King 	
1993	The Trial 	Doctor Huld 	
1993	Heidi 	Grandfather 	
1993	Philadelphia 	Charles Wheeler 	
1994	The Paper 	Graham Keighley 	
1994	The Enemy Within 	General R. Pendleton Lloyd 	
1994	Little Big League 	Thomas Heywood 	
1995	Crimson Tide 	Rear Admiral Anderson 	Uncredited
1997	A Thousand Acres 	Larry Cook 	
1998	The Real Macaw 	Grandpa Girdis 	
1998	Beloved 	Mr. Bodwin 	
1998	Enemy of the State 	Congressman Phillip Hammersley	Uncredited
1998	Heartwood 	Logan Reeser 	
1999	Magnolia 	Earl Partridge 	Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cast
Nominated-Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
=== Television ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1951–1954	The Big Story 	Mr. Simms
Aaron Dudley 	episode: "Arthur Mielke of the Washington Times Herald"
episode: "Aaron Dudley, Reporter"
1955 	The Philco Television Playhouse 	Mason
Joe Grant 	episode: "The Outsiders"
episode: "The Death of Billy the Kid"
1955–1956	Armstrong Circle Theatre 	Paul Foster
Ralph Sawyer
Reinhardt Schmidt	episode: "Man in Shadow"
episode: "The Town That Refused to Die"
episode: "Lost $2 Billion: The Story of Hurricane Diane"
1955–1956	Justice 	Karder 	episode: "Pattern of Lies"
episode: "Decision by Panic"
1956–1957	The Alcoa Hour 	Jayson
Bert Palmer
Bridger 	episode: "Night"
episode: "The Big Build-Up"
episode: "Even the Weariest River"
1955–1957	Studio One in Hollywood 	Prisoner
Leonard O'Brien
Cameron	episode: "Twenty-Four Hours"
episode: "The Incredible World of Horace Ford"
episode: "A Picture in the Paper"
1958 	Omnibus 	Prime Minister 	episode: "Moment of Truth"
1959 	Playhouse 90 	Robert Jordan 	episode: "For Whom the Bell Tolls: Part 2"
1959 	NBC Sunday Showcase 	Alex Reed 	episode: "People Kill People Sometimes"
1959 	A Doll's House (TV movie) 	Dr. Rank 	
1960 	Dow Hour of Great Mysteries 	Detective Anderson 	episode: "The Bat" by Mary Roberts Rinehart
1960 	The Play of the Week 	Theodore 'Hickey' Hickman 	episode: "The Iceman Cometh"
1962 	Westinghouse Presents: That's Where the Town is Going (TV movie)	Hobart Cramm 	
1964 	Abe Lincoln in Illinois (TV movie) 	Abraham Lincoln 	Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
1963–1966	Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre 	Irish LaFontain
Ivan Denisovich	episode: "Shipwrecked"
episode: "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich"
1966 	ABC Stage 67 	Royal Earle Thompson 	episode: "Noon Wine"
1969 	Spoon River (TV movie) 	Reader 	
1972 	Circle of Fear 	Elliot Brent 	episode: "The Dead We Leave Behind"
1972 	The House Without a Christmas Tree (TV movie) 	Jamie Mills 	
1973 	The Thanksgiving Treasure (TV movie) 	James Mills 	
1974 	The Country Girl 	Frank Elgin 	
1975 	The Easter Promise (TV movie) 	Jamie 	
1975 	A Moon for the Misbegotten 	James Tyrone Jr. 	Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy
1976 	Addie and the King of Hearts (TV movie) 	Jamie Mills 	
1977 	Washington: Behind Closed Doors (TV miniseries) 	President Richard Monckton 	six episodes
Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series
1978 	A Christmas to Remember (TV movie) 	Daniel Larson 	
1980 	F.D.R.: The Last Year (TV movie) 	President Franklin D. Roosevelt	Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special
1980 	Haywire (TV movie) 	Leland Hayward 	
1983 	The Day After 	Dr. Russell Oakes 	
1984 	American Playhouse 	Erie Smith 	episode: "Hughie"
1984 	Sakharov 	Andrei Sakharov 	Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
1984 	Great Performances 	Grandpa Martin Vanderhof 	episode: "You Can't Take It with You"
1985 	The Atlanta Child Murders 	Alvin Binder 	
1985 	The Long Hot Summer 	Will Varner 	
1986 	Johnny Bull (TV movie) 	Stephen Kovacs 	
1986 	The Last Frontier 	Ed Stenning 	
1987 	Laguna Heat (TV movie) 	Wade Shepard 	
1987 	Breaking Home Ties 	Lloyd 	
1988 	Inherit the Wind 	Henry Drummond 	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special
1988 	The Christmas Wife (TV movie) 	John Tanner 	
1988 	Thomas Hart Benton (TV movie) 	Narrator 	
1990 	The Civil War 	Ulysses S. Grant 	nine episodes
1991 	The Perfect Tribute 	Abraham Lincoln 	
1991 	Chernobyl: The Final Warning 	Dr. Armand Hammer 	
1991 	An Inconvenient Woman 	Jules Mendelson 	
1991 	American Masters 	Narrator 	episode: "Helen Hayes: The First Lady of the American Theatre"
1991 	On the Waterways 	Narrator 	13 episodes
1991 	Mark Twain and Me (TV movie) 	Mark Twain 	Nominated- CableACE Award for Best Actor in a Movie or Miniseries
1992 	Lincoln (TV movie) 	Abraham Lincoln 	(voice)
1993 	Heidi 	Grandfather 	
1994 	The Enemy Within 	General R. Pendleton Lloyd 	
1995 	My Antonia 	Josea Burden 	
1995 	Journey 	Marcus 	
1996–1997	The American Experience 	Narrator 	episode: "Truman: Part I"
episode: "T.R.: The Story of Theodore Roosevelt (Part I)"
2000 	Going Home 	Charles Barton 	(final appearance)