‘Actor’ Dale Robertson Biography: Early Life, Career, Movies, Family, Death & Net Worth

Dale Robertson (July 14, 1923–February 26, 2013) was an American actor best remembered for his prominent television appearances. He portrayed roving investigator Jim Hardie in the television series Tales of Wells Fargo and railway owner Ben Calhoun in Iron Horse.

He was frequently portrayed as a deceptively intelligent and modest Western hero. From 1968 until 1970, Robertson served as the fourth and last host of the anthology series Death Valley Days.

Robertson, described as “probably the best horseman on television” by Time magazine in 1959, spent the majority of his career in Western films and television series, appearing in well over 60 titles in total.

Actor Dale Robertson Biography

Dayle Lymoine Robertson was born on July 14, 1923, in Harrah, Oklahoma, USA. Robertson was a standout athlete at Oklahoma Military Academy in Claremore, OK. He served in the United States Army during World War II, taking part in the North African and European operations. After the war, he started acting while still on active duty in the United States Army.

During this period, Columbia Pictures offered Robertson a screen test for the main role in their film adaptation of Golden Boy, but Robertson declined. He didn’t want to leave the horses he was training or his house, so the role went to William Holden.

Career

Robertson’s acting career started by coincidence while he was in the army. When he was stationed at San Luis Obispo, California, Robertson’s mother asked him to take a portrait for her because she didn’t have one, so he and several other troops travelled to Hollywood to hire a photographer.

A large print of his photograph was displayed in his mother’s living room window. He began receiving letters from Hollywood agencies that wanted to represent him. After the war, Robertson’s battle scars precluded him from returning to boxing.

He remained in California to try his hand at acting. Robertson made his film debut as an uncredited police officer in The Boy with Green Hair (1948). Two further uncredited appearances led to featured roles in two Randolph Scott Westerns, Fighting Man of the Plains (1949), in which he played Jesse James, and The Cariboo Trail (1950).

Popular enthusiasm for Robertson’s brief performances led to a seven-year deal with 20th Century Fox. Robertson’s first Fox appearance was as a supporting character in the Western Two Flags West (1951).

He had a supporting role in the musical Call Me Mister (1951). He quickly progressed to prominent roles in films such as Take Care of My Little Girl (1951), where he played Jeanne Crain’s love interest, and Golden Girl (1951), where he supported Mitzi Gaynor.

Fox awarded Robertson the lead role in Return of the Texan (1952). He played opposite Anne Baxter in The Outcasts of Poker Flat (1952) and starred in the historical adventure Lydia Bailey (1952).

Robertson was never particularly cooperative with the press, even avoiding the influential columnist Louella Parsons. As a result, he got the press’s Sour Apple Award three years in a row.

He played one of several Fox characters in O. Henry’s Full House (1952) and Betty Grable’s love interest in The Farmer Takes a Wife (1953).

RKO borrowed him for Devil’s Canyon (1953), starring Virginia Mayo, and Son of Sinbad, which was filmed in 1953 but not released for another two years.

He returned to Fox for City of Bad Men (1953) with Crain, The Silver Whip (1954) with Rory Calhoun and Robert Wagner, and The Gambler from Natchez (1954), which starred Debra Paget.

In 1970, he starred as a US Army Major in the Japanese film Aru heishi no kake. In 1974, Robertson appeared as himself in The Six Million Dollar Man’s episode “Little Orphan Aeroplane”.

He played the iconic FBI agent Melvin Purvis in two made-for-television films, Melvin Purvis: G-Man (1974) and The Kansas City Massacre (1975).

In 1981, Robertson was in the original starring cast of Dynasty, playing Walter Lankershim, a character who disappeared after the first season.

In 1983, Robertson made Big John, another television pilot, in which he played a Georgia sheriff who becomes a New York Police Department detective. From 1987 to 1988, he starred as the title character in the detective series J.J. Starbuck.

Robertson also played Frank Crutcher in five episodes of the TV series Dallas during the 1982–83 season. Robertson appeared in a two-part episode of Murder, She Wrote, alongside Angela Lansbury.

He was not credited in each appearance because he disagreed with the show’s policy of naming all guest stars alphabetically, without exception. When the show’s producers refused to compromise on this point, he requested not to be credited.

Robertson played Zeke Terrell in three episodes of Hearts of the West between December 1993 and January 1994, his final acknowledged roles.

He got the Golden Boot Award in 1985, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and is a member of the Hall of Great Western Performers and the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

In 1999, Robertson received the American Cowboy Culture Association’s film and television award in Lubbock, Texas.

During the 27th Annual Texas Trail of Fame Awards on October 24, 2024, Robertson received a bronze star on the Stockyards promenade in Fort Worth, Texas.

In the years leading up to his death, Robertson hosted a radio show called Little Known Facts, which was played on 400 stations.

Filmography

• The Boy with Green Hair (1948)
• Flamingo Road (1948)
• The Girl from Jones Beach (1949)
• Fighting Man of the Plains (1950)
• The Cariboo Trail (1950) – Will Gray
• Two Flags West (1950) – Lem
• Call Me Mister (1951) – Capt. Johnny Comstock
• Take Care of My Little Girl (1951)
• The Secret of Convict Lake (1951)
• Golden Girl (1951)
• Return of the Texan (1952)
• The Outcasts of Poker Flat (1952)
• Lydia Bailey (1952)
• Lure of the Wilderness (1952)
• O. Henry’s Full House (1952)
• The Silver Whip (1953)
• The Farmer Takes a Wife (1953)
• Devil’s Canyon (1953)
• City of Bad Men (1953)
• The Gambler from Natchez (1954)
• Sitting Bull (1954)
• Top of the World (1955)
• Son of Sinbad (1955)
• Coast of Skeletons (1965)
• The Hollywood Squares (1966)
• Death Valley Days (1969–1970) – host (26 episodes)
• East Connection (1970)
• Aru heishi no kake (The Walking Major, 1970) – Major Clark J. Allen

Dale Robertson Spouse

Dale Robertson and Susan Dee Robbins met while working as flight attendants for American Airlines. They married on February 2, 1980, in a private ceremony.

The pair lived in Yukon, Oklahoma, where they celebrated their marriage and raised horses. They had no children together, but Susan was a stepmother to Dale’s daughters from prior relationships.

Death

In his later years, Robertson and his wife, Susan Robbins, whom he married in 1980, lived on his ranch in Yukon, Oklahoma, where it was believed he possessed 235 horses at one time, including five mares who foaled grand champions.

Due to his worsening health, he moved to the San Diego region in his final months, dying of lung cancer and pneumonia on February 26, 2013, at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, California.

Dale Robertson Net Worth

Dale Robertson died in 2013 with an estimated net worth of $5 million.

His wealth stemmed from his vast career in film and television, notably in the Western genre.

Robertson also made money from his production company, United Screen Arts, as well as his involvement in other connected commercial endeavors.