Robert Lansing (actor)


Robert Lansing was an American stage, film, and television actor. Lansing's motion picture roles included A Gathering of Eagles with Rock Hudson and Under the Yum Yum Tree opposite Jack Lemmon. On television, he appeared in episodes of such hits as , Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone and Murder, She Wrote. Lansing is probably best remembered as the authoritarian Brig. Gen. Frank Savage in 12 O'Clock High, the television drama series about American bomber pilots during World War II.

Early life

Born in San Diego, California, Lansing reportedly took his acting surname from the state capital of Michigan. As a young actor in New York City, he was hired to join a stock company in Michigan but was told he would first have to join the Actors' Equity Association. Equity would not allow him to join as "Robert Brown" because another actor was using that name. Because the stock company was based in Lansing, this became the actor's new surname.
Lansing served two years in the United States Army and was stationed in Osaka, Japan, where he worked at Armed Forces Radio.

Stage, film and television career

During his long career, which spanned five decades, Lansing appeared in 245 episodes of 73 television series, 11 TV movies, and 19 motion pictures.
He gained early acting experience at the Actors Studio.
During the late 1940s and early 1950s, he worked under his real name Bob Brown as a radio announcer at WANE in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He also was active as an actor in a Fort Wayne theater group. Lansing first appeared on Broadway in the play Stalag 17 directed by José Ferrer, replacing Mark Roberts in the role of Dunbar at the 48th Street Theater. His rugged good looks, commanding stage presence and stentorian voice earned him continuing stage work and throughout his film career he periodically returned to the New York stage, making his last such appearance in 1991.
José Ferrer asked Lansing to perform in a series of plays at the New York City Center, including as a Cadet of Gascoyne in Cyrano de Bergerac and as the Marquis of Dorset in Richard III. He appeared in Tennessee Williams' Suddenly, Last Summer and Eugene O'Neill's The Great God Brown in the title role. Other stage performances included roles in Charley's Aunt, Elmer Rice's Cue for Passion, The Lovers, and The Cut of the Axe. Off-Broadway, his work included The Father, the "Sea Plays" of Eugene O'Neill and two one-man shows, Damien and The Disciple of Discontent.
On film, Lansing starred in the 1959 science fiction film 4D Man. He also starred as marine biologist Hank Donner in the 1966 nature drama film Namu, the Killer Whale, which featured one of the first orcas ever displayed in captivity. His other films included Under the Yum Yum Tree, A Gathering of Eagles, The Grissom Gang, Bittersweet Love, Scalpel, Empire of the Ants and The Nest.
Lansing first appeared on TV on Kraft Television Theatre in 1956. In the 1961-1962 television season, Lansing was cast as Detective Steve Carella on NBC's 87th Precinct series, based on the Ed McBain detective novels. His costars were Gena Rowlands, Ron Harper, Gregory Walcott, and Norman Fell. Also in 1961, he played Jed Trask, a troubled shooter, in the Bonanza episode, "Cutthroat Junction". He guest starred in two other episodes of the NBC's western series: "Danger Road" as Gunny O'Riley and "Heritage of Anger" as John Dundee. He played Doc Holliday in an episode of NBC's The Tall Man, with Barry Sullivan and Clu Gulager. Lansing would star alongside Clu Gulager again in a 1965 episode of NBC's The Virginian TV series titled "The Brothers". Again on NBC, in 1966, Lansing guest-starred as General Custer in a three episode segment of Branded called "Call to Glory".
Robert Lansing is probably best known for his role as Brigadier General Frank Savage in the first season of the Quinn Martin production, 12 O'Clock High, which aired on the ABC Television Network from 1964 to 1967. At the end of that season, the studio executives reported that a younger-looking lead actor was needed. But another account states that he was fired for being difficult to work with and not showing enough respect. In the first episode of the second season, General Savage was killed in action and replaced by Colonel Joe Gallagher, played by Paul Burke. Burke, though considered more youthful-looking than Lansing, was actually two years older, a fact that TV critics were quick to point out.
Other television roles include portrayals of an alcoholic college professor in ABC's drama Channing, as Gil Green in the 1963 episode "Fear Begins at Forty" on the NBC medical drama The Eleventh Hour, as a bounty hunter on Gunsmoke, as a parole officer in a 1968 episode of The Mod Squad, and in an episode of ' as interstellar secret agent Gary Seven. The episode, also featuring Teri Garr, was intended as a backdoor pilot for an unsold new series.
Lansing played an international secret agent in The Man Who Never Was, and Lt. Jack Curtis on Automan. He also played a recurring role, known only as "Control", on 29 episodes of The Equalizer between 1985 and 1989, which then was spun-off into the made-for-TV movie Memories of Manon which aired on 13 February 1989. He guest-starred in The Twilight Zone episode "The Long Morrow" and in the Thriller episode "Fatal Impulse." He also guest-starred on other television productions such as NBC's Law & Order. In the 1980s he did a series of television commercials for Liberty National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky as well as the popular supermarket chain Giant Eagle.
Robert Lansing's final television role was that of Police Captain Paul Blaisdell, on the series '. The role was written specifically for Lansing by series writer and Executive Producer Michael Sloan, who had worked with Lansing on the series The Equalizer in the 1980s although Lansing had already been diagnosed with cancer. Despite continuing health problems, Lansing performed in 24 episodes in the first and second season. In the final episode of season 2, titled "Retribution", Lansing's character of Blaisdell was written out, with the possibility of the character returning if the actor's health improved. Unfortunately, the final episode filmed in February 1994, was Lansing's final acting performance. The episode aired on November 28, 1994, a month after the actor died, and was dedicated to his memory.

Personal life

Lansing had craggy good looks, a stentorian voice, commanding presence, and characteristic bushy eyebrows.
Lansing had a son, Robert Frederick Orin Lansing, with his first wife, actress Emily McLaughlin; the couple eventually divorced. About a year and a half later, he married Gari Hardy, but this marriage also ended in divorce. The couple had a daughter, Alice Lucille Lansing. His last wife was Anne Pivar, with whom he remained until his death.
From 1991 to 1993, he was president of The Players Club, a theatrical fraternal organization founded by Edwin Booth in 1888.
Lansing was a heavy smoker and died from cancer in 1994 at age 66, one year into his last regular series, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. He was buried at Union Field Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens.

Film roles