Born 01/13/1919
A strapping, steely-eyed, resolute leading man, in films from 1939, Robert Stack first won notice for giving teenage singing star Deanna Durbin her famous first onscreen kiss in "First Love". Stack continued doing well for a time, appearing as Jack Benny's rival for Carole Lombard's affections in Ernst Lubitsch's famous WWII satire, "To Be or Not To Be" (1942). After WWII service, however, Stack tread water for a time in Hollywood in routine fare. He rebounded strongly in the late 1950s, though, giving powerful performances in two Douglas Sirk melodramas: "Written on the Wind" (1956), which earned him an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor, and "The Tarnished Angels" (1957). Soon thereafter, Stack would play the role for which is perhaps still best remembered, that of gangster-buster Eliot Ness on TV's hard-hitting "The Untouchables" (ABC, 1959-1963). Years later, Stack wryly spoofed his humorless tough-guy image in the hilarious comedy, "Airplane!" (1980). A later generation of TV audiences would come to know the aging but still healthy and rugged-looking star from his hosting duties on TV's "Unsolved Mysteries" (NBC, 1988-97; CBS, 1998- ).
