Robert Stack

Near the beginning of his career, Robert Stack had a talk with Clark Gable. Clark warned Robert if he gained celebrity status, to not misuse that power. When Stack was 20, he was tested with actress Helen Parrish and got a movie part at Universal Studios. Robert started his career with the 1939 film "First Love". He left Hollywood to serve with the Navy as an aerial gunnery instructor in World War II. In the 1950s, he was on a roll with movies like "The High and the Mighty" with John Wayne. He was nominated for best supporting actor for "Written on the Wind" (1956), but lost to Anthony Quinn "Lust For Life". Robert and Rosemarie married in 1956 and had 2 children, Elizabeth and Charles. He won an Emmy in 1960 for his role as federal crimefighter Eliot Ness in ABC's "The Untouchables", which aired from 1959-63. Some episodes of the great show were in the Prohibition period involving scenes between gangsters and federal agents. Stack made more than 40 movies: "The Iron Glove" (1954), "Good Morning Miss Dove" (1955), "Airplane!" (1980). Stack's TV shows: "The Name of the Game" (1968-71), "Most Wanted" (1976-77), and "Strike Force" (1981-82). His autobiography was called "Straight Shooting," (1979). He also hosted TV's "Unsolved Mysteries", which were real life crime stories and mysterious disappearances. Stack was born January 13, 1919 in Los Angeles. Robert's great-great-grandfather opened one of the first theaters in Los Angeles. His grandparents, uncle and mother were opera singers. Wife Rosemarie found her husband Robert after he had passed on at his home of heart failure on May 14, 2003. He was 84. He had radiation treatment for prostate cancer. His weak heart couldn't have survived a bypass. The Robert Stack page last updated January 24, 2007.