Robert Middleton
Acting
Born: May 13, 1911 · Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Died: June 14, 1977 (aged 66)
Highest Rated
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Robert Middleton, born Samuel G. Messer (May 13, 1911 – June 14, 1977), was an American film and television actor known for his large size and beetle-like brow. With a deep, booming voice, Middleton trained for a musical career at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He worked steadily as a radio announcer and actor. One of his early works was as the narrator of the educational film "Duck and Cover". After appearing on the Broadway stage and live television, Middleton began appearing in films in 1954. He's also remembered on television as the boss Mr. Marshall on The Jackie Gleason Show and in film opposite Humphrey Bogart in The Desperate Hours (1955), Gary Cooper in Friendly Persuasion (1956), Richard Egan and Elvis Presley in Love Me Tender (1956), Dorothy Malone and Robert Stack in The Tarnished Angels (1958), and Dean Martin in Career (1959). A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Middleton appeared in many television programs in the 1950s and 1960s, including the CBS anthology series Appointment with Adventure. He was cast as "The Tichborne Claimant" in the NBC anthology series The Joseph Cotten Show. He appeared in ten episodes of ABC's family Western The Monroes, with costars Michael Anderson, Jr., and Barbara Hershey. Among his several appearances in the long-running Alfred Hitchcock Presents, he portrayed a gangster in high places, Mr. Koster, in the 1956 episode "The Better Bargain". In 1958, he played the villain in the first episode of Bat Masterson. In 1961, he appeared in the episode "Accidental Tourist" on the James Whitmore ABC legal drama The Law and Mr. Jones. That same year, he portrayed the highly sympathetic but fiercely dedicated state executioner in an episode of Thriller (U.S. TV series) entitled "Guillotine". He also appeared in at least one episode of Bonanza (1964). In the early 1950s, Middleton appeared on Broadway in Ondine. Other significant film roles include The Court Jester (1956) as a grim and determined knight who jousts with Danny Kaye in the famous "pellet with the poison" sequence, and as a sinister politician in The Lincoln Conspiracy (1977). Betwixt and between were an array of brutish mountain daddies, corrupt, cigar-chomping town bosses and lynch mob leaders. Occasionally he showed a bit of levity, as in his recurring role as Jackie Gleason's boss on The Honeymooners (1955) sketches. Middleton died of congestive heart failure in Hollywood at the age of sixty-six. Description above from the Wikipedia article Robert Middleton, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known for
Columbo
1971
Bonanza
1959
Get Smart
1965
Mission: Impossible
1966
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
Even Angels Eat Beans
1973
Kung Fu
1972
The Court Jester
1955
The Desperate Hours
1955
The Big Combo
1955
Friendly Persuasion
1956
Perry Mason
1957
Photos (2)
Movies (37)
The Court Jester
Sir Griswold
The Desperate Hours
Sam Kobish
The Big Combo
Police Capt. Peterson
Duck and Cover
Narrator
Friendly Persuasion
Sam Jordan
Love Me Tender
Mr. Siringo
The Cheyenne Social Club
Barkeeper - Great Plains Saloon
The Tarnished Angels
Matt Ord
A Big Hand for the Little Lady
Dennis Wilcox
The Law and Jake Wade
Ortero
Even Angels Eat Beans
Angelo
The Lonely Man
Ben Ryerson
The Harrad Experiment
Sidney Bower
Which Way to the Front?
Colonico
Day of the Badman
Charlie Hayes
The Silver Chalice
Idbash
The Proud Ones
Honest John Barrett
Gold of the Seven Saints
Amos Gondora
Trial
A.A. "Fats" Sanders
Hell Bent for Leather
Ambrose
Confessions of a Nervous Man
The Manager
Remember When
Kraus, the butcher
Cattle King
Clay Mathews
The Great Impostor
R.C. Brown
Red Sundown
Rufus Henshaw
Don't Give Up the Ship
Vice Adm. Philo Tecumseh Bludde
For Those Who Think Young
Burford Sanford Cronin
The Mark of Zorro
Don Luis Quintero
Career
Robert Kensington
Bitter Heritage
Luke Crocker
Something For An Empty Briefcase
Sloane
Company of Killers
Owen Brady
The Lincoln Conspiracy
Edwin M. Stanton
Witchcraft: The Doll in Brambles
Martin Plomb
No Place to Land
Buck LaVonne
The Death of Manolete
Perea
Fair Play
Jova Purvis
TV Shows (66)
Perry Mason
Judge Daniel Redmond · 1 eps
Columbo
Victor Norris · 1 eps
Bonanza
C.J. Shasta · 1 eps
Bonanza
Sam Bryant · 1 eps
Bonanza
Grizzly Martingale · 1 eps
Mannix
Jake Coryell · 1 eps
Wagon Train
Nate Burkett · 1 eps
The Wild Wild West
Emir El Emid · 1 eps
Get Smart
The Whip · 1 eps
Mission: Impossible
Clavering · 1 eps
Climax!
Sheriff · 1 eps
The Untouchables
Barney Loomis · 1 eps
The Untouchables
Mayer Wartel · 1 eps
The Untouchables
Mayor Anton J. Cermak · 2 eps
Rawhide
Josh Green · 1 eps
Rawhide
Matt Harger · 1 eps
Rawhide
Judge John Jefferson Hogan · 1 eps
Rawhide
Duke Aberdeen · 1 eps
Daniel Boone
Simon Brasher · 1 eps
Matinee Theater
1 eps
The Big Valley
Judge Tyrone · 1 eps
The Big Valley
Sidney Glover · 1 eps
Thriller
Ohrback · 1 eps
Thriller
Monsieur de Paris · 1 eps
Gunsmoke
Jake Worth · 1 eps
Gunsmoke
Dutch George · 1 eps
Gunsmoke
Dorf · 1 eps
Burke's Law
Ezekiel Kindworth aka 'Rocky Mountain' · 1 eps
Burke's Law
Ragnar Windsor · 1 eps
Burke's Law
Jed Hawkes · 2 eps
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Sam Klinker · 1 eps
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Louis Koster · 1 eps
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Cato Stone · 1 eps
Bat Masterson
Big Keel Roberts · 1 eps
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Whit Gaynor · 1 eps
Telephone Time
Heinrich Schliemann · 1 eps
The Rebel
Arthur Sutro · 1 eps
Adventures in Paradise
Howard Bailey · 1 eps
McCloud
Elliott Jason · 1 eps
Suspense
Bill West · 1 eps
Tales of Tomorrow
Dr. John Borrow · 2 eps
Alias Smith and Jones
2 eps
The Detectives
'Big Jim' · 1 eps
Studio 57
Maggio · 1 eps
MGM Parade
2 eps
Cavalcade of America
William Harper · 1 eps
Suspicion
Banton · 1 eps
The Americans
1 eps
The Investigators
John DeLuca · 1 eps
The Tall Man
Paul Mason · 1 eps
The New Breed
Stanley Mannis · 1 eps
The Walter Winchell File
Aaron Benjamin · 1 eps
Target: The Corruptors!
2 eps
The Monroes
4 eps
The Wonderful World of Disney
Frank Davis · 2 eps
The Wonderful World of Disney
Dutch Mac · 1 eps
Hunter
1 eps
Wichita Town
1 eps
General Electric Theater
Lt. Toler · 1 eps
General Electric Theater
Innkeeper · 2 eps
Man Against Crime
Joseph Merko · 1 eps
Letter to Loretta
Henry Tremaine · 1 eps
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Sheriff Ed Mullen · 1 eps
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
2 eps
Kung Fu
Marshal Ford · 1 eps
The Adventures of Gallegher
Dutch Mac · 3 eps