Robert Preston
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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.
Known for
Credits
How the West Was Won (1962)
as Roger Morgan
The Last Starfighter (1984)
as Centauri
Victor/Victoria (1982)
as Carroll 'Toddy' Todd
The Music Man (1962)
as Harold Hill
This Gun for Hire (1942)
as Det. Michael Crane
Disclosure (2020)
as Carole 'Toddy' Todd (archive footage)
North West Mounted Police (1940)
as Ronnie Logan
Union Pacific (1939)
as Dick Allen
Reap the Wild Wind (1942)
as Dan Cutler
Beau Geste (1939)
as Digby Geste
The Last Frontier (1955)
as Col. Frank Marston
Semi-Tough (1977)
as Big Ed Bookman
Mame (1974)
as Beauregard
Blood on the Moon (1948)
as Tate Riling
The Lady Gambles (1949)
as David Boothe
Junior Bonner (1972)
as Ace Bonner
Best of the Badmen (1951)
as Matthew Fowler
Night of 100 Stars (1982)
as Self
S.O.B. (1981)
as Dr. Irving Finegarten
Variety Girl (1947)
as Robert Preston
Child's Play (1972)
as Joseph Dobbs
The Macomber Affair (1947)
as Francis Macomber
Wake Island (1942)
as Pvt. Joe Doyle
The Sundowners (1950)
as James Cloud ('Kid Wichita')
Night of 100 Stars II (1985)
as Self
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade (2004)
as Self (archive footage)
Tulsa (1949)
as Brad Brady
Finnegan Begin Again (1985)
as Mike Finnegan
Outrage! (1986)
as Dennis Riordan
Star Spangled Rhythm (1942)
as Robert Preston (uncredited)
September Gun (1983)
as Ben Sunday
Pacific Blackout (1941)
as Robert Draper
Rehearsal for Murder (1982)
as Alex Dennison
All the Way Home (1963)
as Jay Follet
Big City (1948)
as Rev. Philip Y. Andrews
When I Grow Up (1951)
as Father Reed
Parachute Battalion (1941)
as Donald Morse
Whispering Smith (1948)
as Murray Sinclair
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960)
as Rubin Flood
Going Hollywood: The '30s (1984)
as Self - Host
Made in Heaven (1956)
as Zachary Meredith
Wild Harvest (1947)
as Jim Davis
New York Town (1941)
as Paul Bryson, Jr.
Typhoon (1940)
as Johnny Potter
Wings Up (1943)
as Himself
Illegal Traffic (1938)
as Charles Bent Martin
Face to Face (1952)
as Jack Potter
Broadway's Lost Treasures (2003)
as Harold Hill (segment "The Music Man")
Moon Over Burma (1940)
as Chuck Lane
Night Plane from Chungking (1943)
as Nick Stanton
My Father's House (1975)
as Tom Lindholm Sr.
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg (1980)
as Stranger
Island of Love (1963)
as Steve Blair
The Lady from Cheyenne (1941)
as Steve Lewis
The Night of January 16th (1941)
as Steve Van Ruyle
King of Alcatraz (1938)
as Robert MacArthur
My Outlaw Brother (1951)
as Joe Walter
Chita Rivera: A Lot Of Livin' To Do (2015)
as Self (archive footage)
Sentinels in the Air (1956)
as Narrator (voice)
Disbarred (1939)
as Bradley Kent
Cloudburst (1951)
as John Graham
Confession (1956)
as Self - Host