Robert Middleton
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.
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Acted in
The Lincoln Conspiracy
1977
as Edwin M. Stanton
Hunter
1977
The Mark of Zorro
1974
as Don Luis Quintero
Remember When
1974
as Kraus, the butcher
The Harrad Experiment
1973
as Sidney Bower
Even Angels Eat Beans
1973
as Angelo
Kung Fu
1972
as Marshal Ford
Fair Play
1972
as Jova Purvis
Columbo
1971
as Victor Norris
Alias Smith and Jones
1971
Which Way to the Front?
1970
as Colonico
Company of Killers
1970
as Owen Brady
The Cheyenne Social Club
1970
as Barkeeper - Great Plains Saloon
McCloud
1970
Mannix
1967
as Jake Coryell
Mission: Impossible
1966
as Clavering
The Monroes
1966
A Big Hand for the Little Lady
1966
as Dennis Wilcox
Get Smart
1965
as The Whip
The Wild Wild West
1965
as Emir El Emid
The Big Valley
1965
as Judge Tyrone
The Big Valley
1965
as Sidney Glover
Daniel Boone
1964
as Simon Brasher
For Those Who Think Young
1964
as Burford Sanford Cronin
The Adventures of Gallegher
1964
as Dutch Mac
Burke's Law
1963
as Ezekiel Kindworth aka 'Rocky Mountain'
Burke's Law
1963
as Jed Hawkes
Burke's Law
1963
as Ragnar Windsor
Vacation Playhouse
1963
as Homer Ferguson
Cattle King
1963
as Clay Mathews
The New Breed
1961
as Stanley Mannis
Target: The Corruptors!
1961
Gold of the Seven Saints
1961
as Amos Gondora
The Americans
1961
Witchcraft: The Doll in Brambles
1961
as Martin Plomb
The Great Impostor
1960
as R.C. Brown
Thriller
1960
as Ohrback
Thriller
1960
as Monsieur de Paris
The Tall Man
1960
as Paul Mason
Hell Bent for Leather
1960
as Ambrose
The Detectives
1959
as 'Big Jim'
The Untouchables
1959
as Mayer Wartel
The Untouchables
1959
as Barney Loomis
The Untouchables
1959
as Mayor Anton J. Cermak
Career
1959
as Robert Kensington
Adventures in Paradise
1959
as Howard Bailey
The Rebel
1959
as Arthur Sutro
Wichita Town
1959
Bonanza
1959
as Sam Bryant
Bonanza
1959
as C.J. Shasta
Bonanza
1959
as Grizzly Martingale
Don't Give Up the Ship
1959
as Vice Adm. Philo Tecumseh Bludde
Rawhide
1959
as Josh Green
Rawhide
1959
as Matt Harger
Rawhide
1959
as Judge John Jefferson Hogan
Rawhide
1959
as Duke Aberdeen
Bat Masterson
1958
as Big Keel Roberts
No Place to Land
1958
as Buck LaVonne
Bitter Heritage
1958
as Luke Crocker
The Law and Jake Wade
1958
as Ortero
Nightmare at Ground Zero
1958
as Narrator
Day of the Badman
1958
as Charlie Hayes
The Tarnished Angels
1957
as Matt Ord
The Walter Winchell File
1957
as Aaron Benjamin
Perry Mason
1957
as Judge Daniel Redmond
The Death of Manolete
1957
as Perea
The Lonely Man
1957
as Ben Ryerson
Friendly Persuasion
1956
as Sam Jordan
Love Me Tender
1956
as Mr. Siringo
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
as Whitney 'Whit' Gaynor
The Proud Ones
1956
as Honest John Barrett
Telephone Time
1956
Red Sundown
1956
as Rufus Henshaw
The Court Jester
1955
as Sir Griswold
Matinee Theater
1955
Trial
1955
as A.A. "Fats" Sanders
The Desperate Hours
1955
as Sam Kobish
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Sam Klinker
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Louis Koster
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Cato Stone
Gunsmoke
1955
as Jake Worth
Gunsmoke
1955
as Dutch George
Gunsmoke
1955
as Dorf
The Big Combo
1955
as Police Capt. Peterson
The Silver Chalice
1954
as Idbash
The Wonderful World of Disney
1954
as Frank Davis
The Wonderful World of Disney
1954
as Dutch Mac
Climax!
1954
as Sheriff
Studio 57
1954
as Maggio
Letter to Loretta
1953
as Henry Tremaine
Something For An Empty Briefcase
1953
as Sloane
General Electric Theater
1953
as Lt. Toler
General Electric Theater
1953
as Innkeeper
Cavalcade of America
1952
as William Harper
Duck and Cover
1952
as Narrator
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
as Sheriff Ed Mullen
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
Tales of Tomorrow
1951
as Dr. John Borrow
Lux Video Theatre
1950
as Titus Semple
Man Against Crime
1949
as Joseph Merko
Suspense
1949
as Bill West