Robert George Young  (February 22, 1907 – July 21, 1998) was an American television, film, and radio actor, best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best (NBC and then CBS) and as physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. (ABC).
Young appeared in over 100 films between 1931 and 1952. After appearing on stage, Young was signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and, in spite of having a "tier B" status, he co-starred with some of the studio's most illustrious actresses, such as Katharine Hepburn, Margaret Sullavan, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Helen Hayes, Luise Rainer, Hedy Lamarr, and Helen Twelvetrees. Yet, most of his assignments consisted of B movies, also known as "programmers," which required two to three weeks of shooting (considered very brief shooting periods at the time). Actors who were relegated to such a hectic schedule appeared, as Young did, in some six to eight movies per year.
As an MGM contract player, Young was resigned to the fate of most of his colleagues—to accept any film assigned to him or risk being placed on suspension—and many actors on suspension were prohibited from earning a salary from any endeavor at all (even those unrelated to the film industry). In 1936, MGM summarily loaned Young to Gaumont British for two films; the first was directed by Alfred Hitchcock with the other co-starring Jessie Matthews. While there he surmised that his employers intended to terminate his contract, but he was mistaken.
He unexpectedly received one of his most rewarding roles late in his MGM career, in H.M. Pulham, Esq., featuring one of Hedy Lamarr's most effective performances. He once remarked that he was assigned only those roles which Robert Montgomery and other A-list actors had rejected.
After his contract ended at MGM, Young starred in light comedies as well as in trenchant dramas for studios such as 20th Century Fox, United Artists, and RKO Radio Pictures. From 1943, Young assayed more challenging roles in films like Claudia, The Enchanted Cottage, They Won't Believe Me, The Second Woman, and Crossfire. His portrayal of unsympathetic characters in several of these later films—which was seldom the case in his MGM pictures—was applauded by numerous reviewers.
Young's career began an incremental and imperceptible decline, despite a propitious beginning as a freelance actor without the nurturing of a major studio. He continued starring as a leading man in the late 1940s and early 1950s, but only in mediocre films, then he subsequently disappeared from the silver screen - only to reappear several years later on a much smaller one.
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as (archive footage) (uncredited)
as (archive footage)
as Dr. Marcus Welby
as Joe Woldarski
as Roswell Gilbert
as Dr. Marcus Welby
as Self (archive footage)
as Mr. Laurence(2 eps)
as Jim Anderson
as James Anderson
as (archive footage)
as Self(2 eps)
as Self(1 ep)
as (archive footage) (uncredited)
as Judge Charles Raleigh
as Judge Charles Raleigh
as Dr. Marcus Welby(2 eps)
as Sen. Earl Gannon(2 eps)
as Dr. Marcus Welby(171 eps)
as Marcus Welby
as Self(1 ep)
as Herman Allison(1 ep)
as Self - Guest(1 ep)
as Self - Host(1 ep)
as Nick Holloway(1 ep)
as Himself
as Self(1 ep)
as Dr. Gilbert Winfield(1 ep)
as Self - Guest(1 ep)
as Self(1 ep)
as Lieutenant Commander Knowles(1 ep)
as Jim Anderson(203 eps)
as Stanley Moorehead
as Narrator
as Self(1 ep)
as Dan Craig
as Doctor James Merrill
as Jeff Cohalan
as Self(4 eps)
as Vernon 'Vern' Walsh
as Steve Adams
as Philip Bosinney
as Dr. Andrew Sheldon
as Self(2 eps)
as Nick Buckley
as Harry King
as Finlay
as Larry Ballentine
as Larry Scott
as Alex Hazen
as David Naughton
as Lt. Hurley 'Hank' Travers
as Oliver Bradford
as Cuffy Williams
as Self - Nominee(1 ep)
as (archive footage)
as David Naughton
as Samuel Magee
as Bob Stuart
as John Davis
as Homer Smith
as Joe Smith
as Harry Moulton Pulham
as Randolph Haven
as Edward 'Eddie' Crane
as Richard Blake
as Jimmy Blake
as Douglas Lamont
as Myles Vanders
as Fritz Marberg
as Anton Erban
as Langdon Towne
as Himself
as Michael Morgan
as Charles 'Slim' Martin
as Neil McGill
as Self (uncredited)
as Brooks Mason / George Smith
as David Linden
as Bill Harrison
as Self
as Andre Vallaire
as Fritz Hagedorn
as Pierre Brassard
as Gottfried Lenz
as Roger 'Rog' Ash
as Rudolph 'Rudi' Pal
as Self (archive footage)
as Grand Duke Peter
as Tom Wakefield
as Gene Anders
as Hank
as Tommy Randall
as Charley Phelps
as Henry 'Hank' Sherman
as Hugh McKenzie
as Joe Hatcher
as Robert Marvin
as Peter Carlton
as Jack Bristow
as Tony Milburn
as Jeff
as Preston Patton
as Tony Spear
as Little Mike Stone
as Tony Ferrera
as Larry Kelly
as Pat
as Jack Forrester
as Radio Announcer (uncredited)
as Capt. Fitzroy
as William 'Bill' Drexel
as John Stafford
as Will Connelly
as Bobby Preble
as Jim Fowler
as Alec (Son)
as Lieut. (JG) 'Brick' Walters
as Claude William Hope
as Geoffrey Aiken
as Gordon Evans as a young man
as Ricardo
as Dick Ogden
as Ralph Thomas
as Kip Tarleton
as Graham - Pilot Reporting Missing Airplanes (uncredited)
as Marco Ricca, also known as Marco Smith
as Dr.Claudet
as Jimmy Bradshaw
as Party Guest (uncredited)
as Student at Dance / at Beach (uncredited)
