A Western sunset
Gazette staff
February 27th, 2013
Oklahoma native and longtime movie and TV star Dale Robertson died yesterday in California. He was 89.
Born in Harrah, he served in World War II, where he was twice injured in combat, and briefly was a prizefighter before eventually drifting into acting. Hollywood came knocking after movie agents noticed photos of Robertson, who had been stationed after the war at San Luis Obispo, Calif., in the storefront window of a Los Angeles photography store.
Tall, strikingly handsome and with a resemblance to Clark Gable, Robertson seemed a natural for movies.
He eventually made more than 60 films, mostly in 1950s-era B westerns. His biggest success came with TV's Tales of Wells Fargo, in which he played Wells Fargo agent Jim Hardie, from 1957 to '62. Other TV roles included Iron Horse, Dynasty and J.J. Starbuck. In the 1960s, he joined Ronald Reagan, Robert Taylor and others as among the narrators of TV’s Death Valley Days.
Robertson's prominence in Westerns earned him induction in the Great Western Performers and the Cowboy Hall of Fame.
In retirement, Robertson and his wife, Susan, lived on his Haymaker Farms ranch near Yukon.
ROBERTSON, Dale (Dayle Lymoine Robertson)
Born: 7/14/1923, Harrah, Oklahoma, U.S.A.
Died: 2/27/2013, U.S.A.
Dale Robertson’s westerns – actor, voice:
Fighting Man of the Plains – 1949 (Jesse James)
The Cariboo Trail – 1950 (Will Gray)
Two Flags West – 1950 (Lem)
The Secret of Convict Lake – 1951 [narrator]
Return of the Texan – 1952 (Sam Crockett)
The Outcasts of Poker Flat – 1952 (John Oakhurst)
The Silver Whip – 1953 (Race Crim)
Devil’s Canyon – 1953 (Billy Reynolds)
City of Bad Men – 1953 (Brett Stanton)
The Gambler from Natchez – 1954 (Captain Wayne Colby)
Sitting Bull – 1954 (Major Robert ‘Bob’ Parrish)
A Day of Fury – 1956 (Jagade)
Dakota Incident – 1956 (John Banner)
Hell Canyon Outlaws – 1957 (Sheriff Caleb)
Tales of Wells Fargo (TV) – 1957-1962 (Jim Hardie)
Law of the Lawless – 1964 (Judge Clem Rogers)
Blood on the Arow – 1964 (Wade Cooper)
Diamond Jim: Skullduggery in Samantha (TV) – 1965 (Diamond Jim Brady)
The Man from Button Willow – 1965 (Justin Eagle) [voice]
Scalplock (TV) – 1966 (Benjamin Calhoun)
Iron Horse (TV) – 1966-1968 (Ben Calhoun)
Death Valley Days (TV) – 1968-1970 [host]
The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang (TV) – 1979 (Judge Isaac Parker)
Harts of the West (TV) – 1993, 1994 (Zeke)