Robert Broyles


Robert Houston Broyles was an American character actor, drama teacher, theatre director, and writer. He was sometimes billed as Bob Broyles or Bobby Broyles.

Early life

Broyles was born in Sparta, Tennessee, on January 20, 1933. He grew up in White County, Tennessee. His parents were Elise A. Bennette and Robert Lee Broyles Jr.
He served in the U. S. Navy from 1952 to 1956. He then attended Ohio State University and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1960. From 1963 to 1967, he was a drama coach in Hollywood. He made his first television appearance in 1964 on Bonanza in the episode "The Cheating Game" as Tom, one of the ranch hands.

Career

In the late 1960s, he began to appear on many television shows, appearing three times each on My Three Sons and The Mod Squad, and twice on Family Affair. During this time, he appeared in one movie called "Fever Heat." He began to appear in more films, including Eat My Dust, Close Encounters of The Third Kind, Norma Rae, and Poltergeist. Broyles continued appearing on television shows and movies throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He returned to working as a drama coach in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1987. He appeared in the Andy Griffith Show reunion movie Return to Mayberry in 1986, sharing a comical boat scene with Don Knotts.
Besides working as an actor in theatre, he also worked as a writer and director. He wrote the plays "Sparta" in 1975 and "Natural Affection" in 1989 and wrote the novel "Agness" in 1977. In 1974, he was voted best actor in Los Angeles for his work in the play "Tennessee Williams" and was voted best director in Los Angeles for "Three by Tennessee Plus." He also directed the play "The Love Talker" in 1994. The play was written by Deborah Pryor and starred Colleen Cochran, Ebba-Marie Gendron, and Donald Wayne Jarman.
Broyles made very few appearances on television and in movies in the 1990s but continued to offer acting classes called Total Acting Class. His last role was in 2000 on the short-lived television show Bette starring Bette Midler. He died at the age of 78 in Los Angeles in 2011.

Filmography

  • Fever Heat as Loren Peale
  • Eat My Dust as Bud the Driver
  • Poco: Little Dog Lost as Deputy Sheriff Bob
  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind as Dirty Tricks #3
  • Record City as Workman
  • Born Again as John Erlichman
  • Norma Rae as Sam Bolen
  • Friendly Fire
  • Raise The Titanic as Willis
  • Poltergeist as Pool Worker #1
  • Memorial Day as Preacher
  • Why Me?
  • California Girls as Limo Driver
  • A Death in California as Bradley Taylor
  • Copacabana as Bar Patron
  • Acceptable Risks as Second Councilman
  • Return to Mayberry as Wilson
  • Inherit The Wind as Man on Platform
  • The Karen Carpenter Story as Bowl Emcee
  • Sonny Boy as Mayor
  • My Boyfriend's Back as Man in Lounge
  • Fall From Grace as Construction Foreman
  • Tom Clancy's Op Center as Chief

    Television

  • Bonanza – episode – The Cheating Game as Tom
  • Family Affair – episode – The Prize as messenger boy
  • Family Affair – episode – Your Friend, Jody as counselor
  • My Three Sons – episode – The Baby Nurse as John Hawkins
  • The Mod Squad – episode – A Run for the Money as police officer Kent
  • The Mod Squad – episode – The Debt as policeman
  • The Mod Squad – episode – The Loser as police sergeant
  • My Three Sons – episode – You Can't Go Home as policeman
  • My Three Sons – episode – The Honeymoon as Max
  • The High Chaparral – episode – The Badge as Loosh
  • Mission: Impossible – episode – Nerves as mechanic
  • The Streets of San Francisco – episode – Bitter Wine as Paul Croft
  • Diana – episode – Who's Minding The Cat as Burf
  • Shazam – episode – The Road Back as officer
  • Korg: 70,000 B.C. - episode - The Picture Maker as Moon's father
  • Cannon – episode – Nightmare as Harold Kircher
  • The Rockford Files – episode – The Aaron Ironwood School of Success as Hauss
  • Police Woman – episode – The Melting Point of Ice as bartender
  • Police Story – episode – Stigma as Hoby Simmons
  • Lou Grant – episode – Babies as motel clerk
  • The Bad News Bears – episode – Lights Out as clerk
  • Flamingo Road – episode – Illicit Weekend
  • Fantasy Island – episode – The Big Bet/Nancy and the Thunderbirds as the director
  • The Dukes of Hazzard – episode – Big Brothers, Duke as The Man
  • AfterMASH – episode – Les Misérables as bailiff
  • The Wonderful World of Disney – episode – The Girl Who Spelled Freedom as Jim
  • Matlock – episode – The Nurse as Mark, the mechanic
  • Square One TV: Mathnet – episode – Problem of the Passing Parade as man at dry cleaners
  • Hart To Hart – episode – Home Is Where The Hart Is as Fred
  • Bette – episode – And The Winner Is as older man