Biography for
Robert Stack More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

13 January 1919, Los Angeles, California, USA

Date of Death

14 May 2003, Beverly Hills, California, USA (heart attack)

Birth Name

Robert Langford Modini Stack

Nickname

Bob

Height

6' (1.83 m)

Mini Biography

"Straight Shooting" - whether skeet shooting, or portraying Eliot Ness, Robert Stack always tells it like it is, and shoots straight. Robert was the 2nd child of Elizabeth Modini Wood (who named him Charles after his grandfather) and James Langford Stack (who changed his name to Robert, after no one in particular). Even though Robert was born in Los Angeles, since his parents divorced when he was one year old, and his mom took him to Europe when he was 3, he couldn't speak English until he was 6; (his older brother James Langford, Jr., stayed in the USA with their dad). Robert spoke fluent Italian and French, but had to learn English when they returned to Los Angeles. His mom and dad remarried in 1928. Robert took drama courses at USC. He was not interested in team sports, so he took up skeet shooting. In 1935, he came in 2nd in the National Skeet Shooting Championship (held in Cleveland), and in 1936 his 5-man team broke the standing record at the National Skeet Championships (held in St. Louis). Robert arrived at Universal City in 1939, when the Studio (once riding high on the successes of movies like "Dracula" and "Frankenstein") was in financial trouble, and looking for a superstar. That superstar was Deanna Durbin (acquired from MGM), and Robert made his screen debut as her lover in First Love (1939). At first, Robert didn't want to listen to the makeup man who had told him, "no blond has ever made it as a leading man," and insisted on dyeing his hair black and uncurling it. That makeup man was genius and Oscar winner Jack Pierce (who had done all the monsters for Universal), and Robert became a matinee idol overnight. After 2 more movies, Robert was teamed with Deanna again, in Nice Girl? (1941). Robert was now a bona-fide star, but still Universal was only paying him $150 a week. For the next 10 years, Robert did Westerns, War movies, and romantic comedies. Robert has particularly fond memories for Bullfighter and the Lady (1951), a movie produced by his pal John Wayne, which meant 12 weeks filming in sunny Mexico. The movie had a great script; unfortunately 2 bullfighters were gored while filming. There were several weeks of delays, they could not get a crew or a sound stage, until they realized that in Mexico it is necessary to bribe the local union; some money was passed and filming started immediately. There were wild times, and lots of tequila. Robert became a local legend; when some Mexicans asked him what he did in the War, Robert said: "I taught machine gun." The rumor spread: "Roberto teaches chingas!" (that's Spanish for "hookers"). In 1952, Robert made movie history (much like Al Jolson had done in 1927, being in the first "talkie") - he starred in Bwana Devil (1952), the first 3-D movie. This gave startling effects to the story, which was based on real-life lion attacks in Africa. Robert attended the premiere, and recalled people's reactions to the 3-D lion scenes: "People in the audience jumped out of their seats, some even fainted." The movie broke box office records, and immediately started the demand to film more movies in 3-D (such as "House of Wax"). Around 1955, Robert (Hollywood's most eligible bachelor) was introduced to Rosemarie Bowe, by mutual agent Bill Shiffin. Rosemarie had been under contract to MGM and Columbia, making such movies as "Million Dollar Mermaid" (1952) and "The Golden Mistress" (1954). Robert and Rosemarie got married around 1957, and had 2 wonderful kids: Elizabeth and Charlie. The perennial bachelor found out he liked being married and being a father. Robert's onscreen fame had grown, and for Written on the Wind (1956) he received an Academy Award nomination. Unfortunately, this did not sit well with 20th-Century Fox, which had Robert under contract, and had lent him to Universal for this picture. Robert talks of a few run-ins with a mystery woman he calls "Deirdre" which cost him his next plum movie role. Although he gives her this pseudonym, he drops over a half dozen bits of information about her... she was from the South, under contract to MGM, married a young actor, had an interest in bullfighters, and (refusing to work with Robert Stack) starred with Tyrone Power and Errol Flynn in a movie about a post-World War I "lost generation"; (which could be "The Sun Also Rises" (1957), and the mystery woman could be Ava Gardner). His contract with Fox came to an end. And so, Robert made the transition to the new medium that was sweeping the country: television. He delivered breakout performances in his signature role as Eliot Ness in the wildly popular TV Series "The Untouchables" (1959) which, after the pilot, ran for 4 seasons (118 episodes). And there was also the TV movie The Scarface Mob (1959) (TV). There were some funny behind-the-scenes anecdotes, such as this one: There is no scene which stood out more as the most potentially evil, and risky in terms of audience acceptance, as the "bacio di morte" (the kiss of death), the Sicilian gesture when the Capo (Neville Brand) kissed a Mafia soldier (Frank DeKova) to send him out as an executioner. These 2 macho actors were nervous enough about this scene (2 guys had never kissed on TV before), but then some crewman decided to be a prankster and told each star, in private, just before filming, "look out-- your costar likes kissing guys" (a complete lie, of course). There were some sad anecdotes: Joseph Wiseman was a fine actor, but trained to work on the New York stage with props; he was not accustomed to real Hollywood sets. In a 1960 "Untouchables" episode, he was supposed to take an axe and smash up a brewery. He hit a real pipe, the axe ricocheted off the metal, and cut through his Achilles tendon. "I never felt so sorry for anyone in my life," Robert commented. They wrote a part for Joseph as a crippled, renegade chemist a few weeks later in "The Antidote" which Robert noted "was one of our half-dozen top shows". Robert went on to do TV series, such as "Most Wanted" (1976), and he pleasantly surprised everyone with his flair for comedies in movies like 1941 (1979) and Airplane! (1980). Also in 1980, Robert wrote his bio "Straight Shooting" (with Mark Evans). Robert was the host of "Unsolved Mysteries" (1987) and did more zany humor in Caddyshack II (1988). He even portrayed the no-nonsense G-man again in The Return of Eliot Ness (1991) (TV). Truly one of the greats, a fine gentleman and a great actor.

IMDb Mini Biography By: kdhaisch@aol.com

Spouse

Rosemarie Stack

(23 January 1956 - 14 May 2003) (his death) 2 children

Trade Mark

Trench Coat (as seen on Unsolved Mysteries)

His gruff voice.

Trivia

Born at 4:40pm-PST

Served as a gunnery officer in the U.S. Navy for more than three years during World War II.

Father of Charles Stack and actress Elizabeth Stack.

His grandfather Modini was not really an Italian. He had changed his name to further his career as an opera singer.

His ancestors were among the first to settle in California.

He met the real-life Mrs. Eliot Ness when his biography was presented on "This Is Your Life" (1952) in 1960. He was clearly touched at her praise of his portrayal of her late husband.

Had been diagnosed with prostate cancer the year before his death.

Veteran of the Second World War who was awarded the World War II Victory Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, American Campaign Medal, Expert Rifle Ribbon, and Expert Pistol Ribbon

Although he had nothing against comedy (he acted in several), he always said the part he always refused to play was any sort of satire or parody of Eliott Ness. He always wanted to play the part seriously.

As a child, his mother introduced him to movie stars like Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy so they could act as surrogate father figures to him. They often took him hunting and fishing.

Before he was cast as Eliot Ness in "The Untouchables" (1959) Van Johnson and Van Heflin were considered for the role.

In 1937, he was the U.S. 20-gauge champion skeet marksman, and held the record for more than 350 consecutive hits

Portrayed Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell in 1941 (1979) and Eliot Ness in "The Untouchables" (1959) TV series, two real-life figures from American history.

Initially thought "The Untouchables" (1959) TV series would not work and only took it just to prove his point. Instead, the show became a hit, and lasted four years.

Did the voice-over at the end of Miller Lite commercials in the 70s and 80s.

In 1999, he received the John F. Kennedy National Award.

Was a friend of Ronald Reagan, and made monetary contributions to Reagan's presidential campaigns.

Personal Quotes

If you're a star you go through the front door carrying the roses, instead of through the back door carrying the garbage.

As a matter of national survival, we need to do the best we can to sponsor the good guys and to do something active about bringing down the bad guys.

I think there's a definite carry-over from Eliot Ness. Somebody once said, "You really think you're Eliot Ness". No, I don't think I'm Ness, but I sure as hell know I'm not Al Capone.

It's not what you are in Hollywood - it's what people think you are.

Well, I come from a military family. Whether it's the country or city, I never liked the bad guy. I never put my arms around John Gotti, 'Al Capone' or Lucky Luciano. For me very simply they were the bad guys. And when I did "The Untouchables" (1959), I told them going in, "If you try apologizing for any of these crumb bums, get someone else to play the part."

I am very pro law enforcement.

You go to Lifetimetv.com or unsolved.com and you personally can be an important part of solving cases. This is where the interaction, the symbiotic between the viewer and the show, is important.

I play bad golf for good charities like the L.A. police.

[on how people should find the balance between alertness and paranoia] It's like when people in government talk about a rumor that there might be some sort of a drastic happening at banks or someplace else. That's really a matter of choice and a matter of intelligence, I guess. But certainly, it's better to be overly aware than unaware.

Browse biographies section by name

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z