Rod Taylor (1930-2015)

Rod Taylor was an Australian film, radio and television actor who appeared in more than 50 feature films during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. His best remembered role is of Mitch Brenner in Hitchcock's 'The Birds' in 1963 and he appeared opposite Jane Fonda in 'Sunday in New York' in 1963 and in the title role in John Ford's biopic of Irish playwright Sean O'Casey in 'Young Cassidy' in 1965.

Biography

He was born Rodney Sturt Taylor in Lidcombe, New South Wales, Australia on 11 January 1930. His father had a steel construction business and his mother was a prolific children's author. His middle name comes from his great-great-granduncle, Captain Charles Sturt, a British explorer of the Australian outback in the 19th century.

After attending Parramatta High School he studied at the East Sydney Technical and Fine Arts College, planning to become an artist. When he left the Tech he worked for a time as a commercial artist, but he decided on a career as an actor after seeing Laurence Olivier as Richard III on an Old Vic tour.

Early Career

Before his acting career took off Rod worked in Sydney at the Mark Foy's department store, designing and creating window displays.

His early professional acting experience was on radio where his work included playing Tarzan in an Australian children's radio serial in the early 1950s. He also took part in the historic run of Blue Hills, the long running daytime soap. His profile was raised when he played Douiglas Bader in the 1954 serial 'Reach for the Sky', one of the most acclaimed Australian radio dramas of the 1950s. He also appeared ion stage n a number of productions for Australia's Mercury Theatre.

Early Movie Career

In 1951, Taylor took part in a re-enactment of the voyage of his ancestor, Charles Sturt, along the Murrumbidgee and Murray Rivers. In the same year, a short documentary, 'Inland with Sturt', was based on it.

Taylor had to wait until 1954 to make his feature film debut in the Australian movie 'King of the Coral Sea'. Later in that year he played in a Hollywood-financed film shot in Sydney, 'Long John Silver'. Following these successes, Hollywood came calling. Rod was about to step up into the big league.

Hollywood Career

In 1955 Rod came to the notice of MGM after unsuccessfully testing for the Graziano role in 'Somebody Up There Likes Me '(Paul Newman was eventually chosen after the death of James Dean.)The studio gave Rod a long-term contract and he played a number of supporting roles in movies such as 'The Catered Affair' in 1956 and 'Raintree County' the following year.

He became a familiar and trusted Hollywood player and appeared in a number of significant movies such as 'Separate Tables' in 1958, and 'One Hundred and One Dalmatians' in 1961 and Hitchcock's 'The Birds' in 1963 and he continued to appear in quality television programmes such as 'The Twilight Zone'.

His successes continued during the early 1960s. He played his first leading role in 1960 in 'The Time Machine' and the roles in quality movies continued to be offered, with 'The VIPs' in 1963 'Fate Is the Hunter' (for 20th Century Fox), in 1964, 'Young Cassidy' and 'The Liquidator' the following year and 'The Glass Bottom Boat' with Doris Day in 1966.

From the middle of the decade the quality of the movies he was offered began to decline. He moved to more physical roles as in 'Chuka' and 'Hotel' in 1967, ' Nobody Runs Forever' in 1968 and 'Darker than Amber' in 1970.

Later Career

In 1973, Taylor appeared in a box-office success, 'The Train Robbers' with John Wayne and Ann-Margret, but it was the start of a period of career decline for him. Thereafter his movies were disappointing and he never reached the heights his talent had hinted at. He returned to Australia in 1977 to appear in 'The Picture Show Man'.

He continued to appear in television series such as 'Bearcats!' in 1971 and 'The Oregon Trail' in 1975 and he had regular roles in two short-lived spy series, 'Masquerade in 1983 and 'Outlaws' in 1986. As his career wound down in the 1990s he appeared in a number of episodes of 'Murder, She Wrote' and 'Walker, Texas Ranger'.

In 1997 he played a redneck in 'Welcome to Woop Woop' and his final film appearance was a cameo as Sir Winston Churchill in Tarantino's 'Inglourious Basterds' in 2009.

Personal

For the first part of his career, Rod was rated as one of the most handsome men in Holywood, although his features coarsened later in life due to his heavy drinking. His name was linked to numerous Hollywood starlets and at one time he was engaged to Anita Ekberg.

He was married three times, firstly to Peggy Williams for 2 years from 1952, then to Mary Beth Hilem from 1963 to 1969 with whom he had one daughter. In 1980 he married for a third time to Carol Kikumura. The marriage ended with his death.

Rod Taylor died from a fall and a heart attack on 7 January 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. He was 84 years old. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

Rod Taylor Academy Awards

No Nominations

Rod Taylor Filmography