Robert Young

Actor. In a career that lasted over fifty years, Robert Young performed on stage, screen, and radio, appearing in some 100 movies before making a successful transition to television. He was born in Chicago, coming west when his family relocated to Los Angeles at age seven. Introduced to acting while attending Abraham Lincoln High School, he then pursued an acting career after graduation by enrolling at the Pasadena Playhouse. Sharpening his acting abilities while touring with a stock company in their production, "The Ship," a talent scout saw him, resulting in a screen test and a debut in "The Black Camel," an early Charlie Chan Mystery. Signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), he received a major career boost in "The Sin of Madelon Claudet" opposite stage star Helen Hayes. He found work in England appearing in the Alfred Hitchcock movie, "Secret Agent," then starring in "It's Love Again," two elaborate productions. A few of his many films: "Remember Last Night," "The Canterville Ghost," "Secret Agent," "The Enchanted Cottage," "They Won't Believe Me" (his best), and "Crossfire." His older brother was Roger Moore (Joe Young). Roger was active as a mainstay character actor who appeared in hundreds of uncredited roles in films. In 1949, disenchanted with his secondary status in his movie career, Young ventured into radio, starring in a family comedy, "Father Knows Best," which ran for five years, then became a television series enjoying a five-year run. The program won numerous awards. Young was Emmy-nominated four times, winning twice. In 1960, the program had casting difficulties and was canceled. He disappeared from Hollywood during most of the 1960s, reappearing in 1969 in a pilot film, "Marcus Welby, M.D.," which became a hit television series for the next seven years, presenting him with his third Emmy for his portrayal of the doctor. With the demise of the program, Young appeared in a couple of Marcus Welby TV movies and then won acclaim in a television film dealing with Alzheimer's disease and euthanasia. The aging actor, unable to obtain movie or television roles, involuntarily retired. Robert Young died in his Westlake Village, California home at the age of 91 of respiratory failure. A private funeral service was held at Forest Lawn Glendale, attended by only his family and close invited friends. He was interred beside his wife Betty, whom he met while both were students at Lincoln High and who had died four years previously, ending their marriage of sixty years.