Rod Taylor

Infobox actor

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name = Rod Taylor
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birthname = Rodney Sturt Taylor
birthdate = birth date and age|1930|1|11
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Rodney Sturt Taylor (born January 11, 1930) is an Australian-born film and television actor. His middle name comes from his great-great grand uncle, Captain Charles Sturt, a famous British explorer of Australia.

Life

Born in Lidcombe, a suburb of Sydney, Taylor was the only child of William Sturt Taylor, a steel construction contractor, and the former Mona Stewart, a writer of plays and children's books.

He had attended Sydney Technical and Fine Arts College before deciding to become an actor after having seen Laurence Olivier in an Old Vic touring production in Australia.

After acquiring radio and stage experience in Australia (his radio work included a stint on "Blue Hills"), Taylor moved to the United States in 1954, where he became a leading man in feature films of the 1960s and 1970s.

In the 1960-1961 television season, Taylor starred as a foreign correspondent Glenn Evans in the ABC series "Hong Kong". His principal costar was Lloyd Bochner. The program faced stiff competition on Wednesday evenings from NBC's "Wagon Train" during the season in which Ward Bond died of a heart attack and was replaced as trailmaster by John McIntire in the role of Chris Hale. In 1962, Taylor starred in an episode of "The DuPont Show of the Week" (NBC) entitled "The Ordeal of Dr. Shannon", an adaptation of A. J. Cronin's novel, "Shannon's Way".

Equally adept at light comedy and drama, Taylor's best-known films are the film version of H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" (1960) and Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" (1963). Other films include "Sunday in New York" (1963), "Fate is the Hunter" (1964), "Young Cassidy" (as the young Sean O'Casey, 1965), "The Glass Bottom Boat" (1966) with Doris Day, "Darker Than Amber" (1970), "The Picture Show Man" (1977), and "Cry of the Innocent" (1980). In 1993, Taylor hosted "Time Machine: The Journey Back" directed by Clyde Lucas. At the end of the special there was a mini-sequel, written by David Duncan, original writer of the George Pal classic. Taylor recreated his role as George, reuniting him with Filby (Alan Young).

Married life

Married to third wife Carol Kikumura, Taylor is the father of former CNN financial reporter Felicia Taylor (born 1964), from an earlier marriage.

A life-long artist, he had homes in southern California and in Australia.

Partial filmography

*"King of the Coral Sea" (1953) (film debut)
*"Long John Silver" (1954)
*"Top Gun" (1955)
*"World Without End" (1956)
*"The Catered Affair" (1956)
*"Giant" (1956)
*"Raintree County" (1957)
*"Separate Tables" (1958)
*"Ask Any Girl" (1959)
*"The Time Machine" (1960)
*"One Hundred and One Dalmatians" (1961) (voice-Pongo)
*"The Birds" (1963)
*"A Gathering of Eagles" (1963)
*"The V.I.P.s" (1963)
*"Sunday in New York" (1963)
*"Fate Is the Hunter" (1964)
*"36 Hours" (1965)
*"Young Cassidy" (1965)
*"The Liquidator" (1965)
*"Do Not Disturb" (1965)
*"The Glass Bottom Boat" (1966)
*"Hotel" (1967)
*"Chuka" (1967)
*"Dark of the Sun" (a.k.a. "The Mercenaries") (1968)
*"The High Commissioner" (a.k.a. "Nobody Runs Forever") (1968)
*"Zabriskie Point" (1970)
*"Darker Than Amber" (1970, as Travis McGee
*"Family Flight" (1972) (TV)
*"The Train Robbers" (1973)
*"Trader Horn" (1973)
*"The Deadly Trackers" (1973)
*"A Matter of Wife... And Death" (1976)
*"The Picture Show Man" (1977)
*"Cry of the Innocent" (1980)
*"A Time to Die" (1982)
*"" (1993) (short)
*"Point of Betrayal" (1995)
*"Welcome to Woop Woop" (1998)
*"" (1998) (TV)
*"KAW" (2007)

TV shows

Taylor has had several lead roles in television, from the early 1960s to the early 2000s. Among his TV shows are
*"The Twilight Zone" (1959)
*"Hong Kong" (1960)
*"Bearcats!" (1971)
*"The Oregon Trail" (1976)
*"Masquerade" (1983)
*"Outlaws" (1986)

Among semi-regular appearances or multiple episodes:
*"Playhouse 90"
*"Walker, Texas Ranger"
*"Murder She Wrote"
*"Falcon Crest"

External links

*imdb name|id=0001792|name=Rod Taylor
* [http://www.rodtaylorsite.com The Complete Rod Taylor site]

Persondata
NAME= Taylor, Rod
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Taylor, Rodney Sturt
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Actor
DATE OF BIRTH= 1930-1-11
PLACE OF BIRTH= Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=