Robert Taylor (born Spangler Arlington Brugh; August 5, 1911 – June 8, 1969) was an American film and television actor and singer who was one of the most popular leading men of cinema.

During World War II, he served in the United States Naval Air Forces, where he worked as a flight instructor and appeared in instructional films.

[1][2] During his early life, the family moved several times, living in Muskogee, Oklahoma; Kirksville, Missouri; and Fremont, Nebraska.

[8] He made his film debut in the 1934 comedy Handy Andy, starring Will Rogers (on loan to Fox Studios).

In late 1934, when MGM began production of its new short-subject series Crime Does Not Pay with the dramatic short Buried Loot, the actor who had been cast fell ill and could not appear.

After the war, he appeared in a series of edgy roles, including the neo-noir Undercurrent (1946) and drama High Wall (1947).

Robert Taylor received the 1953 World Film Favorite–Male, award at the Golden Globes (tied with Alan Ladd).

Taylor shared the lead with Richard Widmark in the edgy John Sturges western The Law and Jake Wade (1958).

Taylor's long tenure at MGM ended in 1959; he was the last remaining major star under contract from the studio's heyday.

Following the end of the series in 1962, Taylor continued to appear in films and television shows, including A House Is Not a Home, and two episodes of Hondo.

In 1964, Taylor co-starred with his former wife Barbara Stanwyck in William Castle's psychological horror film The Night Walker.

In 1965, after filming Johnny Tiger in Florida, Taylor took over the role of narrator in the television series Death Valley Days when Ronald Reagan left to pursue a career in politics.

Stanwyck's surrogate father—he was her sister Millie's husband—and personal assistant, vaudevillian Buck Mack, was Taylor's best man.

[18][19] On May 26, 1969, shortly before Taylor's death from lung cancer, Ursula Thiess found the body of her son, Michael, in a West Los Angeles motel room.

"[27] Two people already under investigation by the FBI, Karen Morley and Howard Da Silva, were mentioned as troublemakers at SAG meetings.

[32] In 1951, Taylor remarked "I speak out against communism now for the same reason I spoke out against Nazism a decade ago, because I am pro-freedom and pro-decency.

His private aircraft was a Twin Beech called "Missy" (his then-wife Stanwyck's nickname) which he used on hunting and fishing trips and to fly to locations for filming.

Taylor owned a 34-room house situated on 112 acres (0.45 km2) located in Mandeville Canyon in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles.

In 2010, the ranch was seized by New Stream Capital, a hedge fund, after Roberts failed to repay a high interest loan he had taken from them.

[37] In October 1968, Taylor underwent surgery to remove a portion of his right lung after doctors suspected that he had contracted coccidioidomycosis (known as "valley fever").

Among the mourners were Robert Stack, Van Heflin, Eva Marie Saint, Walter Pidgeon, Keenan Wynn, Mickey Rooney, George Murphy, Audrey Totter and Taylor's former wife Barbara Stanwyck.

[41] For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Robert Taylor has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1500 Vine Street.