Robert Taylor Obituary

Robert Taylor, Film Idol, Dies of Cancer at Age 57

 

Monday, June 9, 1969 [UPI]

 

 

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (UPI)—Robert Taylor, one of the biggest of Hollywood movie stars from the 1930s into the 1950s, died of cancer Sunday at the age of 57.

 

The handsome Taylor, who kept the good looks that made him the screen’s top romantic actor of his day, died at 10:30 a.m. in St. John’s Hospital.

 

Taylor had part of his right lung removed last October. Later, his wife, German-born actress Ursula Thiess, confirmed that he was suffering from cancer. He had been in and out of St. John’s Hospital seven times since last September.

 

Quit Smoking

 

A hospital spokesman said Taylor knew his disease was terminal. Just before the operation, Taylor gave up smoking. He3 said he had been a three pack-a-day man and “smoked since I was a kid.”

 

Taylor’s wife and the attending physician were at his side when he died. Miss Thiess had spent the night at the hospital as her husband steadily grew weaker.

 

Ranked At Top

 

In the era of the star system, Taylor ranked at the top with leading men as Clark Gable, Tyrone Power, Gary Cooper and James Stewart.

 

In recent years he starred in the television series “The Detective” and Death Valley Days.”

 

Taylor, whose chiseled profile and widow’s peak made him the idol of feminine movie goers, was a leading man for the screen’s glamour girls, including Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Vivian Leigh, Elizabeth Taylor and Irene Dunne.

 

He eloped with actress Barbara Stanwyck in 1939. They were divorced in 1951. In 1954, Taylor married Miss Thiess. They have a son, Terence, 13, and a daughter, Tessa, 9. Miss Thiess had two children by a previous marriage, Michael and Manuela. Michael was found dead May 26 in a West Los Angeles motel.

 

70 Films

 

The actor starred in more than 70 films, among them “Quo Vadis,” “Camille,” “Waterloo Bridge,” “A Yank at Oxford,” “Johnny Eager,” “Three Comrades,” and “Magnificent Obsession.”

 

In contrast with his dashing screen roles, Taylor was quiet outdoorsman who spent his leisure hours hunting and fishing. He kept horses on his 113-acre ranch in Southern California and at a retreat near Jackson, Wyo.

 

He also owned a plane. During World War II, Taylor’s flying experience earned him a commission in the Navy as a flying cadet instructor.

 

Taylor was born Spangler Arlington Brugh in Aug. 5, 1911, in Filley, Neb. In 1943, he had his name changed legally to Robert Taylor. He was the son of S. A. Brugh, a grain merchant who studied medicine and became a doctor – as legend had it – to save his ailing wife, Ruth.

 

After his father became a doctor, Taylor and his parents moved to Crete, Neb., where he studied music. Taylor played the cello and seriously considered a music career. He organized an instrumental trio and presented regular programs over the Doane College radio station.

 

He later attended Pomona College in California, joining the school dramatic club and won the leading role in “Journey’s End.”

 

Taylor’s performance led to a screen test at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, where he was put under contract at $35 weekly and assigned minor roles in several short subjects, including “Buried Loot,” which brought considerable fan mail.

 

The studio eased him into major features, starting in 1934, when he appeared in “Handy Andy” with Will Rogers.

 

This was followed by a number of insignificant films until he played opposite Irene Dunne in “Magnificent Obsession.”

 

Taylor’s film stock soared. In 1936, the studio teamed him with Greta Garbo in “Camille,” a film classic.

 

A year later, Taylor was in England to costar with Miss Leigh in “A Yank at Oxford.”

 

About this time, the studio became alarmed at an adverse reaction among fans because Taylor was too handsome. Detractors called him “pretty boy.”

 

 

When “A Yank at Oxford” was released, the pressure of the “pretty boy” label diminished. The studio further helped the situation by casting the actor in a series of rugged roles in such films as “Stand Up and Fight” and “Lucky Night.”