Every
Disney Hero Has a Voice
One
Hundred and One Dalmatians
Pongo
Rod
Taylor
January
11th, 1930
Perdita
Cate
Bauer
August
27th, 1922
Rodney Sturt “Rod” Taylor
Rodney
Sturt "Rod" Taylor (born 11 January 1930) is an Australian actor of film and television. He
has appeared in over 50 films, and is well known for his roles in the science
fiction film The Time Machine (1960), and in the Alfred Hitchock horror movie The
Birds (1963).
Early life
Taylor
was Born on 11 January 1930 in Lidcombe, a suburb of Sydney, the only child of
William Sturt Taylor, a steel construction contractor and commercial artist,
and the former Mona Thompson, a writer of more than a hundred short stories and
children's books. His middle name comes from his great-great grand uncle,
Captain Charles Sturt, a British explorer of the Australian
Outback in the 19th century.
Taylor
attended Parramatta High School and later studied at the East Sydney Technical
and Fine Arts College. For a time he worked as a commercial artist, but decided
to become an actor after seeing Laurence Olivier in an Old Vic touring
production in Australia.
Career
Australia
Taylor
acquired extensive radio and stage experience in Australia where his radio work
included a period on Blue Hills and a role as Tarzan. Earlier in his career he
had to support himself by working at Sydney's Mark Foys department store
designing and painting window and other displays during the day. In 1951 he
took part in a re-enactment of Charles Sturt's voyage down the Murrumbidgee and
Murray Rivers, playing Sturt's offsider, George Macleay. A short documentary, Inland
with Sturt (1951), was based on it. Taylor also appeared in a number of theatre
productions for Australia's Mercury Theatre.
Taylor
made his feature film debut in the Australian Lee Robinson film King of the
Coral Sea (1954), playing an American. He later played Israel Hands in a
Hollywood-financed movie shot in Sydney, Long John Silver (1954), an unofficial
sequel to Treasure Island. Following these two films, Taylor was awarded the
1954 Rola Show Australian Radio Actor of the Year Award, which included a
ticket to London via Los Angeles; but Taylor never made it to London.
Hollywood
Taylor
soon landed roles in television shows such as Studio 57 and the films Hellon
Frisco Bay (1955) and Giant (1956). In 1955, he guest-starred in the third
episode ("The Argonauts") of the first hour-long western television
series, Cheyenne, an ABC program starring Clint Walker. Taylor and Edward
Andrews played gold seekers Clancy and Duncan, respectively, who are best
friends until they strike it rich, only to see Native Americans release their
gold dust to the wind. The episode was a remake of the film Treasure of the
Sierra Madre (1948). Taylor was considered for one of the leads in Warner Bros.
Television’s Maverick.
Towards
the end of 1955, Taylor unsuccessfully screen tested to play boxer Rocky
Graziano in MGM’s Somebody Up There Likes Me but his use of a Brooklyn accent
and physical prowess in the test impressed the studio enough to gain him a
long-term contract. At MGM he played a series of support roles in The Catered
Affair, Raintree County (1957) and Ask Any Girl (1959). He had a significant
role in Separate Tables (1958), which won Oscars for two of its stars, David
Niven and Wendy Hiller. He also made a strong impression guest starring in
"And When the Sky Was Opened" (1959), an episode of The Twilight Zone.
Stardom
Taylor's
first leading role in a feature film was George Pal's adaptation of H. G. Wells
science-fiction classic The Time Machine (1960)
In the
1960–61 television season, Taylor starred as foreign correspondent Glenn Evans
in the ABC dramatic series Hong Kong. His principal co-star was Lloyd Bochner.
The program faced stiff competition on Wednesday evenings from NBC’s Wagon and
only lasted one season. He voiced Pongo the Dalmatian in Disney's animated One
Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), and also guest-starred on Marilyn Maxwell's
short-lived ABC series Bus Stop (also 1961). In 1962, he starred in an episode
of The DuPont Show of the Week (NBC) ("The Ordeal of Dr. Shannon"), an adaptation of A. J. Cronin's novel, Shannon’s
Way. Taylor starred in Alfred Hitchcock's horror/thriller The Birds (1963) with
Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy and Suzanne Pleshette.
During
the mid-60s, Taylor worked mostly for MGM, where his credits included Sunday in
New York (1963), Fate Is the Hunter (1964), 36 Hours (1965), Young Cassidy
(1965), The Liquidator (1965) and The Glass Bottom Boat (1966). He began to
change his image towards the end of the decade to more tough guy roles such as Chuka
(which he also produced, 1967), Dark of the Sun (aka The Mercenaries,
1968), Nobody Runs Forever (1968) and Darker than Amber (1970).
He was
also reportedly up for the role of Caucasian martial artist Roper in the Bruce
Lee vehicle Enter the Dragon (1973). The film was directed by Robert Clouse,
who had also directed Taylor in the 1970 film, Darker than Amber. However,
Taylor was supposedly deemed too tall for the part, and the role instead went
to John Saxon.
Later career
In the
1970s, Taylor turned again to television. He starred in Bearcats! (1971) on CBS
and in The Oregon Trail (1976) on NBC. He had a regular role in the short-lived
spy drama series Masquerade (1983), and played one of the leads in the equally
short-lived series Outlaws (1986). From 1988 to 1990, Taylor appeared in the
CBS drama series Falcon Crest as Frank Agretti, playing opposite Jane Wyman. In
the mid 1990s, he appeared in several episodes of Murder, She Wrote and Walker,
Texas Ranger.
In 1993,
he hosted the documentary Time Machine: The Journey Back. At the end of the
special came a mini-sequel, written by David Duncan, the original writer of the
George Pal film. Taylor recreated his role as George, reuniting him with Filby
(Alan Young).
Taylor
returned to Australia several times over the years to make films, playing a
1920s travelling showman in The Picture Show Man (1977), and a paid killer in On
the Run (1983). In 1997, he played the foul-mouthed redneck "Daddy-O"
in the black comedy Welcome to Woop Woop.
Taylor
came out of retirement for the small but important role of Winston Churchill in
Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds (2009). In preparation for the role,
Taylor watched dozens of DVDs with footage of Churchill in order to get the
Prime Minister's posture, body language, and voice, including a lisp, correct.
Personal
life
Married
to third wife Carol Kikumura since 1980, Taylor is the father of CNN financial
reporter Felicia Taylor (born 1964), from his acrimonious second marriage to
model Mary Hilem (1963–69). His first wife was model Peggy Williams (1951–54).
He now
lives in New York City.
Filmography
|
|
TV
series
As regular
Taylor
has had several lead roles in television, from the early 1960s to the early
first decade of the 21st century. Among his TV shows as a regular are:
- Hong Kong with co-star Lloyd Bochner (1960, ABC)
- Bearcats! (1971, CBS)
- The Oregon Trail as Evan Thorpe, a widower taking his
three children from their Illinois farm to the Pacific Northwest by way of
the Oregon Trail (1977, NBC)
- Masquerade (1983)
- Outlaws (1986)
Guest appearances
- Studio 57 (1955) – "The Last Day on Earth",
"The Black Sheep's Daughter"
- Lux Video Theatre (1955) – "Dark Tribute",
"The Browning Version"
- Cheyenne (1955) – "The
Argonauts"
- Suspicion (1957) – "The Story of Marjorie
Reardon"
- Schlitz Playhouse of Stars (1958) – "A Thing to Fight
For"
- Studio One (1958) – "Image of
Fear"
- Lux Playhouse (1958) – "The Best
House in the Valley"
- Playhouse 90 (1958–59) – "Verdict of Three",
"The Great Gatsby", "The Long March", "The
Raider", "Misalliance"
- The Twilight Zone (1959) – "And When the Sky Was
Opened"
- Zane Grey Theater (1960) –
"Picture of Sal"
- Goodyear Theatre (1960) – "Capital Gains"
- General Electric Theater (1960) – "Early to Die",
"The Young Years"
- Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (1960) – "Thunder in the
Night"
- Bus Stop (1961) – "Portrait of a Hero"
- The DuPont Show of the Week (1962) – "The Ordeal of Dr.
Shannon"
- Walker, Texas Ranger
- Murder, She Wrote
- Falcon Crest
Documentaries
- Inland with Sturt (1951)
- The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal (1985)
- Time Machine: The Journey Back (1993)
- All About the Birds (2000)
- Not Quite Hollywood (2008)
Cate Bauer
Cate Bauer (born 27
August 1922 in London, England) is a British actress who voiced the character
Perdita in the 1961 film One Hundred and One Dalmatians. She also played
Miss Hidwick in the series The Third Man in the episode How To Buy A
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