Robert Lowery

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Robert Lowery
Born	Robert Larkin Hanks October 17, 1913(1913-10-17) Kansas City, Missouri
Died	December 26, 1971 (aged 58) Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Other name(s)	Bob Lowery Bob Lowry
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1936-1967

Robert Lowery (October 17, 1913 – December 26, 1971) was an American motion picture, television, and stage actor who appeared in over seventy films.

Early life

Born Robert Larkin Hanks in Kansas City, Missouri, Lowery grew up on Wayne Avenue near the long-demolished Electric Park. Lowery's father was a local attorney and oil investor who worked several years for the Pullman Corporation as a railroad agent; his mother, Leah Thompson Hanks, was a concert pianist.

He graduated from Paseo High School in Kansas City, and soon was invited to sing with the Slats Randall Orchestra in the early 1930s. Lowery played on the Kansas City Blues minor league baseball team and was overall considered a versatile athlete; his physique and strength was gained from a stint working in a paper factory as a teenager. After the death of his father in 1935, he traveled to Hollywood with his mother and their housekeeper, and enrolled in the Lila Bliss acting school before being signed by Twentieth Century Fox in 1937.

Career

Lowery in the United States War Department Official Training Film No. 8-154, Sex Hygiene

During his career, Lowery was primarily known for roles in action movies such as The Mark of Zorro (1940), The Mummy's Ghost (1944), and Dangerous Passage (1944). He became the second actor to play DC Comics' Batman, starring in a 1949's Batman and Robin serial. Lowery also had roles in a number of Western films including The Homesteaders (1953), The Parson and the Outlaw (1957), Young Guns of Texas (1962), and Johnny Reno (1966). He was also an accomplished stage actor and appeared in Born Yesterday, The Caine Mutiny, and in several other productions.

On television, Lowery was best known for the role of Big Tim Champion on the series Circus Boy (1956-1957). In 1956, he guest starred in an episode of The Adventures of Superman (the first time a Batman actor shared screen time with a Superman actor). Lowery also had guest roles on 'Playhouse 90 ("The Helen Morgan Story"), Cowboy G-Men, Maverick, Tales of Wells Fargo, Rawhide, 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, and Pistols 'n' Petticoats. He made his last onscreen appearance in the 1967 comedy/Western film The Ballad of Josie, opposite Doris Day and Peter Graves.

Personal life and death

He was married three times, to three different actresses: to Jean Parker, to Vivan Wilcox, and to Rusty Farrell. He had one child, Robert, who lives in Redondo Beach, California; and two grandchildren.

Lowery died of heart failure at the age of 58 in his Hollywood apartment on December 26, 1971.

Selected filmography

External links

• Robert Lowery at the Internet Movie Database
• Robert Lowery at TV.com
• Robert Lowery at Find a Grave