Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage and in film and television. He played as Charles Halloway in the 1983 Disney film Something Wicked This Way Comes, The King in The Adventures of Huck Finn, Larry Cook in A Thousand Acres, Mr. Bodwin in Beloved, Congressman Phillip Hammersley in Enemy of the State, Rear Admiral Anderson in Crimson Tide, and Grandfather in the 1993 television film Heidi. He also portrayed Mark Twain in the 1991 Disney Channel Premiere Film Mark Twain and Me.
Robards was born July 26, 1922, in Chicago, Illinois and excelled in athletics during his junior year at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles. Although his prowess in sports attracted interest from several universities, Robards decided to enlist in the United States Navy upon his graduation in 1940. Following the war's end, Robards moved to New York City and began working on radio and stage productions. His first role was the 1947 short film Follow That Music, but he greater success on the stage in José Quintero's 1956 off Broadway theatre revival production The Iceman Cometh. He would appear many shows over the years, such as Long Day's Journey into Night, Hughie, A Touch of the Poet, A Moon for the Misbegotten, A Thousand Clowns, Ah, Wilderness!, Toys in the Attic, After the Fall, You Can't take it With You, The Country Girl, No Man's Land, and The Disenchanted, where he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.
After his Broadway success, he was invited to make his feature debut in The Journey, which led to other films, like Act One, Hour of the Gun, The Night They Raided Minsky's, Once Upon a Time in the West, The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, Julius Caesar (1970), Tora! Tora! Tora!, A Boy and His Dog, Johnny Got His Gun, Murders in the Rue Morgue, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, All the President's Men, Julia, Melvin and Howard, The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Max Dugan Returns, Parenthood, Philadelphia, The Enemy Within, and Magnolia. He also appeared made-for-TV films and miniseries, like The House Without a Christmas Tree, The Thanksgiving Treasure, The Easter Promise, Addie and the King of Hearts, Washington: Behind Closed Doors, A Christmas to Remember, F.D.R.: The Last Year, Sakharov, Inherit the Wind, The Christmas Wife, The Civil War, and Chernobyl: The Final Warning.
Aside from Oscar and Emmy awards, Robards received the U.S. National Medal of Arts in 1997 as well as being among the recipients at the Kennedy Center Honors, an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture.
On December 26, 2000; Robards passed away from lung cancer and his remains were buried at Oak Lawn Cemetery in Fairfield, Connecticut.
Disney Roles[]
(Something Wicked This Way Comes)
(Heidi)
(Enemy of the State)
Gallery[]
