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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
June 8, 1918
Died
March 21, 1987
Place of Birth
Newton Highlands, Massachusetts, USA
Also Known As
- Robert Preston Meservey
Robert Preston
1.0 Popularity
Biography
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
7.8
Carole 'Toddy' Todd (archive footage)
Disclosure
2020
0.0
Self (archive footage)
Chita Rivera: A Lot Of Livin' To Do
2015
7.8
Self (archive footage)
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
2004
6.1
Harold Hill (segment "The Music Man")
Broadway's Lost Treasures
2003
6.5
Self (archive footage)
The World of Hammer
1994
5.0
Dennis Riordan
Outrage!
1986
8.0
Self
Night of 100 Stars II
1985
6.3
Mike Finnegan
Finnegan Begin Again
1985
6.6
Centauri
The Last Starfighter
1984
10.0
Self - Host
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984
Credits
Disclosure
as Carole 'Toddy' Todd (archive footage)
2020
7.8
Chita Rivera: A Lot Of Livin' To Do
as Self (archive footage)
2015
0.0
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
as Self (archive footage)
2004
7.8
Broadway's Lost Treasures
as Harold Hill (segment "The Music Man")
2003
6.1
The World of Hammer
as Self (archive footage)
1994
6.5
Outrage!
as Dennis Riordan
1986
5.0
Night of 100 Stars II
as Self
1985
8.0
Finnegan Begin Again
as Mike Finnegan
1985
6.3
The Last Starfighter
as Centauri
1984
6.6
Going Hollywood: The '30s
as Self - Host
1984
10.0
September Gun
as Ben Sunday
1983
5.3
Rehearsal for Murder
as Alex Dennison
1982
6.1
Victor/Victoria
as Carroll "Toddy" Todd
1982
7.3
Night of 100 Stars
as Self
1982
6.7
S.O.B.
as Dr. Irving Finegarten
1981
5.9
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg
as Stranger
1980
4.0
The Chisholms
as Hadley Chisholm
1979
6.2
Semi-Tough
as Big Ed Bookman
1977
5.5
My Father's House
as Tom Lindholm Sr.
1975
0.0
Mame
as Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside
1974
6.0
Child's Play
as Joseph Dobbs
1972
6.0
Junior Bonner
as Ace Bonner
1972
6.1
All the Way Home
as Jay Follet
1963
6.5
Island of Love
as Steve Blair
1963
5.3
How the West Was Won
as Roger Morgan
1962
7.0
The Merv Griffin Show
as Self
1962
6.2
The Music Man
as Harold Hill
1962
7.1
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
as Rubin Flood
1960
6.4
The Bell Telephone Hour
as Self
1959
7.3
Made in Heaven
as Zachary Meredith
1956
0.0
Confession
as Self - Host
1956
0.0
Tony Awards
as Self - Presenter / Performer
1956
5.9
Tony Awards
as Self - Host / Nominee/ Performer
1956
5.9
Tony Awards
as Self - Host
1956
5.9
Tony Awards
as Self - Presenter
1956
5.9
Tony Awards
as Self - Performer
1956
5.9
Tony Awards
as Self - Host / Winner
1956
5.9
Sentinels in the Air
as Narrator (voice)
1956
0.0
The Last Frontier
as Col. Frank Marston
1955
6.1
The 20th Century Fox Hour
1955
5.4
Climax!
as William Struthers
1954
3.3
Climax!
as Cleve Gordon
1954
3.3
Climax!
as Lt. Hogue
1954
3.3
General Electric Theater
as Jim Tweedy
1953
6.4
Face to Face
as Jack Potter
1952
5.7
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
7.2
My Outlaw Brother
as Joe Walter
1951
5.5
Best of the Badmen
as Matthew Fowler
1951
6.5
Cloudburst
as John Graham
1951
6.3
When I Grow Up
as Father Reed
1951
6.5
🎬
Lux Video Theatre
as Phil Baxter
1950
6.3
🎬
Lux Video Theatre
as Dowey
1950
6.3
🎬
Lux Video Theatre
as Jed Kennedy
1950
6.3
🎬
Lux Video Theatre
as Kelly
1950
6.3
🎬
Lux Video Theatre
as Isaac Eaton
1950
6.3
🎬
Lux Video Theatre
as Tom
1950
6.3
Your Show of Shows
1950
6.3
What's My Line?
as Self - Mystery Guest
1950
6.9
What's My Line?
as Self
1950
6.9
The Sundowners
as James Cloud ('Kid Wichita')
1950
5.0
Robert Montgomery Presents
as Jeff Frazer
1950
5.6
Robert Montgomery Presents
as Professor Richard Wanley
1950
5.6
The Lady Gambles
as David Boothe
1949
6.0
Tulsa
as Brad Brady
1949
6.3
Whispering Smith
as Murray Sinclair
1948
6.6
Blood on the Moon
as Tate Riling
1948
6.2
Big City
as Rev. Philip Y. Andrews
1948
7.2
Wild Harvest
as Jim Davis
1947
0.0
Variety Girl
as Robert Preston
1947
6.1
The Macomber Affair
as Francis Macomber
1947
6.2
Night Plane from Chungking
as Nick Stanton
1943
6.0
Wings Up
as Himself
1943
5.2
Wake Island
as Pvt. Joe Doyle
1942
5.8
This Gun for Hire
as Det. Michael Crane
1942
7.0
Reap the Wild Wind
as Dan Cutler
1942
6.4
Star Spangled Rhythm
as Robert Preston (uncredited)
1942
6.0
Pacific Blackout
as Robert Draper
1941
6.3
The Night of January 16th
as Steve Van Ruyle
1941
5.0
New York Town
as Paul Bryson, Jr.
1941
10.0
Parachute Battalion
as Donald Morse
1941
5.5
The Lady from Cheyenne
as Steve Lewis
1941
4.6
North West Mounted Police
as Ronnie Logan
1940
6.4
Moon Over Burma
as Chuck Lane
1940
5.0
Typhoon
as Johnny Potter
1940
5.0
Beau Geste
as Digby Geste
1939
6.9
Union Pacific
as Dick Allen
1939
6.6
Disbarred
as Bradley Kent
1939
6.0
Illegal Traffic
as Charles Bent Martin
1938
6.5
King of Alcatraz
as Robert MacArthur
1938
5.7