Robert Conrad
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Robert Conrad (born either Conrad Robert Falk or Konrad Robert Falkowski on March 1, 1935 in Chicago, Illinois, although the year is still subject to question), is an American film and TV actor and director. He is primarily known for the 1965-1970 television series The Wild Wild West, in which he played the title character, James West. The movie remake starring Will Smith was based on this series, and Conrad was openly critical of the film.
Before The Wild Wild West, Conrad played Tom Lopaka in Hawaiian Eye. In the mid-1970s he played World War II fighter ace Pappy Boyington in Baa Baa Black Sheep. His half-brother, Larry Manetti, also appeared in this series.
In the late 1970s, Conrad served as the captain of the NBC team for six editions of Battle of the Network Stars. He also played a modern day variation of James West in the short-lived secret agent series A Man Called Sloane in 1979, around the same time he reprised the role of West in a pair of made-for-TV films.
Conrad was also widely identified in the late 1970s for his television commercials for Eveready batteries, particularly his challenge to the viewer to "knock the battery off my shoulder". The commercial was frequently parodied on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show and The Carol Burnett Show.
In 1988, Conrad starred in a short lived TV series called High Mountain Rangers with two of his sons.
In 2006, Conrad recorded special audio introductions for every episode of the first season of The Wild Wild West for its North American DVD release on June 6. The DVD set also included one of Conrad's Eveready battery commercials; in his introduction, Conrad stated that he was flattered to be parodied by Carson.
[edit] Personal life
Conrad is the father of eight children by two marriages. He lives in Bear Valley, California in the High Sierras with his current wife, LaVelda, and their children.
In the early 1950s he was graduated from Delbarton School, a college preparatory school in Morristown, New Jersey.
At the beginning of his career, one of his best friends was actor Nick Adams. In an interview, Red West, member of Elvis Presley's Memphis Mafia, says that in Hollywood Adams helped Conrad, who did Hawaiian Eye and Wild Wild West, "get into the first door." According to West, he, Adams, Presley and Conrad "played football every Sunday". (See RED WEST INTERVIEW.) Conrad was also good friends with Michael Spilotro, who was an associate of the Chicago Mafia Family, "The Outfit."
Conrad has been out of the public eye since 2003, when he was involved in a devastating car crash.
Politically, Conrad is a fiscally conservative Republican.
[edit] Trivia
- Conrad speaks Spanish.
- He is the only actor to be inducted into the Stuntman's Hall of Fame.
- In 1986, Conrad made a special appearance at the WWF's WrestleMania 2 event. Conrad was the special referee in the main event, a steel cage match for the WWF Championship between Hulk Hogan and King Kong Bundy.
[edit] External links
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