Richard Rober
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Richard Rober (born Richard Steven Rauber; May 14, 1906 – May 26, 1952) was an American stage and film actor. From the mid-1930s to the mid-1940s he featured in numerous theatre productions, including being part of the original cast of '' Born Yesterday'' in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, and the long-running ''
Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tell ...
''. In 1947 he moved to Hollywood and appeared in dozens of
B-movies A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...
and film noir-type films, including ''
Call Northside 777 ''Call Northside 777'' is a 1948 reality-based newspaper drama directed by Henry Hathaway. The film parallels the true story of a Chicago reporter who proved that a man jailed for murder was wrongly convicted 11 years before. James Stewart stars ...
'' (1948), '' Sierra'' (1950), and ''
The Well The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, normally shortened to The WELL, was launched in 1985. It is one of the oldest continuously operating virtual communities. By 1993 it had 7,000 members, a staff of 12, and gross annual income of $2 million. ...
'' (1951). He died in an automobile accident in 1952 at the age of 46.


Early life and family

Richard Steven Rauber was born in
Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...
, on May 14, 1906. He was the son of Frederick S. Rauber, an attorney, and Elizabeth Ford.


Career

Rober began his career as a stage actor in the mid-1930s under his real name, Richard Rauber. Penniless and looking for work after his graduation from the
University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants Undergraduate education, undergraduate and graduate degrees, including Doctorate, do ...
, he landed a small part in a play by the Lyceum Players starring
Louis Calhern Carl Henry Vogt (February 19, 1895 – May 12, 1956), known professionally as Louis Calhern, was an American stage and screen actor. Well known to film noir fans for his role as the pivotal villain in 1950's '' The Asphalt Jungle'', he was ...
. He went on to act with nearly every repertory theatre company on the East Coast. He was part of the original
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
company of ''Born Yesterday''. He also performed in the long-running ''
Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tell ...
''. In 1947, Rober embarked on a career in Hollywood, appearing in his first film role in ''
Call Northside 777 ''Call Northside 777'' is a 1948 reality-based newspaper drama directed by Henry Hathaway. The film parallels the true story of a Chicago reporter who proved that a man jailed for murder was wrongly convicted 11 years before. James Stewart stars ...
'' (1948). He appeared in many
B-movies A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...
—including '' Sierra'' (1950)—and film noir drama films such as ''
The File on Thelma Jordon ''The File on Thelma Jordon'' is a 1950 American film noir drama film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Wendell Corey. The screenplay by Ketti Frings, based on an unpublished short story by Marty Holland, concerns a wo ...
'' (1950) and ''
The Well The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, normally shortened to The WELL, was launched in 1985. It is one of the oldest continuously operating virtual communities. By 1993 it had 7,000 members, a staff of 12, and gross annual income of $2 million. ...
'' (1951). In July 1951 it was reported that he had appeared in 26 films in his 3 1/2 years in Hollywood. While Rober mostly played supporting roles, his career began to go on the ascendancy before his death in 1952. He had a starring role in ''
The Well The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, normally shortened to The WELL, was launched in 1985. It is one of the oldest continuously operating virtual communities. By 1993 it had 7,000 members, a staff of 12, and gross annual income of $2 million. ...
'' (1951), and had traveled to Austria to play the lead in the MGM production '' The Devil Makes Three'' (1952). The week before his death, he played the lead in ''Corny Johnson'', a television film produced by Bing Crosby Enterprises.


Personal life

Rober was married twice. His second marriage, at age 40, was to Mary Hay Barthelmess, age 23, daughter of actors
Richard Barthelmess Richard Semler Barthelmess (May 9, 1895 – August 17, 1963) was an American film actor, principally of the Hollywood silent era. He starred opposite Lillian Gish in D. W. Griffith's ''Broken Blossoms'' (1919) and ''Way Down East'' (1920) and w ...
and Mary Hay, in New York in January 1946. They later divorced.


Death

Rober died after crashing his car in the San Fernando Valley on May 26, 1952. He had been driving with a passenger, actress Norma Britton. The car swerved off the highway in heavy fog and plummeted over a embankment, something which, three years earlier, in
The File on Thelma Jordon ''The File on Thelma Jordon'' is a 1950 American film noir drama film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Wendell Corey. The screenplay by Ketti Frings, based on an unpublished short story by Marty Holland, concerns a wo ...
, he actually depicted, sitting next to Barbara Stanwyck. Rescuers took the pair to
Santa Monica Hospital UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center is a hospital located within the city of Santa Monica, California. The hospital was founded in 1926, and is a member of the UCLA Health. The hospital is also known internationally for operating its Rape Treatment ...
, where Rober died a few hours later. Britton survived with rib injuries. Rober was eulogized in Rochester and buried in the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery there.


Filmography


Stage credits

Sources:


References


Sources

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External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rober, Richard 1906 births 1952 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male film actors Male Western (genre) film actors Male actors from Rochester, New York Road incident deaths in California University of Rochester alumni