Robert Lowery (born Robert Lowery Hanks, October 17, 1913 – December 26, 1971) was an American

motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

, and stage

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...

who appeared in more than 70 films.

Early life

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Lowery grew up on Wayne Avenue near the long-demolished Electric Park. Lowery's father was a local attorney and oil investor who worked several years for the Pullman Corporation as a railroad agent; his mother, Leah Thompson Hanks, was a concert

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, j ...

. Syndicated newspaper columnist

Harrison Carroll Harrison Carroll (23 June 1901 – 1972) was a Hollywood gossip columnist who worked at the ''Los Angeles Herald-Express,'' and whom John Wayne credited with being not only a mentor to him but helping him come up with a moniker to replace his birt ...

reported that Lowery was "a direct descendant of Nancy Hanks" (Lincoln). He graduated from Paseo High School in Kansas City, and soon was invited to sing with the Slats Randall Orchestra in the early 1930s. Lowery played on the Kansas City Blues minor league baseball team and was overall considered a versatile athlete; his physique and strength were gained from a stint working in a paper factory as a teenager. After the death of his father in 1935, he traveled to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

with his mother and their housekeeper, and enrolled in the Lila Bliss acting school before being signed by

Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disne ...

in 1937.

Career

Maureen O'Hara-Robert Lowery in McLintock!

Lowery debuted in motion pictures in '' Come and Get It'' (1936). During his career, Lowery was primarily known for roles in action films such as '' The Mark of Zorro'' (1940), '' The Mummy's Ghost'' (1944), and '' Dangerous Passage'' (1944). He became the second actor to play

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...

(succeeding Lewis Wilson), starring in a 1949's ''

Batman and Robin Batman and Robin are a superhero duo appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman and Robin may also refer to: Comics and literature * ''Batman and Robin'' (comic strip), a newspaper comic strip, started in 1943 *''All Star Ba ...

'' serial. Lowery also had roles in a number of

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

films, including ''The Homesteaders'' (1953), ''The Parson and the Outlaw'' (1957), playing Gangster-mastermind

Arnold Rothstein Arnold Rothstein (January 17, 1882 – November 4, 1928), nicknamed "The Brain", was an American racketeer, crime boss, businessman, and gambler in New York City. Rothstein was widely reputed to have organized corruption in professional athleti ...

in '' The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond'' (1960), ''Young Guns of Texas'' (1962), and ''Johnny Reno'' (1966). He was also a stage actor and appeared in '' Born Yesterday'', '' The Caine Mutiny'', and in several other productions. On television, Lowery was best known for the role of Big Tim Champion on the series ''

Circus Boy ''Circus Boy'' was an American adventure family western that aired in prime time on NBC, and then on ABC, from 1956 to 1957. It was then rerun by NBC on Saturday mornings, from 1958 to 1960. Summary Set in the late 1890s, the title of the series ...

'' (1956–1957). In 1956, he guest starred in "The Deadly Rock," an episode of '' The Adventures of Superman'' (which was the first time a Batman actor shared screen time with a Superman actor, although Lowery and Reeves had appeared together in their presuperhero days in the 1942 World War II anti-VD propaganda film, '' Sex Hygiene.'') Lowery also had guest roles on '' Perry Mason'', featured as murder victim Amos Bryant in "The Case of the Roving River" and as Andrew Collis in "The Case of the Provocative Protégé", '' Playhouse 90'' ("The Helen Morgan Story"), ''

Hazel The hazel (''Corylus'') is a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K. (1999 ...

'', '' Cowboy G-Men'', as Foxy Smith on '' Maverick'' in the 1959 episode "

Full House ''Full House'' is an American television sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for ABC. The show is about widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and childhood best friend Joey Gladstone to help raise his thr ...

" starring

James Garner James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including '' The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Chayefsky's ''The Ameri ...

with Joel Grey as

Billy the Kid Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at t ...

, '' Tales of Wells Fargo'', '' Rawhide'', ''

77 Sunset Strip ''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American television private detective drama series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith, Richard Long (from 1960 to 1961) and Edd Byrnes (billed as Edward Byrnes). Each episode was on ...

'', ''

Hawaiian Eye ''Hawaiian Eye'' is an American detective television series that ran from October 1959 to April 1963 on the ABC television network. Premise Private investigator Tracy Steele (Anthony Eisley) and his half-Hawaiian partner, Tom Lopaka (Robert Con ...

'', and '' Pistols 'n' Petticoats''. He made his last on-screen appearance in the 1967 comedy/Western film '' The Ballad of Josie'', opposite

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...

and Peter Graves.

Personal life and death

He was married three times, to three actresses. Jean Parker and he had a son, Robert Lowery Hanks II, in 1952. His other wives were Vivan Wilcox and Barbara "Rusty" Farrell, whom he married on March 21, 1947 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Although a divorce action was filed in his last marriage to Parker, it was never finalized. Lowery died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

at the age of 58 in his

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

apartment on December 26, 1971.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Robert Lowery and Jean Parker in ''The Navy Way'' from YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowery, Robert 1913 births 1971 deaths Male actors from Kansas City, Missouri American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors Burials at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery Male Western (genre) film actors 20th-century American male actors