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.

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 Broadway revival 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 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 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 PBS miniseries *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.