Robert Fuller
Birthday: 29 July 1933, Troy, New York, USA
Birth Name: Leonard Leroy Lee Jr.
Height: 180 cm
Robert Fuller was born in Troy, New York on 29th July 1933 at 1.50pm and was raised in Key West, Florida. He was an only child and his birth name was Leonard Leroy Lee, but he was nicknamed Buddy Lee ...Show More
[When Jack Webb talked him into starring in Emergency! (1972)]: I enjoyed doing Westerns, but it was Show more
[When Jack Webb talked him into starring in Emergency! (1972)]: I enjoyed doing Westerns, but it was (producer) Jack Webb who said, 'You can play a doctor,' and gave me that great series. Hide
I was raised in Miami and Key West. I'm a Conch. I went to Miami Military academy, and lived in Key Show more
I was raised in Miami and Key West. I'm a Conch. I went to Miami Military academy, and lived in Key West from '45 to '50. At that time, the Navy had four bases there, a sub base and three other bases. Hardly any tourists. But the fishing! There were 15 foot sharks like you wouldn't believe, and what they called Pink Gold - five and six inch shrimp. Hide
[When Jack Webb strongly insisted that he star on Emergency! (1972)]: The Hard Ride (1971) was a ver Show more
[When Jack Webb strongly insisted that he star on Emergency! (1972)]: The Hard Ride (1971) was a very good motorcycle movie. It got great reviews. It was a different type of movie. I played an ex-Marine coming back from Vietnam that was going to get a motorcycle back to a dead friend's relative. I can't remember how it went, but I know it worked pretty good. Paul Donnelly, who was executive in charge of production at Universal Studios all the years that I was doing Laramie (1959), Wagon Train (1957) and Emergency! (1972), he was a dear, dear friend of mine. He happened to see that movie about two days after Jack Webb had decided he was going to do the series called "Emergency!". He went to Jack and he said, "You ought to run this movie because if you're looking for your lead doctor, Dr. Brackett, then you should look at Robert Fuller in this movie". Jack went over to the projection room, looked at the first five minutes of the movie and said, "That's him. Hire him; I want him. Nobody else but him". And that's how I got "Emergency!". Hide
[When asked if he had guest-starred on an episode of The High Chaparral (1967)]: No. In fact I did a Show more
[When asked if he had guest-starred on an episode of The High Chaparral (1967)]: No. In fact I did a movie called What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969) in Tucson, while they were shooting The High Chaparral (1967). I wasn't that far away from the guys. We'd all get together at the local watering hole and shoot the breeze over drinks. If I wasn't working, I'd go over to the set and visit them, or they'd come over where I was working with big time producer-director Robert Aldrich [e.g. The Dirty Dozen], who had his own film production studio. Hide
I've got a big plaque up on the wall next to Gary Cooper and John Wayne and all the big guys. Next t Show more
I've got a big plaque up on the wall next to Gary Cooper and John Wayne and all the big guys. Next to all the great Western performers. Hide
I'd been in the business (show business) 52 years -- the ordinary man doesn't work that long.
I'd been in the business (show business) 52 years -- the ordinary man doesn't work that long.
[If he bore a slight resemblance to Robert Horton, who coincidentally shares the same birthday with Show more
[If he bore a slight resemblance to Robert Horton, who coincidentally shares the same birthday with him] No, that was way down the line. I wasn't under contract through the studio, and all those other people were. They immediately wanted to me to go into another Western, and they figured because of the popularity of Laramie (1959) and my popularity in Japan and Germany, that it would boost that up a little bit. And that was fine by me. I was more than happy to join that cast. They were all friends of mine, anyway. You know, John McIntire was there; I adored him and worked with him quite often. He had done a couple of "Laramie" episodes with me. I had known Denny Miller when he was doing "Tarzan". Frank McGrath and Terry Wilson were good buddies of mine for years. And I was thrilled. Hide
[Of Julie London]: She should've been a sailor. I'm telling you, I loved Julie. I've known Julie for Show more
[Of Julie London]: She should've been a sailor. I'm telling you, I loved Julie. I've known Julie for years; and one of the things that made me happy about doing Emergency! (1972), was working with Julie and Bobby; because they were friends of mine. I've known them for years, before that, Julie did Laramie (1959) with me; and I loved her. I loved her singing and I loved his plane. But to Julie, to get away with anything and when it came out of her mouth; it sounded like candy and we loved it, she was wild. Hide
Well, it came about because of Laramie (1959). "Laramie" was the number-one television show in Japan Show more
Well, it came about because of Laramie (1959). "Laramie" was the number-one television show in Japan and Germany. I made several trips to both of those countries. My character, Jess Harper, was so big in Japan . . . well, "Laramie" was the number-one television show for, like, five years in Japan; the number-one show. They liked the character of Jess Harper because it reminded them of a Samurai warrior. Always helping the underdog like the Samurai did in those days, and so they liked that character. I had marvelous times over there. I won the best actor award over there in Japan, over all Japanese actors in 1961. And helped raise $100,000 for the Japanese Red Cross for underprivileged children and was given the highest award ever given to an American by the emperor called the Golden Order of Merit. I got to have a viewing with the emperor and empress of Japan and had lunch at the prime minister's home. It was unbelievable; I had such a fabulous time over there. Hide
[Who talked about the home of other Western stars of his era]: Oh, it was incredible. I think it too Show more
[Who talked about the home of other Western stars of his era]: Oh, it was incredible. I think it took us about ten days or so to shoot that whole scene, and we just had a great time; all of those old cowboys getting together. And then, of course, Mel was fabulous, and so was Jimmy Coburn. I had known Jimmy for years; he guested on Laramie (1959) with me. And then Jim Garner, of course, was always a sweetheart. So we had fun on that set. Hide
[Of Marilyn Monroe]: She was such a sweetheart and really just a child. She was actually very nervou Show more
[Of Marilyn Monroe]: She was such a sweetheart and really just a child. She was actually very nervous, but great with all the dancers. I know some directors found her hard to work with, but she was fun with us. We rehearsed that number for three weeks and it took a week to shoot. Hide
[on joining the cast for the last two seasons of Wagon Train (1957)]: It didn't have anything to do Show more
[on joining the cast for the last two seasons of Wagon Train (1957)]: It didn't have anything to do with Robert Horton. He had been away from that series for two years already. Denny Miller replaced him. Hide
I was assistant manager of Grauman's Chinese Theater. I started out there as the doorman wearing a C Show more
I was assistant manager of Grauman's Chinese Theater. I started out there as the doorman wearing a Chinese outfit. I was there maybe six months when the assistant manager left and they gave me the job. I was 17 years old. I wore a suit and tie in the daytime and a tuxedo at night. I was in charge of all the usherettes. We had 20 usherettes on staff in 1951. It was a great job. I had a good time. Hide
[on his on- and off-screen chemistry with Emergency! (1972) co-stars Julie London and Bobby Troup, w Show more
[on his on- and off-screen chemistry with Emergency! (1972) co-stars Julie London and Bobby Troup, who played Nurse Dixie "Dix" McCall, RN & Dr. Joe Early, MD, respectively]: Oh, it was great. I loved working with the two of them, and I loved . . . I had known Julie and Bobby for a long, long time, and we just got along great. I tell you what, it was a lot of fun to go to work every morning while we were shooting it. Hide
Well, all the years that I did Laramie (1959) and Wagon Train (1957), Tony Curtis' dressing room was Show more
Well, all the years that I did Laramie (1959) and Wagon Train (1957), Tony Curtis' dressing room was directly across from mine. His and Rock Hudson's. My dressing room .. . you know, I did all three series at Universal Studios: "Laramie", "Wagon Train" and Emergency! (1972), I guess that was fifteen or sixteen years or something like that. But the row of dressing rooms that I was on was called Whiskey Row. And the reason it was called Whiskey Row was because the first dressing room was Ward Bond, the second dressing room was Frank McGrath, the third was Terry Wilson, the fourth was John Smith, the fifth was me and the sixth was Lee Marvin. And we all partied after lunch, so they called it Whiskey Row. Now, in the same amount of space directly across from us were only two dressing rooms and they were bungalows; they were fabulous. Ours were great; I mean, we had dressing room, living room, makeup, kitchen, and all that, but these guys were like a condominium, practically. Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson right across from us for all those years. Hide
[If he had been offered anything else after 2004]: I would not consider anything. I've had three Wes Show more
[If he had been offered anything else after 2004]: I would not consider anything. I've had three Western offers, and none of them could match what I wanna do. I would only do a commercial if I believed in the product. I was the national spokesman for Teledyne Water Pik for six years, the national spokesman for Budweiser Malt Liquor, and the national spokesman for Little Friskies cat food. I've done good stuff, and I have no reason to work anymore. I'm very well off as far as I'm concerned. Truthfully, the only thing that would get me back to work is if there was an incredible Western script starring Robert Duvall with a great part. I'd walk to Hollywood to do it with him. Hide
[Who said about his friendship with Julie London, who played Nurse Dixie McCall]: She made it worthw Show more
[Who said about his friendship with Julie London, who played Nurse Dixie McCall]: She made it worthwhile, going into the set every day. Hide
[If he was still working, before retirement, prior to attending festivals]: Oh, I was still working. Show more
[If he was still working, before retirement, prior to attending festivals]: Oh, I was still working. I retired from acting in 2004, when my wife and I, actress Jennifer Savidge [of St. Elsewhere (1982) and JAG (1995) television series fame], moved to Texas and got a ranch. I probably started doing these festivals in the middle to late 1990s. The very first one that I attended was the Hollywood Collectors Show, and then I started getting invited to some of the big ones that are all over the country.I participated at five festivals in 2015. I just happened to get trapped into five. Three I really enjoyed doing. Jennifer and I spend time together at our ranch, I grow hay for our horses, I like to do a lot of fishing, so that's enough traveling and whatever. Hide
Robert Fuller's FILMOGRAPHY
as Actor (169)
Robert Fuller'S roles
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