Robert Knapp (actor)

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Robert Knapp
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	May 17, 2001(2001-05-17) (aged 77) Glendale, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Spouse	Marilyn Remillard

Robert Knapp (February 24, 1924,

.

Background

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As a teenager, Knapp worked on his father's orange grove in

making training films, he returned to Warner Brothers, where he was employed in the publicity department and then as a second assistant director.

His acting career was launched after he was seen playing opposite

Charles Ruggles

in the play One Fine Day.

Knapp's father was president of the Aurbaugh Department Store in

early in his career. They were both active sculptors. He built his own badminton court in his backyard.

Films

Knapp's first film role, uncredited, was in 1951 in Rogue River with Rory Calhoun and Peter Graves. He subsequently appeared in Mesa of Lost Women (1953), as pilot Grant Phillips, Scandal Incorporated. (1956), as tabloid reporter Jess Blanchar, Rawhide Trail (1957), as Farley Durand, and Revolt at Fort Laramie (1957), as Lt. Chick Waller.

In 1959, Knapp was cast in the lead as Gil Reardon in the film Gunmen from Laredo and he played the coroner "Morty" in Roman Polanski's Chinatown. (1974). His other film roles included Hot Car Girl as Detective Lieutenant Ryan (1958), The Threat as Steve Keenan (1960), and The Stoolie as "Big Daddy" (1972).^[1] He appeared in numerous other films without credit.

Television

In 1955, Knapp appeared as the controversial outlaw, gunfighter, and marshal Jim Courtright on the syndicated anthology series Stories of the Century, starring and narrated by Jim Davis. Knapp was cast as Tom Dixon, a former outlaw trying to change his life and marry his sweetheart in the 1960 episode, "The Devil's Due", on the syndicated anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews.

Knapp's longest-running television roles were between 1965 and 1971 in eleven episodes of

, including five times as agent Noel McDonald. His last appearance in the series was in the role of Lee Amboy in "Superstition Rock" on November 28, 1971.

Knapp appeared three times each on The Roy Rogers Show and Laramie. In the latter NBC western series starring John Smith and Robert Fuller, he was cast as Brodie in "Night of the Quiet Men" (December 22, 1959), as Snow in "The Passing of Kuba Smith" (January 3, 1961), and as Gibbs in "The Last Battleground" (April 16, 1963).

In 1959, he starred in the lead "The Frank Butler Story" of the CBS fantasy drama, The Millionaire. Also that year he played the role of Stuart Baxter in the Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Caretaker's Cat." He made two other appearances in different roles in 1963: Charles Lambert in "The Case of the Bluffing Blast," and James Bradisson in "The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito." On December 2, 1960, he guest starred in NBC's Michael Shayne as Arthur Hudson in the episode "Blood on Biscayne Bay". That same week he played Joe Tydell in "The Cavedivers" of the CBS sea drama The Aquanauts. Several months earlier, he had played Andy Watson in the episode "Underwater Narcotics" of a similar series, the syndicated Sea Hunt starring Lloyd Bridges.

Between November 10 and December 13, 1965, he was cast nine times as Ben Olson on the long-running

.

Twice Knapp appeared on the following:

, the first network western to be one hour in length, he played Frank Thorne in "Massacre at Gunsight Pass" (May 1, 1961), and Deputy Rankin in "Wanted for the Murder of Cheyenne Bodie" (December 10, 1962).

Knapp appeared on such westerns as

, reunited him with series star Ron Hayes, with whom he had been cast in the film Gunmen from Laredo.

Knapp's last role was in 1975 in the

, in which he played Lieutenant Stone in the unusually titled episode "Gaffing the Skim".

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951	FBI Girl	Lockwood	Uncredited
1951	Fixed Bayonets!	Chuck	Uncredited
1952	Just This Once	Elevator Operator	Uncredited
1952	Without Warning!	Young Policeman	Uncredited
1952	Strange Fascination	Jack
1953	I Love Melvin	Henneman Aide	Uncredited
1953	Mesa of Lost Women	Grant Phillips
1954	Silent Raiders	Lt. Finch
1955	The Long Gray Line	Lieutenant	Uncredited
1956	Revolt at Fort Laramie	Lt. Chick Waller
1956	Jubal	Jake Slavin	Uncredited
1956	Screaming Eagles	Co-Pilot	Uncredited
1956	Scandal Incorporated	Jess Blanchard - Tabloid Reporter
1957	Tomahawk Trail	Pvt. Barrow
1957	Outlaw's Son	Deputy Marshal Raph Striker
1958	Hot Car Girl	Det. Lt. Ryan
1959	Gunmen from Laredo	Gil Reardon
1970	Airport	Jack Dunlap - Passenger	Uncredited
1972	The Stoolie	Big Daddy at Pool

References

External links

• Robert Knapp at
  IMDb