Editing Robert Stack (section)

== Career ==
Stack took drama courses at [[Bridgewater State University]], a mid-sized liberal-arts school located 25 miles southeast of [[Boston]]. His deep voice and good looks attracted the attention of producers in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]]. When Stack visited the lot of [[Universal Studios, Inc.|Universal Studios]] at age 20, producer [[Joe Pasternak]] offered him an opportunity to enter the business. Recalled Stack, "He said, 'How'd you like to be in pictures? We'll make a test with [[Helen Parrish]], a little love scene.' Helen Parrish was a beautiful girl. 'Gee, that sounds keen,' I told him. I got the part."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lubbockonline.com/stories/051603/nat_0516030066.shtml |title=Lubbockonline.com |newspaper=[[Lubbock Avalanche-Journal]] |date=May 16, 2003 |access-date=January 17, 2013}}</ref>

Stack's first film, which teamed him with [[Deanna Durbin]], was ''[[First Love (1939 film)|First Love]]'' (1939), produced by Pasternak. This film was considered controversial at the time, as he was the first actor to give Durbin an on-screen kiss.<ref>{{cite news |title=SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/06/15/archives/screen-news-here-and-in-hollywood-gabriel-pascal-will-prepare-four.html |last=Churchill |first=Douglas W. |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 15, 1939 |page=A31}}</ref><ref>Bernstein, Adam. "Actor Robert Stack; Movie and TV Star". ''The Washington Post'' May 16, 2003: VAB6.</ref> Stack won critical acclaim for his next role, ''[[The Mortal Storm]]'' (1940) starring [[Margaret Sullavan]] and [[James Stewart]], and directed by [[Frank Borzage]] at [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]. He played a young man who joins the [[Nazism|Nazi]] party.

Back at Universal, Stack was in Pasternak's ''[[A Little Bit of Heaven (1940 film)|A Little Bit of Heaven]]'' (1940), starring [[Gloria Jean]], who was that studio's back-up for Deanna Durbin. Stack was reunited with Durbin in Pasternak's ''[[Nice Girl?]]'' (1941). Stack then starred in a Western, ''[[Badlands of Dakota]]'' (1942), co-starring [[Richard Dix]] and [[Frances Farmer]].<ref>"Robert Stack Likes His Home In Nevada More Than Hollywood". ''The Washington Post''. November 2, 1941: L11.</ref>

[[File:Robert Stack, 1940.jpg|thumb|upright|Stack, {{circa|1940}}]]

[[United Artists]] borrowed him to play a Polish Air Force pilot in ''[[To Be or Not to Be (1942 film)|To Be or Not to Be]]'' (1942), alongside [[Jack Benny]] and [[Carole Lombard]]. Stack admitted he was terrified going into this role, but he credited Lombard, whom he had known personally for several years, with giving him many tips on acting and with being his mentor. Lombard was killed in a plane crash shortly before the film was released. Stack played another pilot in ''[[Eagle Squadron (film)|Eagle Squadron]]'' (1942), a huge hit. He then made a Western, ''[[Men of Texas]]'' (1942).<ref>{{cite news |title=Vet thesp Robert Stack dies at 84 |url=https://variety.com/2003/film/markets-festivals/vet-thesp-robert-stack-dies-at-84-1117886235/ |last=Natale |first=Richard |newspaper=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |volume=391 |issue=1 |page=52 |date=May 14, 2003}}</ref> During [[World War II]], Stack served as an [[Commissioned officer|officer]] in the [[United States Navy]]. He worked as an aerial gunnery instructor and rose to the rank of [[Lieutenant (navy)|lieutenant]].<ref>{{cite news |author=<!-- Not stated --> |date=2022-05-16 |title=Starred as Elliot Ness in 'The Untouchables |pages=2–12 |work=[[The Chicago Tribune]] |quote=After serving as a gunnery officer in the Navy during World War II...}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Buchanan |first=Buck |date=2001 |title=Hell-Diver's Vengeance |location=Victoria, British Columbia |publisher=Trafford |page=119 |isbn=1-55212-675-7}}</ref>

Stack resumed his career after the war with roles in such films as ''[[Fighter Squadron]]'' (1948) at Warner Bros. with [[Edmond O'Brien]], playing a pilot; ''[[A Date with Judy (film)|A Date with Judy]]'' (1948) at MGM, with [[Wallace Beery]] and [[Elizabeth Taylor]]. He made two films at Paramount: ''[[Miss Tatlock's Millions]]'' (1948) and ''[[Mr. Music]]'' (1950). He had an excellent role in ''[[Bullfighter and the Lady]]'' (1951), a passion project of [[Budd Boetticher]] for [[John Wayne]]'s company. He later said this was the first time he liked himself on screen.<ref name="don" />

Stack supported [[Mickey Rooney]] in ''[[My Outlaw Brother]]'' (1951) and had the lead in the adventure epic ''[[Bwana Devil]]'' (1952), considered the first color, American 3-D feature film. It was released by [[United Artists]], which also put Stack in a Western, ''[[War Paint (1953 film)|War Paint]]'' (1953). He continued making similar low-budget action fare: ''[[Conquest of Cochise]]'' (1953) for [[Sam Katzman]]; ''[[Sabre Jet (film)|Sabre Jet]]'' (1953), playing another pilot, this time in the [[Korean War]]; ''[[The Iron Glove]]'' (1954), a swashbuckler where Stack played [[Charles Wogan]], for Katzman.

Stack was back in "A" pictures when he appeared opposite John Wayne in ''[[The High and the Mighty (film)|The High and the Mighty]]'' (1954), playing the pilot of an airliner who comes apart under stress after the airliner encounters engine trouble. The film was a hit, and Stack received good reviews. In 1954, he signed a seven-year contract with Fox.<ref>Parsons, Louella. "Robert Stack Signs Long Contract". ''The Washington Post and Times-Herald''. July 12, 1954: 15.</ref> [[Sam Fuller]] cast him in the lead of ''[[House of Bamboo]]'' (1955), shot in Japan for [[20th Century Fox]]. He supported [[Jennifer Jones]] in ''[[Good Morning, Miss Dove]]'' (1955), also at Fox, and starred in ''[[Great Day in the Morning]]'' (1956) at RKO, directed by [[Jacques Tourneur]].

[[File:Written on the wind7.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Stack in ''[[Written on the Wind]]'' (1956)]]
Stack was then given a role in ''[[Written on the Wind]]'' (1956), directed by [[Douglas Sirk]] and produced by [[Albert Zugsmith]]. Stack played another pilot, the son of a rich man who marries [[Lauren Bacall]], who in turn falls for his best friend, played by [[Rock Hudson]]. The film was a massive success and Stack was nominated for an [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor]]; [[Dorothy Malone]], who played Stack's sister, was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Malone won, but Stack lost, to [[Anthony Quinn]]. Stack felt that the primary reason he lost to Quinn was that 20th Century Fox, which had lent him to [[Universal Pictures##Universal-International and Decca Records|Universal-International]], organized block voting against him to prevent one of their contract players from winning an Academy Award while working at another studio.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/title.jsp?stid=96313&atid=52070&category=Articles&titleName=Written%20on%20the%20Wind&menuName=MAIN |title=Written on the Wind (1957) – Overview |website=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=September 19, 2015}}{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Stack was reunited with Hudson, Malone, Zugsmith, and Sirk on ''[[The Tarnished Angels]]'' (1957), once more playing a pilot. At Fox, he was in ''[[The Gift of Love]]'' (1958) with Bacall. Stack then was given a real star role, playing the title part in [[John Farrow]]'s biopic, ''[[John Paul Jones (film)|John Paul Jones]]'' (1959). Despite a large budget and an appearance by [[Bette Davis]], it was not a success.

[[File:Robert Stack Eliot Ness 1960.JPG|thumb|upright|Stack portraying prohibition agent [[Eliot Ness]] in the series ''[[The Untouchables (1959 TV series)|The Untouchables]]'' (1959)]]
Stack portrayed the crimefighting [[Eliot Ness]] in the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] television drama series ''[[The Untouchables (1959 TV series)|The Untouchables]]'' (1959–1963) produced by [[Desilu Productions]], in association with Stack's Langford Productions. The show portrayed the ongoing battle between gangsters and a special squad of federal agents in prohibition-era Chicago. "No one thought it was going to be a series," Stack once said, "When you tell the same story every week, it seemed like a vendetta between Ness and the Italians."<ref name="new">{{cite news |title=Robert Stack, 84, Who Starred In Television's 'Untouchables' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/16/arts/robert-stack-84-who-starred-in-television-s-untouchables.html |last=Lyman |first=Rick |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 16, 2003 |page=A25}}</ref> The show won Stack the [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series]] at the [[12th Primetime Emmy Awards]] in 1960.<ref>Korman, Seymour. "TV is Way of Life All Work and No Play for Robert Stack". ''Chicago Daily Tribune''. January 19, 1963: B6.</ref>

During the series' run, Stack starred in a disaster film, ''[[The Last Voyage]]'' (1960), appearing opposite Malone. At Fox, he was in ''[[The Caretakers (1963 film)|The Caretakers]]'' (1963) with [[Joan Crawford]] and he appeared in a special on hunting, ''The American Sportsman''.<ref>MacMinn, Aleene. "WEEKEND TV: Robert Stack Hunts Lions in New Series." ''Los Angeles Times''. January 30, 1965: B3.</ref> He owned 25% of ''The Untouchables'' and ''The Caretaker''.<ref name="don">Alpert, Don. "Untouchable? No, Not Robert Stack!" ''The Washington Post and Times-Herald''. August 9, 1963: B10.</ref> Stack worked in Europe for ''[[Is Paris Burning? (film)|Is Paris Burning?]]'' (1966), ''[[The Peking Medallion]]'' (1967), ''[[Action Man (1967 film)|Action Man]]'' (1967), and ''[[Story of a Woman]]'' (1970). He also appeared in ''[[Laura (1967 film)|Laura]]'' (1967).<ref>Manners, Dorothy. "Robert Stack Faces Another Publicized '1st Kiss'". ''The Washington Post and Times-Herald''. September 11, 1967: B6.</ref>

Stack starred in a new drama series, rotating the lead with [[Tony Franciosa]] and [[Gene Barry]] in the lavish ''[[The Name of the Game (TV series)|The Name of the Game]]'' (1968–1971). He played a former federal agent turned true-crime journalist, evoking memories of his role as Ness. In 1971, he sued CBS for $25 million for appearing in the documentary ''[[The Selling of the Pentagon]]'', saying that the company had falsely portrayed him as doing propaganda to sell the Vietnam War, while in fact he'd been opposed from the start.<ref>{{cite news |title=Robert Stack Files Suit Against C.B.S. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/07/14/archives/robert-stack-files-suit-against-cbs.html |agency=[[Associated Press]] |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 14, 1971 |page=71}}</ref>

Stack played a pilot in the TV film ''[[Murder on Flight 502]]'' (1975) and was the lead in the series ''[[Most Wanted (1976 TV series)|Most Wanted]]'' (1976), playing a tough, incorruptible police captain commanding an elite squad of special investigators, also evoking the Ness role. He later played a similar role in the series ''[[Strike Force (TV series)|Strike Force]]'' (1981).<ref>Miller, Ron. "Robert Stack's Law and Ardor". ''The Washington Post''. August 26, 1981: B3.</ref> He also starred in a French film, ''[[Second Wind (1978 film)|Second Wind]]'', in 1978.

[[File:Robert Stack on the red carpet at the 60th Annual Academy Awards cropped.jpg|thumb|left|Stack at the [[60th Academy Awards]] in 1988]]
Stack parodied his own persona in the comedy ''[[1941 (film)|1941]]'' (1979). His performance was well received and Stack became a comic actor, appearing in ''[[Airplane!]]'' (1980), ''[[Big Trouble (1986 film)|Big Trouble]]'' (1986), ''[[Plain Clothes (1988 film)|Plain Clothes]]'' (1988), ''[[Caddyshack II]]'' (1988), ''[[Joe Versus the Volcano]]'' (1990), ''[[Beavis and Butt-Head Do America]]'' (1996), and ''[[BASEketball]]'' (1998). He also provided the voice for the character [[Ultra Magnus]] in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' (1986). In a more serious vein, he appeared in the action film ''[[Uncommon Valor]]'' (1983), the television [[miniseries]] ''[[George Washington (miniseries)|George Washington]]'' (1984), and ''[[Hollywood Wives (miniseries)|Hollywood Wives]]'' (1985), and appeared in several episodes of the primetime soap opera ''[[Falcon Crest]]'' in 1986. Stack's series ''Strike Force'' was scheduled opposite ''Falcon Crest'', where it quickly folded.{{Citation needed|date=January 2012}}

He began hosting ''[[Unsolved Mysteries]]'' in 1987. He thought very highly of the interactive nature of the show, saying that it created a "symbiotic" relationship between viewer and program, and that the hotline was a great crime-solving tool. ''Unsolved Mysteries'' aired from 1987 to 2002, first as specials in 1987 (Stack did not host all the specials, which were previously hosted by [[Raymond Burr]] and [[Karl Malden]]), then as a regular series on [[National Broadcasting Company|NBC]] (1988–1997), then on [[Columbia Broadcasting Company|CBS]] (1997–1999) and [[Lifetime Television|Lifetime]] (2001–2002). Stack served as the show's host during its entire original series run.<ref>"Robert Stack Eyes His Steely Image. ''Chicago Tribune''. May 16, 1988: 7.</ref>

In 1991, Stack voiced the main police officer Lt. Littleboy (who is also the main protagonist and narrator) in ''The Real Story of Baa Baa Black Sheep''. In 1996, a Golden Palm Star on the [[Palm Springs, California]], [[Palm Springs Walk of Stars|Walk of Stars]] was dedicated to him.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.palmspringswalkofstars.com/web-storage/Stars/Stars%20dedicated%20by%20date.pdf |title=Palm Springs Walk of Stars by date dedicated |access-date=January 17, 2013 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013165655/http://www.palmspringswalkofstars.com/web-storage/Stars/Stars%20dedicated%20by%20date.pdf |archive-date=October 13, 2012 }}</ref>