Robert Hudson Walker (
October 13 1918 – August 28 1951) was an
American actor.
Born in
Salt Lake City, Utah, to Zella (McQuarrie) and Horace Walker, he was the youngest of four sons. He developed an interest in acting which led to his maternal aunt
Hortense (McQuarrie) Odlum (the president of
Bonwit Teller) to offer to pay for his enrollment at the
American Academy of Dramatic Arts in
New York City in 1937.
It was at the academy that Walker met fellow aspiring actress Phyllis Isley (better known as
Jennifer Jones). After a brief courtship the two were married on
January 2 1939 and moved to
Hollywood to find work in films. Their prospects proved to be meager however and they soon returned to New York where Walker found work in
radio and Phyllis gave birth to two sons in quick succession, actor
Robert Walker, Jr., born
April 15 1940, and
Michael Walker, born
March 13 1941. Phyllis then returned to auditioning where her luck changed when she was discovered by producer
David O. Selznick who changed her name to
Jennifer Jones and groomed her for stardom. During their initial meetings Selznick was highly attracted to Jones and they quietly began an affair. She eventually landed the plum role of
Bernadette Soubirous in the
Twentieth Century Fox production
The Song of Bernadette (1943). Many speculate that her film success was the result of her affair with Selznick who managed every aspect of her life and furthered her career.
The couple returned to Hollywood and Selznick's connections helped Walker secure a contract with
MGM where he started work on the war drama
Bataan (1943). Walker's charming demeanor and boyish good looks caught on with audiences and he worked steadily playing "boy-next-door" roles in films such as
See Here, Private Hargrove (1944) and
Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945). He also appeared in Selznick's
Since You Went Away (1944) in which he and his wife gave poignant performances as doomed young lovers. By that time Walker had found out about her affair with Selznick and the filming of loves scenes was torturous for the actor; Selznick was especially cruel by having him perform take after take of each love scene with Jones.
Walker and Jones were divorced after the end of filming and although he continued to work steadily in Hollywood, he was distraught by the divorce and prone to drinking and emotional outbursts. In 1946 he starred in
'Till the Clouds Roll By, where he played the lead as the song writer
Jerome Kern in a role that required him to age from a young man to an old man. Walker starred as composer
Johannes Brahms in
Song of Love (1947), which co-starred
Katharine Hepburn and
Paul Henreid.
He subsequently suffered a nervous breakdown and spent time at the
Menninger Clinic in 1949. Following his release from the Menninger Clinic, Walker was hired by director
Alfred Hitchcock for
Strangers on a Train (1951). His performance as the evil yet oddly sympathetic Bruno Anthony was highly lauded and considered to be his finest role. His emotional problems largely behind him, and his career in an upswing following his latest acclaimed performance, he spent a lot of time with his sons, and was considering the possibility of remarrying. (He had married Barbara Ford the daughter of director
John Ford in 1948 but the marriage was annulled six weeks later).
While filming
My Son John in 1951, Walker died suddenly after being administered an injection of
sodium amytal under cloudy circumstances by two psychiatrists who had appeared at his home. Unused footage from
Strangers on a Train in addition to a body double were used to complete
My Son John. Walker was 32 years old and was buried at
Washington Heights Memorial Park in
Ogden, Utah.
The circumstances surrounding Walker's death have never been fully explained. Conflicting stories surfaced from those who were present the night he died.
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