Best Known As: The star of TV's The Wild Wild West
Name at birth: Conrad Robert Falk
Actor Robert Conrad specialized in playing resourceful tough guys throughout his TV career. He starred in two especially popular TV series, playing special agent James T. West in The Wild Wild West (1965-70) and flying ace 'Pappy' Boyington in the World War II series Baa Baa Black Sheep (1976-77). The Wild Wild West stayed in reruns for years, with Conrad as a 19th-century James Bond-style secret agent serving at the pleasure of President U.S. Grant. The series was remade into a 1999 movie starring Will Smith as West.
Conrad was a spokesman for Eveready Batteries during the late 1970s. He appeared in a series of ads with a battery perched on his shoulder, challenging viewers to knock it off with the tag line, "Go ahead, I dare ya."
Career Highlights: Wild, Wild West, More Wild, Wild West, The Wild, Wild West Revisited
First Major Screen Credit: Palm Springs Weekend (1963)
Biography
American actor 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 in 1957. A few movie bit parts later, Conrad was signed for a comparative pittance by Warner Bros. studios, and in 1959 was cast as detective Tom Lopaka on the weekly adventure series Hawaiian Eye. Upon the 1963 cancellation of this series, Conrad made a handful of Spanish and American films and toured with a nightclub act in Australia and Mexico City. Cast as frontier secret agent James West in The Wild Wild West in 1965, Conrad brought home $5000 a week during the series' first season and enjoyed increasing remunerations as West remained on the air until 1969. There are those who insist that Wild Wild West would have been colorless without the co-starring presence of Ross Martin, an opinion with which Conrad has always agreed. The actor's bid to star in a 1970 series based on the venerable Nick Carter pulp stories got no further than a pilot episode, while the Jack Webb-produced 1971 Robert Conrad series The D.A. was cancelled after 13 episodes. When Roy Scheider pulled out of the 1972 adventure weekly Assignment: Vienna, Conrad stepped in--and was out, along with the rest of Assignment: Vienna, by June of 1973. Conrad had better luck with 1976's Baa Baa Black Sheep, aka Black Sheep Squadron, a popular series based on the World War II exploits of Major "Pappy" Boyington. Cast as a nurse on this series was Conrad's daughter Nancy, setting a precedent for nepotism that the actor practiced as late as his tenth TV series, 1989's Jesse Hawkes, wherein Conrad co-starred with his sons Christian and Shane. Though few of his series have survived past season one, Conrad has enjoyed success as a commercial spokesman and in the role of G. Gordon Liddy (whom the actor admired) in the 1982 TV movie Will, G. Gordon Liddy. As can be gathered from the Liddy assignment, Conrad's politics veered towards conservatism; in 1981, he and Charlton Heston were instrumental in toppling Ed Asner and his liberal contingent from power in the Screen Actors Guild. As virile and athletic as ever in the 1990s, Robert Conrad has continued to appear in action roles both on TV and in films; he has also maintained strong ties with his hometown of Chicago, and can be counted upon to show up at a moment's notice as a guest on the various all-night programs of Chicago radio personality Eddie Schwartz. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Conrad was born as Robert Conrad Falk (some sources indicate Conrad Robert Falk) in Chicago, Illinois. [1] He is of English, German and Polish descent. During his early career one of Conrad's best friends was actor Nick Adams, who by many accounts, helped him find work in Hollywood.
In the late 1970s, Conrad served as the captain of the NBC team for six editions of Battle of the Network Stars. In the first edition, his race against ABC's team captain Gabe Kaplan in the final event to settle a dispute regarding a technical foul (raised by CBS's team captain Telly Savalas) in the earlier co-ed track relay. An infraction by NBC teammates during a baton hand-off had caused NBC to suffer a 2-second penalty, giving the victory to Kaplan's ABC team. Conrad challenged Kaplan in good sportsmanship to run one last time. The race was held on the same regulatory clay track soon after the disputed relay had been completed. At the sound of the gun, Conrad sprinted to an early lead and led going into the turn with Kaplan close behind. As the pair came out of the turn, Kaplan drew even with Conrad, who was beginning to show his fatigue. As they entered the straight-away, Kaplan began his finishing kick and out-sprinted Conrad to take a commanding lead and crossed the finish line well ahead of a winded Conrad, who was some 20 yards behind.[citation needed]
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[2] for his work on The Wild, Wild West series.
He appears in the documentary film, Pappy Boyington Field, where he recounts his personal insights about the legendary Marine Corps Aviator that he portrayed in the television series.[citation needed]
Personal life
Robert Conrad was married to Joan Kenlay from February 23, 1952 until their divorce; that union produced five children. He remarried and remains wed to LaVelda Fann; they have three children. He lived in Bear Valley, California in the High Sierras until 2006, but now lives in Southern California with his wife and their children.
In a 2008 interview, Conrad described the late ChicagoMafia associate and burglar Michael Spilotro as his "best friend".[3] Spilotro's mob slaying is portrayed in the movie Casino.
Conrad was reportedly 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.[citation needed]
Conrad has been out of the public eye since 2003, when he was involved in a devastating car accident. Conrad was driving his Jaguar drunk on Highway 4 in the California Sierra foothills near his Calaveras County home, when he crossed over the center median and slammed head-on into a Subaru being driven by 26-year-old Kevin Burnett. Both men suffered serious injuries.[4][5] Conrad was convicted of drunk driving (his blood-alcohol level was 0.22 percent, nearly three times the legal limit) and was sentenced to six months of house arrest. He also lost his driver's license for one year. During his DUI trial, court documents listed his year of birth as 1930, not 1935 listed in most entertainment biographies; the latter year would have made him 16 years old at the time of his first marriage.[6]
