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"Sometimes, I'm so preoccupied you have to drop a bomb to communicate with me and most of the time I only average four hours sleep. I don't mind. I wanted to work this hard." (Motion Picture, March 1961)
Robert Conrad
On "The Wild Wild West" (1965), Robert Conrad did most of his own stunt work, resulting in several injuries during the course of the show. During one episode's shooting, he slipped while performing a stunt and fell head first onto a concrete floor 12 feet below. Seriously injured, his recuperation delayed the series' production for nearly three months.
Robert Conrad
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Conrad Robert Falk
1 March 1929, Chicago, Illinois
Robert Conrad is an American actor. He is best known for his role in the 1965 CBS television series The Wild Wild West, in which he played the sophisticated Secret Service agent James T. West, and his portrayal of World War II ace Pappy Boyington in the television series Black Sheep Squadron. He was also briefly a recording artist of pop/rock songs in the early 1960s. He currently hosts a weekly 2 hour national radio show ("The PM Show with Robert Conrad") on CRN Digital Talk Radio.
Conrad was born in Chicago, Illinois. He is an older half-brother of the actor Larry Manetti of the Magnum, P.I. series.
Signed to Warner Brothers as an actor, Conrad also took advantage of Warner's recording division. He eventually released several recordings issued on a variety of LPs, EPs, and SPs 33 and a third and 45 rpm records during the late 1950s and early 1960s. He had a minor Billboard hit song in "Bye Bye Baby" which reached #113.
Before The Wild Wild West, Conrad played Tom Lopaka in ABC's Hawaiian Eye opposite Anthony Eisley and Connie Stevens. In the 1970s, he played such roles as prosecuting attorney Paul Ryan in a short-lived 1971 TV series, The D.A., and American spy Jake Webster in the series Assignment Vienna. With his muscular build and cigarette-induced gravelly voice, Conrad found ratings success playing legendary tough-guy World War II fighter ace Pappy Boyington in Baa Baa Black Sheep on NBC (retitled for its second season and in later syndication as Black Sheep Squadron), from 1976 to 1978.
In the late 1970s, Conrad served as the captain of the NBC team for six editions of Battle of the Network Stars.
Conrad also played a modern day variation of James West in the short-lived secret agent series A Man Called Sloane in 1979, about the same time he reprised the role of West in a pair of made-for-TV films. He also starred in the 1978 TV miniseries Centennial on NBC.
Conrad was widely identified in the late 1970s for his television commercials for Eveready batteries, particularly his placing of the battery on his shoulder and prompting the viewer to challenge its long-lasting power: "Come on, I dare ya". The commercial was frequently parodied on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show and The Carol Burnett Show. In 1988, Conrad starred in a short-lived TV series called High Mountain Rangers with two of his sons. He also starred in that show's one season spin-off Jesse Hawkes. In 1992, Conrad played the role of the sheriff in Richard Marx's Hazard video.
Conrad took over hosting The History Channel's Weapons At War (later Tech Force) in 2000 following George C. Scott's 1999 death. In 2006, Conrad recorded audio introductions for every episode of the first season of The Wild Wild West for its North American DVD release on June 6. The DVD set also included one of Conrad's Eveready battery commercials; in his introduction, Conrad stated that he was flattered to be parodied by Carson. He was inducted into the Stuntman's Hall of Fame for his work on The Wild, Wild West series.
He appeared in the documentary film, Pappy Boyington Field, where he recounted his personal insights about the legendary Marine Corps Aviator that he portrayed in the television series.
Conrad hosts a radio talk show on CRN Digital Talk Radio, Thursdays 3-5p Pacific Time.
Robert Conrad was married to Joan Kenlay from February 23, 1952 until their divorce; that union produced five children. He remarried to LaVelda Fann; they have three children. He lived in Bear Valley, California in the High Sierras until 2006, but then moved to Thousand Oaks, California with his wife until 2009. He divorced his wife in 2010.
In a 2008 interview, Conrad described the late Chicago Mafia associate and burglar Michael Spilotro as his "best friend". Spilotro's mob slaying is featured in the movie Casino.
Conrad was involved with a volunteer organization in Bear Valley known as Bear Valley Search and Rescue. The rescue organization formed the basis of the television series High Mountain Rangers which aired briefly in 1988.
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Born at 3:34pm-CST.
Lives in Bear Valley, California, a ski resort village in the High Sierra; has three young daughters, (Kaja Conrad, Camille Conrad, Chelsea Conrad), with LaVelda Fann and five other children from a previous marriage.
Father of actors Christian Conrad, Nancy Conrad, Shane Conrad and producer Joan Conrad.
Attended Northwestern University (Evanston, IL).
Has brown hair and blue eyes.
Was a star football and basketball player in middle school and high school.
Lied to get a job when he was seventeen. He had eloped with a lawyer's daughter,who was attending a religious boarding school. The only place he could think of where a kid his age could get decent wage was the loading docks in Chicago. He told them he was 21 and made $1.87 an hour -- $74.40 a week.
When he eloped, he and his wife lived under the assumed name "Robert Conrad" so their parents wouldn't find them. They only told their parents where they were in May of 1952 when his wife found out she was having a baby. They were thrilled because they figured it would be too late for their parents to annul the marriage.
Got fired from his job at the docks in December of 1954 for handing out a petition to get his union steward fired. His wife was six months pregnant with their second child at the time.
Worked as a milkman in Chicago.
Lived with his grandmother when his mother remarried.
When the 1999 movie remake of "The Wild Wild West" (1965) swept the 20th Annual Razzie Awards, "winning" 5 statuettes (including Worst Picture) Conrad, who played James West in the original 1960s TV series, accepted 3 of the awards in person as his way of expressing his low opinion of what had been done with his source material.
Speaks Spanish.
Played the drums and the trumpet
Father-in-law of Timothy 'Toes' Erwin.
During the Battle of the Network Stars (1976) (TV), Conrad and Gabe Kaplan ("Welcome Back, Kotter" (1975)) had an infamous showdown. Conrad was the NBC Team Captain, Kaplan was ABC Team Captain. A dispute arose over the winner of an event, and Conrad really lost his temper, pacing and saying he wouldn't accept that the other team had won. Finally, he insisted that he and Kaplan, as team captains, have a race and the winner would win the event for their team. But Conrad had underestimated Kaplan, and Kaplan won easily, which made Conrad look pretty foolish.
He was a Deputy Sheriff for approximately 8 years in the Bear Valley area of California where he still resides.
As Bob Conrad he defeated Ed Hickman on points on March 15, 1962 in San Diego, California in a 6 round professional boxing match.
Had an undefeated professional boxing record of 4-0-1.
Is of German, Polish, and English decent.
Was born in Canaryville, a section of Chicago populated mainly by Irish immigrants.
Tested for the role of Maj. Anthony Nelson on "I Dream of Jeannie" (1965).
His daughter, Nancy, was born on his twenty-fifth birthday (March 1, 1954).
Addressed the Republican National Convention in 2004.
At the time of his former co-star Ross Martin's death in 1981, he and Conrad were in the planning stages of another "Wild, Wild West" TV series.
Best remembered by the public for his starring role as James West in "The Wild Wild West" (1965).
Inducted into the Stuntman's Hall of Fame for his work on "The Wild Wild West" (1965).
18-year-old daughter Chelsea is a jazz-pop singer. Recording artist Richard Marx is set to produce her debut album.
He was seriously injured in a head-on car crash in 2003 in which he sustained head injuries and neuro damage that left his right hand and arm paralyzed, and slowed his speech. Convicted of DUI, he was sentenced to six months of house arrest, five years probation and alcohol counseling. He also lost his driver's license for one year.
As the star and co-creator of the original TV version of Wild Wild West, Conrad attended The 20th Annual Razzie Awards, snidely accepting several of the tacky statuettes on behalf of the Barry Sonnenfeld movie remake. The film swept that year's dis-honors with 5 awards, including Worst Picture of 1999.
Was offered the role of Hannibal Smith on "The A-Team" (1983), but turned it down because he preferred to produce his own projects.
Interviewed in Tom Weaver's book "I Talked with a Zombie" (McFarland & Co., 2008).
Once was a bandsinger and made the rounds of Chicago's major hotels with bandleaders Johnny Gilbert, Jim Redd, and a jazz trio.
Grandfather of actor Jesse Erwin.
His idols are Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney and John Garfield.
Three veterans of "The Wild Wild West" (1965), stuntman Whitey Hughes, makeup artist Ken Chase and actor Richard Kiel, reminisce about the series and star Conrad in the book "A Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde" (McFarland, 2010) by Tom Weaver.
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"I neither condemn nor condone the mores of others. I think there are very few really, whose conduct reflects unfavorably on the rest of us in this mythical kingdom of Hollywood. There are men who need many women in order to bolster their egos - half the time, they don't remember the girl's name afterward. But I've got a good ego to start with, and I'm too sensitive for a quick relationship with a dame and sex alone would never be enough for me. Marriage is something that goes way beyond the flesh. Each human being has his own need for security. ... It's great to have someone to lean on... it's great to have someone lean on you. ..." (Photoplay, November 1961)
(From "The Wild Wild West" (1965)) "We always put in lot more (fighting) than we really wanted to see. (The censors) would say:'We're going to take out two punches...two of this...three of that...' So when they finished,we were still left with what we really wanted anyway." -Robert Conrad
If his daughter were to marry as a teenager like he did: "If some sixteen-year-old punk were to come to me and say, 'Sir, I want to marry your daughter,' I'd say 'Fine,' and escort him to an analyst. The average boy that age isn't remotely capable - from any point of view, including the emotional - of supporting a family." - Photoplay, October 1962
"If one of the girls came to me before she had finished high school and announced that she had intended to marry a boy with no job and little education, I'd forbid it - just like a stern father in a melodrama." - Photoplay, October 1962.
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