Robert Webber


Robert Laman Webber was an American actor. He appeared in dozens of films and television series, including as Juror No. 12 in the 1957 film 12 Angry Men.

Early life

Webber was the son of Robert Webber, who was a merchant seaman. He graduated from Oakland Technical High School. Webber enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1943 during World War II, serving in the 1st Marine Amphibious Corps and later in the 6th Marine Division as a 776-Radio Operator in Guam and Okinawa. Webber was discharged in 1945 as a private first class and was awarded the Navy Combat Action Ribbon, the Navy Presidential Unit Citation, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.

Career

Webber had a 40-year career as a character actor, during which he appeared as Juror No. 12 in 12 Angry Men, as Dudley Moore's gay lyricist in 10, and the father of Cybill Shepherd's character in the hit series Moonlighting.
Other notable turns were in the movies The Nun and the Sergeant, in which he played the lead; The Sandpiper, in which he played a supporting role as Elizabeth Taylor's character's former lover; a killer in the Dean Martin spy spoof The Silencers ; a sadistic lowlife encountered by Paul Newman in the anti-hero detective drama Harper ; The Dirty Dozen, where he played a general who disliked the character portrayed by Lee Marvin; and a hitman in Sam Peckinpah's Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. Other notable movies include The Great White Hope, Midway, Revenge of the Pink Panther, Private Benjamin, S.O.B., and Wild Geese II. Several of the movies were directed by Blake Edwards.
On television, Webber appeared in many of the popular dramas of the time, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Mannix, Kojak,''The Outer Limits, The Virginian, The Fugitive, Ben Casey, Route 66, I Spy, The Rifleman, Mission: Impossible, S.W.A.T., and Ironside.
He appeared in four episodes of Cannon: the 1971 episode "The Nowhere Man" as McMillan, the 1972 episode "That Was No Lady" as Clay Spencer," the 1973 episode "Memo from a Dead Man" as Barney Shaw and the 1974 episode "A Voice from the Grave" as the Hitman.
Webber appeared in four episodes of The Rockford Files: the January 1975 episode "Aura Lee, Farewell" as Senator Evan Murdock, the October 1975 episode "The Deep Blue Sleep" as Bob Coleman, the 1976 episode "The Oracle Wore a Cashmere Suit" as Roman Clementi and the episode "Never Send a Boy King to Do a Man's Job" as Harold Jack Coombs.
Webber guest-starred on three episodes of Barnaby Jones'': the October 1975 episode “The Price of Terror” as businessman Maxwell Strager and the 1978 two-part episode “Final Judgment” as Gene Gates.

Death

Webber died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at age 64 in Malibu, California.

Filmography

Film

  • Highway 301 as William B. Phillips
  • 12 Angry Men as Juror No. 12
  • The Nun and the Sergeant as Sergeant McGrath
  • The Stripper as Ricky Powers
  • Hysteria as Chris Smith
  • The Sandpiper as Ward Hendricks
  • The Third Day as Dom Guardiano
  • The Silencers as Sam Gunther
  • Harper as Dwight Troy
  • Tecnica di un omicidio as Clint Harris
  • Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round as Milo Stewart
  • The Dirty Dozen as Brigadier General James Denton
  • Don't Make Waves as Rod Prescott
  • Every Man Is My Enemy as Tony Costa
  • Manon 70 as Ravaggi
  • The Big Bounce as Bob Rodgers
  • The Great White Hope as Dixon
  • Macédoine as Sandeberg
  • $ as Attorney
  • Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia as Sappensly
  • Flatfoot in Hong Kong as Sam Accardo
  • Soldat Duroc, ça va être ta fête as Sergeant John Lewis
  • Midway as Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher
  • Hit Squad as Mr. Duglas
  • Death Steps in the Dark as Inspector
  • Madame Claude as Howard
  • The Accuser aka L'Imprécateur as Le Cadre Américain
  • The Choirboys as Deputy Chief Riggs
  • Casey's Shadow as Mike Marsh
  • Revenge of the Pink Panther as Philippe Douvier
  • Gardenia as Caruso
  • 10 as Hugh
  • Courage - Let's Run as Charley
  • Tous vedettes as Harry Stabling
  • Private Benjamin as Colonel Clay Thornbush
  • Sunday Lovers as Henry Morrison
  • S.O.B. as Ben Coogan
  • Wrong Is Right as Harvey
  • Who Dares Wins as General Ira Potter
  • Wild Geese II as Robert McCann
  • Nuts as Francis MacMillan

    Television and radio

  • Starlight Theatre as Mike Barry
  • Out There as Captain Bill Hurley
  • Tales of Tomorrow
  • Studio One as Skeets
  • Eye Witness
  • Suspense as James Forsythe
  • Three Steps to Heaven as Chip Morrison
  • Robert Montgomery Presents
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • * as George Lawrence
  • The Phil Silvers Show as Ego
  • Kraft Television Theatre
  • *
  • *
  • Playhouse 90 as Malcolm Field
  • The Rifleman as Wes Carney
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Paul Brett
  • Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond as Andrew Courtney
  • Play of the Week
  • Checkmate as Miles Archer
  • The Investigators as Bert Crayne
  • Thriller as Arthur Henshaw
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Harrison Fell
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Edward Gibson
  • The Paradine Case as Andre Latour
  • Stoney Burke as Roy Hazelton
  • The Dick Powell Show as Captain John Wycliff
  • Route 66 as Frank Bridenbaugh
  • The Defenders as
  • * Douglas
  • * Michael Hillyer
  • * Father Phelps
  • Naked City as Gordon Lanning
  • The Greatest Show on Earth as Rudy
  • The Nurses as Arthur Luskin
  • Arrest and Trial as George Morrison
  • Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre as Stuart Landsman
  • Ben Casey as Slim
  • The Fugitive as Harlan Guthrie
  • Espionage as Jack Hanley
  • Brenner as Eddie Constantinos
  • Mr. Broadway as Hogan
  • The Outer Limits as Ikar
  • Kraft Suspense Theatre as
  • * Prosecutor David Henderson
  • * Robert Burke
  • The Rogues as Guy Gabriel
  • The Name of the Game as William McKendricks
  • Journey to the Unknown as Manservant
  • Special Branch as Mr. Snell
  • The Bold Ones: The Lawyers as Sam Rand
  • Pontiac "Breakaway" commercial
  • The Movie Murderer as Karel Kessler
  • The Men From Shiloh, rebranded name of The Virginian as Jackson Reed
  • San Francisco International Airport as Brigadier General Goodwin
  • Hauser's Memory as Dorsey
  • The Young Lawyers as Sergeant Fielder
  • Mannix as Tom Carlson
  • The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes as Commissioner of Oaths
  • Thief as James Calendar
  • Cutter as Meredith
  • Banacek as Jerry Brinkman
  • Mission: Impossible as Charles Rogan
  • Love, American Style as Harris
  • Banyon as Waldo
  • Search as Matthew Linden
  • Hawkins as Carl Vincent
  • Griff as Alan Gilbert
  • Double Indemnity as Edward Norton
  • The Magician as Zellman
  • Tenafly as Kent
  • Kojak as David Lawrence
  • Murder or Mercy as Dr. Eric Stoneman
  • Ironside as Del Hogan, Burton
  • Cannon as
  • * McMillan
  • * Clay Spencer
  • * Barney Shaw
  • * Jake McVea
  • The Manhunter
  • The Streets of San Francisco as Al Cooper
  • McCloud as
  • * Jack Faraday
  • * Fritz August
  • Death Stalk as Hugh Webster
  • Switch as Paul Sinclair
  • S.W.A.T. as
  • * McVea
  • * Mike Simon
  • Police Woman as Julian Lord
  • McMillan & Wife as Charles Meridio
  • 79 Park Avenue as John Hackson DeWitt
  • Barnaby Jones as
  • * Maxwell Strager
  • * Gene Gates
  • The Young Runaways as Fred Lockhart
  • Kaz
  • The Rockford Files as
  • * Senator Evan Murdock
  • * Bob Coleman
  • * Roman Clementi
  • * Harold Jack Coombs
  • Quincy, M.E. as
  • * Dr. John Franklin
  • * Dr. Steven Chase
  • The Streets of L.A. as Ralph Salkin
  • Tenspeed and Brown Shoe as LaCrosse
  • The Two Lives of Carol Letner as Ed Leemans
  • Darkroom as Greg Conway
  • Bret Maverick as Everest Sinclair
  • Not Just Another Affair as Professor Wally Dawson
  • Don't Go to Sleep as Dr. Cole
  • Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land as Felix Duncan
  • Shooting Stars as Woodrow Norton
  • Getting Physical as Hugh Gibley
  • No Man's Land as Will Blackfield
  • Cover Up as Mason Carter
  • Half Nelson as Arthur Harrison
  • In Like Flynn as Colonel Harper
  • Assassin as Calvin Lantz
  • The Ladies as Jerry
  • Moonlighting as Alexander Hayes
  • Something Is Out There as Commissioner Estabrook