Robert Carson (actor)

Robert Samuel Carson (June 8, 1909 – June 8, 1979)[1] was an American actor noted for dozens of supporting roles in films and television series during a career that spanned decades.

Early years

He was born in Hennepin County, Minnesota[1] to Elmer Llewellyn Carson and Elsa W. Carson (née Brunke). He was the older brother of actor Jack Carson (1910 - 1963); they grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[2] Robert was active as a singer and musician while he was a student at the University of Minnesota.[3]

Noted appearances

Carson played the ringmaster in The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) with Charlton Heston.

Carson was cast in five episodes of the religion anthology series, Crossroads: as a police lieutenant in "The Unholy Trio" (1955) and in "The Two-Fisted Saint" and "False Prophet" (both 1956), as a coach in "The Comeback" (1956), and as Senator Crocker in "In God We Trust" (1957).

In 1957, he played Kittredge the card dealer in the third segment of the ABC/Warner Brothers western television series, Maverick, in the episode entitled "According to Hoyle", opposite James Garner. Between 1957-1962 he appeared in five episodes of Perry Mason. Among his roles he played the Prison Warden in the 1960 episode, "The Case of the Wandering Widow," and Commodore Galen Holmes in the 1962 episode, "The Case of the Weary Watchdog."

His list of other television credits include a 1955 episode of The Lone Ranger; The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show; Cheyenne; Green Acres; Make Room for Daddy; M Squad with Lee Marvin; Riverboat with Darren McGavin; Bourbon Street Beat with Andrew Duggan; 77 Sunset Strip; Bonanza; Bronco with Ty Hardin; The Deputy with Henry Fonda and Allen Case; Checkmate with Doug McClure and Sebastian Cabot; nine episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and two of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour; The Andy Griffith Show; Thriller; Hawaiian Eye; Mister Ed; The Beverly Hillbillies; My Three Sons; Petticoat Junction; Hawaii Five-O; Here's Lucy with Lucille Ball; and The High Chaparral, among many others.

Civic involvement

For more than a decade, Carson was active as a speaker for the American Cancer Society. His efforts were prompted by the death of his first wife Anna Kutner Carson (1909–1956)[1] from uterine cancer and his brother's death from lung cancer.[3]

Death

Carson died at the age of sixty-nine in Atascadero in San Luis Obispo County, California. He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.[1]

Selected filmography
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References
  1. Robert Samuel Carson at Find a Grave
  2. "An Act of Faith". Springfield Leader and Press. Missouri, Springfield. March 13, 1966. p. 30. Retrieved May 7, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Robert Carson, TV-Movie Actor, Cancer Speaker at LH". The Express. Pennsylvania, Lock Haven. April 2, 1968. p. 2. Retrieved May 8, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
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