Ronald Norman Soble, also known and credited as Ron Soble, (March 28, 1928 – May 2, 2002) was an American actor in films and television for forty-five years.

Early years

The son of Aaron Soble and Dorothy Turk, Soble was born and raised in Chicago, where he was Golden Gloves boxing champ in 1944 and played football for the University of Michigan. From 1946 to 1948 he served in the United States Army Airborne. At the 1952 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, he became a U.S. national champion in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. Soble studied acting at the University of Michigan, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree. He underwent further study in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and performed in classical plays, including those of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Career

Soble screen debut was in 1958. He appeared in the films '' I Mobster'', ''

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American organized crime, gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-foun ...

'', '' Walk Tall'', ''

Gun Fight ''Gun Fight'', known as in Japan and Europe, is a 1975 multidirectional shooter arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released by Taito in Japan and Europe and by Midway in North America. Based around two Old West cowboys ar ...

'', '' Navajo Run'', ''

The Cincinnati Kid ''The Cincinnati Kid'' is a 1965 American drama film directed by Norman Jewison. It tells the story of Eric "The Kid" Stoner, a young Depression-era poker player, as he seeks to establish his reputation as the best. This quest leads him to chal ...

'', '' True Grit'', '' Chisum'', '' Joe Kidd'', '' Papillon'', '' When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?'', '' The Beast Within'' and '' Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills'', among others. His television debut came in 1961. Soble had a recurring role on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

Western series '' The Monroes''. He played a Native American character called Dirty Jim. Other television appearances include series such as ''

The Aquanauts ''The Aquanauts'' (later known as ''Malibu Run'') is an American adventure/ drama series that aired on CBS September 14, 1960 - February 22, 1961 (or September 14, 1960 - September 27, 1961). The series stars Keith Larsen, Jeremy Slate and Ro ...

'', ''

Baretta ''Baretta'' is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a revised and milder version of a 1973–1974 ABC series, '' Toma'', starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police ...

'', ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...

'', ''

Bronco A bucking horse is any breed of horse, male or female, with a propensity to buck. They have been, and still are, referred to by various names, including bronco, broncho, and roughstock. The harder they buck, the more desirable they are for ro ...

'', ''

Cain's Hundred ''Cain's Hundred'' is an American crime drama series that aired on NBC from 1961 to 1962. The series was produced by Vanadas Productions, Inc. in association with MGM Television. Synopsis ''Cain's Hundred'' follows the life of Nicholas Cain (Pet ...

'', ''

Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts for ABC. It originally aired from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, airing for five seasons consisting of 115 episodes. It was produ ...

'', ''

CHiPs ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. After the final first-run telecast on NBC in May 1983, the series went into reruns on Sundays fr ...

'', ''

Combat! ''Combat!'' is an American television drama that originally aired on ABC from 1962 until 1967. The exclamation point in ''Combat!'' was depicted on-screen as a stylized bayonet. The show covered the grim lives of a squad of American soldiers ...

'', ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American Western (genre), Western anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was ...

'', ''

The Deputy ''The Deputy, a Christian tragedy'' (German language, German: ''Der Stellvertreter. Ein christliches Trauerspiel''), also published in English as ''The Representative'', is a controversial 1963 play by Rolf Hochhuth which portrayed Pope Pius XII ...

'', ''

Fantasy Island ''Fantasy Island'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Gene Levitt. It aired on ABC from 1977 to 1984. The series starred Ricardo Montalbán as the mysterious Mr. Roarke and Hervé Villechaize as his assistant, Tattoo. ...

'', ''

Gunslinger Gunfighters, also called gunslingers () or in the late 19th and early 20th century gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in shootouts. Today, the term "gunslin ...

'', ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

'', ''

Harry O ''Harry O'', sometimes spelled ''Harry-O'', is an American private detective series that aired for two seasons on ABC from 1974 to 1976. The series starred David Janssen, and Jerry Thorpe was executive producer. ''Harry O'' followed the broad ...

'', ''

Have Gun Will Travel Have or having may refer to: * the concept of ownership * any concept of ''possession'' * the English verb "to " is used: ** to express possession linguistically, in a broad sense ** as an auxiliary verb ** in constructions such as ''have somet ...

'', '' The Islanders'', ''

Knight Rider ''Knight Rider'' is an American media franchise, entertainment franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The core of ''Knight Rider'' is its three-television series: the original ''Knight Rider (1982 TV series), Knight Rider'' (1982–1986) and sequ ...

'', '' Lawman'', '' Markham'', ''

The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo ''The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo'' is an American action comedy television series that ran on NBC from September 18, 1979, to May 5, 1981. For its second season the show was renamed ''Lobo''. The program aired Tuesday nights, at 8:00p.m. East ...

'', '' Mission: Impossible'', ''

Not for Hire Not or NOT may also refer to: Language * Not, the general declarative form of "no", indicating a negation of a related statement that usually precedes * ... Not!, a grammatical construction used as a contradiction, popularized in the early 1990 ...

'', ''

Planet of the Apes ''Planet of the Apes'' is a science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic world in which humans and intelligent apes c ...

'', ''

Rawhide Rawhide may refer to: *Rawhide (material), a hide or animal skin that has not been tanned * Whip made from rawhide Entertainment * ''Rawhide'' (1926 film), a Western directed by Richard Thorpe * ''Rawhide'' (1938 film), a Western starring baseball ...

'', '' The Rebel'', ''

The Rockford Files ''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner, aired on NBC from September 13, 1974, to January 10, 1980. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investigator Jim Rockford, with Noah Beery Jr. in th ...

'', ''

Sara Sara may refer to: People * Sara (given name), a feminine given name People with the given name * Sara Aboobacker (1936–2023), Indian writer and translator * Sara Ahmed (born 1969), British-Australian writer * Sara Allgood (1880–1950), Ir ...

'', '' Shazam!'', ''

Shotgun Slade ''Shotgun Slade'' is an American western mystery television series starring Scott Brady that aired seventy-eight episodes in syndication from 1959 to 1961 Created by Frank Gruber, the stories were written by John Berardino, Charissa Hughes, ...

'', ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'', ''

The Streets of San Francisco ''The Streets of San Francisco'' is an American television crime drama filmed on location in San Francisco and produced by Quinn Martin, with the first season produced in association with Warner Bros. Television (QM produced the show on its ow ...

'', ''

Tales of Wells Fargo ''Tales of Wells Fargo'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series starring Dale Robertson in 201 episodes that aired from 1957 to 1962 on NBC. Produced by Revue Productions, the series aired in a half-hour format until i ...

'', '' The Tall Man'', '' The Texan'', ''

Tightrope! ''Tightrope!'' is an American crime drama series that aired on CBS from September 1959 to September 1960, under the alternating sponsorship of the J. B. Williams Company ( Aqua Velva, Lectric Shave, etc.), and American Tobacco ( Pall Mall). Pr ...

'', ''

Two Faces West ''Two Faces West'' is an American syndicated Western television series set in the Wild West running from October 1960 to July 1961 for a total of 39 half-hour episodes (one per week on a continuous run). It was produced by Donald Gold and Jon ...

'', '' The Virginian'', and ''

Wagon Train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western television series that aired for eight seasons, first on the NBC television network (1957–1962) and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and reached the top of the ...

'', among others.

Personal life

Soble was wed to Elynor in 1952 for 49 years until his death. The couple had two daughters. Off screen, Soble was active with, and served on the Board for, the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

. Among other awards, he received the Ralph Morgan Award for Distinguished Service to the Hollywood Branch in 1998, and in 2002 received a Golden Boot award.

Death

He died of lung and brain cancer on May 2, 2002, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

at age 74.

Filmography

A partial filmography follows.

Film

* '' I Mobster'' (1959) as Al Henchman * ''

'' (1959) as John Scalisi * '' Raintree County'' (1957) as Rebel Soldier (uncredited) * '' Walk Tall'' (1960) as Leach * ''

'' (1961) as Pawnee * '' Navajo Run'' (1964) as Jesse Grog * ''

'' (1965) as Danny * '' True Grit'' (1969) as Capt. Boots Finch * '' Chisum'' (1970) as Charley Bowdre * '' Macho Callahan'' (1970) as Cowboy #2 * '' Joe Kidd'' (1972) as Ramon * '' Papillon'' (1973) as Santini * '' When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?'' (1979) as Sheriff Garcia * '' The Beast Within'' (1982) as Tom Laws * '' Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills'' (1996) as Pablo Picasso * '' Street Corner Justice'' (1996) as Chief McTighe * '' Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo'' (1999) as Judge (uncredited, final film role)

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soble, Ron 1932 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American television actors American male long jumpers USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners