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