Robert Benchley (1889 - 1945)

Humorist. Author. Born Robert Charles Benchley in Worcester, Massachusetts. Very little is known about his childhood as he never related anything but humorous tales about it rather than realities. In 1898, however, his idolized older brother, Edmund, was killed in the Spanish-American War. Robert Benchley attended South High School from 1904 until 1907, when his […]

Robert Bentley (1970 - 1910)

Murder Victim. London City policeman who, with his colleague Charles Tucker, was ‘killed in the execution of their duty while endeavouring to apprehend a number of armed burglars in Exchange Buildings, Cutler St.’ The burglars were actually Russian anarchists who later held a shoot-out at the ‘Siege of Sidney Street’ in 1911. (bio by: David […]

Robert Berdella (1949 - 1992)

Robert Berdella was apprehended on April 2, 1988. By that time, he had abducted and tortured at least six young men, and the Kansas City Police Department suspected him in two other disappearances. Berdella had detailed torture logs and large numbers of Polaroid pictures he had taken of his victims. Volumes of pictures were recovered […]

Robert Bice (1914 - 1968)

Actor. Born Robert Lee Bice, his career spanned three decades between 1943 and 1967, in which he appeared in almost 100 films and over 90 television programs during this period. A wavy-haired supporting actor, who, after playing mostly nameless roles as ranch hands, henchmen and detectives in films, found himself much in demand for meatier […]

Robert Bingham Cochrane (1909 - 2000)

War correspondent who reported on World War II and who witnessed the the surrender of the Japanese.  Family links:  Spouse:  Irma B. Boyer Cochrane (1899 – 1974)Cause of death: Bone cancer

Robert Blees (1918 - 2015)

American Writer and Producer. Blees, who produced for television and film, wrote the screenplays for Douglas Sirk’s 1954 classic ‘Magnificent Obsession’, which starred Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman, and 1956’s ‘Autumn Leaves’, with Joan Crawford and Cliff Robertson. Blees attended Dartmouth College and worked for Time and Life magazines before turning to screenwriting and producing. […]

Robert Bloch (1917 - 1994)

Author. Best known for his book “Psycho.”  Family links:  Spouse:  Eleanor Alexander Bloch (1915 – 2007)* *Calculated relationship

Robert Bolger (1937 - 1969)

Actor. Born Robert Erin Bolger, he was a popular character performer most noted for appearing as a regular on many television series. He began his career appearing in the film “The Story of Mr. Hobbs” (1947). In 1952, he assumed the lead role of Captain Walker on the TV series “Hallmark Hall of Fame” and […]

Robert Bolt (1924 - 1995)

Robert Bolt was born in Sale, Cheshire. At Manchester Grammar School his affinity for Sir Thomas More first developed. He attended the University of Manchester, and, after wartime service in the RAF (1943–1946), the University of Exeter. For many years he taught English and history at Millfield School and only became a full-time writer at […]

Robert Bosch (1861 - 1942)

Industrialist, Inventor. Founder of Robert Bosch GmbH, the world’s largest supplier of auto parts. Born near Ulm, he attended a technical school near his home and then apprenticed as a mechanic. He worked in this trade for a number of companies, including Edison. In 1896 he founded the company that eventually bore his name. The […]

Robert Brackman (1898 - 1980)

Artist and teacher, emigrated from Russia in 1908 and studied at the National Academy of Design from 1919 to 1921, and the Ferrer School in San Francisco. Best known for large figural works, portraits, and still lifes. From 1931, he had a long career teaching at the Art Students League in New York and was […]

Robert Brasillach (1909 - 1945)

Author. Prolific novelist, poet and playwright author of several acclaimed novels and co-author, with Maurice Bardèche, of “L’Histoire Du Cinéma,” the first prominent survey of film. He was also editor of the major fascist and anti-semitic newspaper in Paris. Tried and executed for treason by a firing squad, he was the only writer of any […]

Robert Bray (1917 - 1983)

Robert Bray was born to homesteading parents in Kalispell, Montana. The family moved to Seattle, Washington, where Bray attended Lincoln High School. After graduation, he was for a time a lumberjack, a cowboy, and a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps. In 1942, Bray joined the United States Marine Corps and saw action in the […]

Robert Brubaker (1916 - 2010)

American Character Actor. He is best known for his roles in television and movie westerns, including Gunsmoke and 40 Guns to Apache Pass. Brubaker was the only actor to have two recurring roles on the television series, Gunsmoke, portraying both a bartender named Floyd and a stagecoach driver named Jim Buck. Some of Brubaker’s other […]

Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

Poet. Born the eldest of seven children at Alloway, near Ayr, the son of William Burnes, a small farmer and gardener for the Provost of Ayr. Burns was educated briefly at John Murdoch’s school in Alloway but received most of his schooling at home. His first love, Nelly Kirkpatrick inspired him to try his hand […]

Robert C. Baker (1921 - 2006)

A Lansing, New York native, Baker earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in 1943 and then went on to major in Pomology at the university’s College of Agriculture. For his graduate work, Baker took his master’s degree at Penn State University and his doctorate at Purdue University. Baker was a member of the Alpha […]

Robert Capa (1913 - 1954)

Photographer. Capa covered the Second World War from 1941 to 1945 in the European theatre, and received the Medal of Freedom Citation from General Dwight D. Eisenhower. His photographs of the D-Day landings are classics. He became known as the quintessential war photographer though war was not the only subject of his camera.  Family links: […]

Robert Carey (1894 - 1932)

Robert Carey Gangster. Robert Carey was born and raised in St. Louis. He became embroiled in the early gang wars there between the Egan’s Rats and the Hogans, fleeing to Detroit after the murder of Harry “Cherries” Dunn in September 1916. Thereafter Carey commuted across the Midwest commiting crimes with his childhood friends Fred “Killer” […]

Robert Carl Ode (1915 - 1995)

Foreign Service Officer with the United States Department of State. One of the 52 Americans held hostage by Iran from 1979 to 1981. (bio by: Erik Lander)  Family links:  Spouse:  Rita Muth Ode (1918 – 2012)* *Calculated relationship

Robert Chattey Cawdron (1921 - 1997)

Actor. Born in Garches, France, he is best known for his role as Detective Inspector Cherry from 1956 to 1965 on “Dixon of Dock Green.” Film and television credits include “London Conspiracy,” “Madhouse,” “Doomwatch,” “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes,” “Z Cars,” “Doctor Who,” “The Six Wives of Henry VIII,” “The First Lady,” “The Avengers,” […]

Robert Clay Allison (1840 - 1887)

American Western Frontier Outlaw. He joined the Confederate army during the Civil War on October 15, 1861 but was discharged for personality problems January 10, 1862. In the late 1860s, he was a trail boss in New Mexico working for Oliver Loving and Charles Goodnight, legendary Texas cattleman. On January 7, 1874 he met up […]

Robert Clive Cooper Arnold (1931 - 2003)

Actor. He was born in Mansten, Kent, England and died in Brighton, East Sussex, England. He was married to June Brown, British actress, since 1958 until his death in 2003. He is survived by his wife and 6 children. He is best remembered for his role as PC/Det. Con. Swain on the television series “Dixon […]

Robert Cone (1957 - 2016)

Robert Cone was a native of Manchester, New Hampshire, born in 1957. He graduated from Memorial High School, Manchester, NH in 1975. He graduated from the United States Military Academy with a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1979 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Armor Branch. Cone earned a Master of Arts […]

Robert Conquest (1917 - 2015)

Conquest was born on 15 July 1917 in Great Malvern, Worcestershire, to an American father (Robert Folger Wescott Conquest) and an English mother (Rosamund Alys Acworth Conquest). His father served in an American Ambulance Service unit with the French Army in World War I, and was awarded the Croix de Guerre, with Silver Star in […]

Robert Conrad (1935 - 2020)

Robert Conrad Robert Conrad was a graduate of Northwestern University, spending his first few years out of school supporting himself and his family by driving a milk truck and singing in a Chicago cabaret. Conrad befriended up-and-coming actor Nick Adams during this period, and it was Adams who helped Conrad get his first Hollywood work […]

Robert Coote (1909 - 1982)

Robert Coote was born in London and educated at Hurstpierpoint College in Sussex. He began his stage career at the age of 16, performing in Britain, South Africa, and Australia before arriving in Hollywood in the late 1930s. He played a succession of pompous British types in supporting roles, including a brief but memorable turn […]

Robert Courtleigh (1916 - 2004)

Actor. The son of actor William Courtleigh, Courtleigh is best remembered for his role as ‘Steve Elliott’ on the television series, “Atom Squad,” which ran from 1953 to 1954. Courtleigh also was in the films, “Cinderella” (1965), “F.I.S.T.” (1978), “Winter Kills” (1979), and had guest appearances on the television shows, “Hallmark Hall Of Fame” in […]

Robert Cox (1896 - 1974)

Actor. He was one the last surviving members of Mack Sennett’s Keystone Kops who appeared in many films of the 1920s and 1930s.

Robert Creamer (1922 - 2012)

Author. Creamer was an American sportswriter and editor who was one of the first hired on the staff of Sports Illustrated in August of 1954 as a senior editor where he also wrote the weekly Scorecard section of the magazine. He also wrote for the New York Times. In 1974, he authored one of the […]

Robert Creeley (1926 - 2005)

Poet. Born in Arlington, Massachussets, he was among the most influential American poets of the latter half of the 20th century and the 1999 winner of the Bollingen Prize, poetry’s top honor. Rejecting the strict metric schemes of the academics, he captured emotions with a concise, conversational style that assumed an intimacy with readers. Attended […]