Jason Robards
Jason Nelson Robards Jr. (July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he gained a reputation as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill. Robards received numerous accolades and is one of 24 performers to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting having earned competitive wins for two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, and a Emmy Award. He was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1979, and earned the National Medal of Arts in 1997, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1999.
For his father, see Jason Robards Sr.
Jason Robards
December 26, 2000 (aged 78)
Jason Robards Jr.
Actor
1947–2000
6, including Sam Robards
Jason Robards Sr. (father)
1940–1946
Robards started his career in theatre, making his Broadway debut playing James Tyrone Jr. in the 1956 revival of the Eugene O'Neill play Long Day's Journey into Night earning a Theatre World Award. He earned the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role in the Budd Schulberg play Disenchanted (1959). His other Tony-nominated roles were in Long Day's Journey into Night (1956). Toys in the Attic (1960), After the Fall (1964), Hughie (1965), The Country Girl (1972), A Moon for the Misbegotten (1973), and A Touch of the Poet (1978).
He made his feature film debut in The Journey (1959). He went on to win two consecutive Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayals as Ben Bradlee in All the President's Men (1976), and Dashiell Hammett in Julia (1977). He was Oscar-nominated for playing Howard Hughes in Melvin and Howard (1980). His other notable films include Long Day's Journey into Night (1962), A Thousand Clowns (1965), Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), Parenthood (1989), Philadelphia (1993), Enemy of the State (1998), and Magnolia (1999).
On television, Robards won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his performance as Henry Drummond in the NBC television adaptation Inherit the Wind (1988). His other Emmy-nominated roles were in Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1964), A Moon for the Misbegotten (1975), Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977), and F.D.R.: The Last Year (1980).
Personal life[edit]
Marriages and family[edit]
Robards was married four times and had six children. With his first wife, Eleanor Pittman, Robards had three children, including Jason Robards III. His second marriage to actress Rachel Taylor lasted from April 1959 to May 1961. He and actress Lauren Bacall, his third wife whom he married in 1961, had one son, actor Sam Robards. Robards and Bacall divorced in 1969, in part due to his alcoholism.[23] Robards had two more children with his fourth wife, Lois O'Connor, and they remained married until his death.
Health issues and death[edit]
In 1972, Robards was seriously injured in an automobile crash when he drove his car into the side of a mountain on a winding California road, requiring extensive surgery and facial reconstruction. The crash may have been related to his longtime struggle with alcoholism.[9][10] Robards overcame his addiction and went on to publicly campaign for alcoholism awareness.[24][25] Robards was an American Civil War buff and scholar, an interest which informed his portrayal of the voice of Ulysses S. Grant in The Civil War series by filmmaker Ken Burns.
Robards was a resident of the Southport section of Fairfield, Connecticut.[26] He died of lung cancer in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on December 26, 2000. His remains were buried at Oak Lawn Cemetery in Fairfield.[27]