|
||||||||
|
Written By Rick Ellis, April 16th, 2002 Television tough guy Robert Urich, an Emmy-winning actor best known for his starring roles in sleuth series such as Vega$ and Spenser: For Hire, died Tuesday of cancer. He was 55. If there was ever someone who deserved the title of "Journeyman Television Actor," it's Robert Urich. For the past twenty-five years, Robert Urich has been one of the most popular and prolific actors on television. His "TVQ", an index of recognition and likeability, is not surprisingly one of the highest in television, ranking in the top five. Urich has starred in over fifteen weekly television series’ including the popular and long-running series’ Spenser: For Hire and Vega$, which consistently earned top 20 ratings. Urich received the 1992 Cable Ace Award for Informational Host of National Geographic’s Explorer, which he hosted for three years. He also received a 1992 Emmy Award for his narration of the Explorer film U-Boats: Terror on Our Shores. While the majority of his career was spent in television, he did make a number of stage apearances, including "The Hasty Heart" in which he teamed with his wife, Heather Menzies, at the Kennedy Center for the Arts. He also completed a starring role as Billy Flynn in the touring company of "Chicago," ending his successful run on Broadway. A small town high school football hero of Toronto, Ohio, Urich earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Radio and Television Communications at Florida Sate University while on a four-year football scholarship. Urich made his stage debut by talking his way into a community theater production of Lovers and Other Strangers. He spent the next 18 months performing at Chicago’s Ivanhoe Theater and the Arlington Park and Pheasant Run Theaters, during which time he caught the attention of a talent agent and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a professional career. He landed his first series starring role in Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice, which was based on the controversial movie of the same title. Shortly thereafter, he made his feature film debut in Clint Eastwood’s second outing as Dirty Harry Callahan, "Magnum Force" – speaking five lines before being crushed under a motorcycle by Eastwood’s speeding car. Urich's bread and butter role was the cop/detective and he began to work steadily in television with the police series S.W.A.T. and then his own starring roles in Vega$ and Gavilan. He has worked consistently ever since. In 1996, following the final production of the first season of The Lazarus Man, Robert was diagnosed with Synovial Cell Sarcoma, which is a rare soft tissue cancer. He had chemotherapy, radiation treatments and two operations in the mid-'90s to combat the cancer. While he wasn't publicly bitter about his illness, he was very vocal about the decision to shelve Lazarus Man after a strong first season. Urich sued Castle Rock Television, which produced the show, for nearly $1.5 million two years ago, claiming the show was cancelled by the production company because he had cancer. In July 1996, Urich had told Castle Rock he had cancer and would have to undergo treatment, but his lawsuit said he was able to perform under the agreement both parties signed. The breach of contract suit sought the amount, about $73,000 per episode, he would have received for the second season of Lazarus Man. While he resumed his acting career the next year, he devoted increasing amounts of time to speaking tours and fund raisers. He has been awarded many honors including the Gilda Radner Courage Award from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. "Charge forward with hope and get the best medical advice you can," Urich urged an audience during a public speaking engagement last year in Wisconsin. "Talk to your friends, neighbours, family, and together you attack it. We can't always control what happens to us, but we can always control how we react to it." His most recent television roles have included a regular spot on this season's NBC series Emeril and a role as The President in a recent two-hour CBS Walker, Texas Ranger telemovie. He is survived by his wife, Heather, and three children, Ryan, Emily, and Allison. A memorial service is planned for Friday in Los Angeles. Television Credits:
|
||||||||
