Robert John Wagner (born February 10, 1930) is an
American film and television actor, known primarily for his roles in movies, soap
operas and television. In his early days in Hollywood in the 1950s, he was mentored by the movie
actor Spencer Tracy.
He also starred in three popular American television series that spanned three
decades: as playboy-thief-turned-secret-agent, Alexander Mundy, in It
Takes a Thief (1968–1970), as Eddie Albert's ex-con man turned crime-fighting
partner, Det. Pete T. Ryan, in the con-artist-oriented drama Switch
(1975–1978), and as Stefanie Powers's super-rich husband and private-eye partner,
Jonathan Hart, in the lighthearted crime drama Hart to Hart (1979–1984). He also
starred as Number Two in the Austin Powers films of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Biography
Early career
Born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of a steel executive,[1] Wagner moved with his family to Los
Angeles, California, when he was seven. At an early age, Wagner became an aspiring actor and was successfully employed in
a variety of jobs, most prominently as a caddy for actor Clark Gable. However, it wasn't
until he was dining with his family at a Beverly Hills restaurant that he was "discovered"
by a talent scout. Making his debut in The Happy Years (1950), he would play minor characters in several military themed
films until his performance in With a Song in My Heart (1952)
starring Susan Hayward, which would lead to a contract with 20th Century Fox.
His signing on with Fox would lead to a series of films in starring roles including Beneath the
12-Mile Reef (1953) and Prince Valiant (1954) as well as smaller,
although impressive performances, in A Kiss Before Dying (1956) and
Between Heaven and Hell (1956).
It was during his early career that he became the protégé of veteran actor Clifton Webb,
appearing with him in Stars and Stripes Forever (1952). His performance
earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer in
motion pictures. According to Robert Hofler in The Man Who Invented
Rock Hudson: The Pretty Boys and Dirty Deals of Henry Willson, his biography of Hollywood talent agent
Henry Willson, Wagner was the most prominent client to break with Willson after the
homosexuality of Willson and his top client, Rock Hudson, became a topic of Hollywood
gossip. For the straight actors represented by Willson, to be represented by a gay man in the 1950s meant that they would likely
be suspected of being gay by a homophobic society, so Wagner and others abandoned him to preserve the masculine images necessary
for their careers. [citation needed]
Personal life
On his way to becoming one of Fox's visible younger stars, Wagner began appearing in public with several young actresses
including Debbie Reynolds, eventually becoming lifelong friends. In 1956, Wagner became
involved with 18-year-old actress Natalie Wood, and was married in Scottsdale, Arizona on December 28, 1957. The marriage was celebrated in Hollywood as the
most "glittering union of the 20th century". Living in a Beverly Hills home worth
$150,000, the couple soon became involved in financial troubles. At Fox, Wagner's career was slowly being overtaken by newer
actors such as Marlon Brando and Paul Newman while
Natalie Wood's also ran into trouble as her contract with Warner Bros. was suspended for 14
months after her refusal to appear in a movie filming in England. The two would eventually file for divorce on April 27, 1962, with Natalie entering a relationship with actor Warren Beatty soon afterwards.
Wagner, reportedly distraught over the divorce, traveled to Europe and was working on The Longest Day (1962) when he met an old friend, actress Marion Marshall. After a brief courtship, Wagner married Marshall on July 22, 1963 and the following year had a daughter, Katie Wagner. The two divorced in 1970.
Television
In 1968, Wagner made his television debut starring in his first series, It Takes a Thief and, after a successful two and a half seasons, his career began
to rise.
By the mid-1970s, Wagner's television career was at its peak with the popular television series Switch, opposite longtime idol Eddie Albert, where he spent
a lot of time working with the veteran Academy Award-winner, and for spending a lot of
time with him. His third successful series was, Hart to Hart, which co-starred his
longtime friend Stefanie Powers, (Wagner also made guest appearances in the pilot
episode of The Streets of San Francisco and as a regular in the UK
World War II drama, Colditz). He would
later be nominated for an Emmy Award for Best TV Actor for his performance in It Takes a
Thief and for four Golden Globe awards for his role as Jonathan Hart in Hart
to Hart.
He currently is in an advertisement for reverse mortgages.
Remarriage to Natalie Wood
Despite his divorce, Wagner continued to keep in contact with Natalie Wood and, in 1971, at a chance meeting with Wood in a
restaurant, the two began to resume their relationship (despite her marriage to British producer Richard
Gregson). Wood eventually divorced Gregson, and gaining custody of her daughter Natasha, they remarried on June 16, 1972 in a ceremony on their yacht Splendour. Two years later, along with Katie Wagner and Natasha Gregson
Wagner, the couple had a daughter Courtney Brooke.
Robert Wagner & Natalie Wood
The two would later appear together in the television movies The Affair,
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (as part of the UK television series Laurence Olivier Presents) and Wagner's own television series Hart to Hart. In 1973,
with his wife Natalie Wood, Wagner arranged a deal with Aaron Spelling to submit ideas for pilots to ABC, one of which resulted in the TV series Charlie's Angels in which Wagner and Wood shared the profits with Spelling equally.
On November 29, 1981, Natalie Wood drowned after falling
off their yacht Splendour while sailing near Catalina Island with Wagner and
Christopher Walken. Wagner, reportedly distraught over Natalie's death, would remain
unmarried for almost ten years while continuing to raise their three daughters.
After sister-in-law Lana Wood published her 1984 autobiography Natalie: A Memoir,
Wagner broke off contact with his late wife's family. She would go on to produce the television movie The Mystery of Natalie
Wood (2004), starring Justine Waddell and Michael Weatherly as Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner.
In 1991, he married actress Jill St. John. In the spring of 2000, St. John herself
would become involved in an altercation with Lana Wood during a cover shoot for Vanity Fair featuring the actresses of the long running James
Bond series. St. John and Lana co-starred in the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds are Forever.
On September 21, 2006, he became a first time grandfather
when his daughter, Katie, gave birth to a son, Riley Wagner-Lewis.
Return to film and TV
Robert Wagner as Number Two in New Line's
Austin Powers in
Goldmember
(2002).
Wagner's film career received a revival for his role in the popular Mike Myers's
Austin Powers series with his role as Dr. Evil's
henchman known only as Number 2 as well as becoming the host of
Fox Movie Channel's Hour of Stars, featuring
original television episodes of The 20th Century-Fox Hour (1955), a series which Wagner
had appeared on in his early days with the studio.
In 2007, Wagner had a role in the [BBC/AMC] series Hustle fourth season premiere, where he plays a crooked Texan being taken for half a million
dollars. As Wagner is considered "a suave icon of American caper television, including It Takes a Thief and Hart to
Hart,[2] Robert
Glenister (Hustle's fixer, Ash Morgan)
commented that "to have one of the icons of that period involved is a great bonus for all of us".[3]
Recently, Wagner played the pivotal role of President James Garfield in the the
comedy/horror film Netherbeast Incorporated (2007). The role was written with
Wagner in mind.
Aaron Spelling lawsuit
In June 2000, Wagner sued Aaron Spelling Productions for $20 million for
breach of contract and fraud, claiming he had been
cheated out of profits from the Fox television series Beverly Hills, 90210
regarding an agreement between the show's creator and producer Aaron Spelling and the Fox
Network in conflict with his own business relationship with Spelling since the early 1970s.
In 1988, Wagner agreed to become involved in Spelling's television series Angels 88,
then in development, in which Spelling had agreed Wagner would receive a 7.5% gross profit for his participation, regardless of
services rendered. However, when the series was initially picked up by Fox and then later dropped in favor of Beverly Hills,
90210, Wagner claimed he was entitled to the rights previously agreed upon their 1988 agreement.
Friendship with Eddie Albert
Wagner was a loyal friend to Eddie Albert for over 40 years and said Albert was a true
blessing to him. Wagner was only 8 when he first watched his future mentor in the 1938 movie, Brother Rat, and was
impressed. He first worked with the seasoned actor in the 1962 movie, The Longest
Day. Shortly afterwards, they co-starred in Switch, and
The Concorde: Airport '79. Wagner was grief-stricked when in 1985,
he has heard about the loss of his mentor's wife, Margo. Margo's death had strengthened the friendship between Albert &
Wagner, as the two kept in touch for the next two decades, until Albert's own death in 2005, where Wagner gave one of the
eulogies.
Friendship with Stefanie Powers
Long before Wagner starred alongside Stefanie Powers in Hart to Hart, his friendship with the legendary actress began in the late 1950s, when Powers was in her
teens. They became close friends, and have coped with the highs and the lows of each other, since then. Their first meeting was
on the set of the movie West Side Story. Powers was a dancer/member of the
ensemble cast, but was 'fired' before filming began due to the restrictions of employing a minor (she was under 18 at the time).
She and Wagner met when he visited the set with his wife, Natalie Wood (who was the film's
leading lady). Nine years later, Powers guest-starred alongside Wagner on his own show, It Takes a Thief. In 1981, Wagner and Powers lost their partners. This shared
berevement cemented their already strong bond. Six years after Hart to Hart ended,
they started touring with the play Love Letters, taking it across the US
and into Europe. Today, Wagner is still good friends with Powers.
Filmography
Wagner's career as a supporting player in movies was solid in the 1950s, but his film career petered out in the 1960s (as did
his first marriage to Natalie Wood), and he turned to television with great success. His
notable roles include:
Other roles
- Jack Gates in Delirious (1991) (Uncredited)
- Guest starring as Jack Fairfield in Hope & Faith (2003)
- Guest starring as Teddy, the boyfriend of Alan and Charlies' mother in Two and a Half
Men (2007)
References
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External links
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