Robert Conrad is an American actor whose career lasted over 37 years. Not only did Mr. Conrad act he also directed many films and TV shows during his lengthy career. He is most remembered for his work on the
CBS television show The Wild Wild West.
Early Life:
Konrad Robert Falkowski was born on the 1st of March 1929. Since the beginning of his life Robert has been a rebel. At the age of 17 he lied to get a job at the docks, this is the only place he could find a job that paid anything substantial. You may be wondering how his name got changed from Konrad Robert Falkowski to Robert Conrad; well while working down at the docks he decided to get married to the daughter of a lawyer, because he knew his parents would find them and annul the marriage, he started using the name Robert Conrad. This took care of the problem and their parents only found them after they told them where they were; they did this because his wife was having a baby. With a beginning like this who could have thought that Konrad would turn out to be the great actor-director Robert Conrad.
TV Career:
Robert Conrad's acting career was not one that took long to blossom; after staring in a few uncredited roles he started to land small roles in shows such as Law Man, Sea Hunt, and 77 Sunset Strip. His first real big break came when he landed the role of Tom Lopaka on Hawaiian Eye. This show was a spinoff of 77 Sunset Strip and Robert was one of the actors lucky enough to have their character carried over from the previous show. Robert Conrad worked on 91 episodes of this show and people loved it so much that they rank this right up there with his work on The Wild Wild West. After leaving Hawaiian Eye Robert went to work on The Wild Wild West, he stared in 104 episodes of this show making it his best work ever. Later on in his life Robert would get the opportunity to work on shows such as Mission: Impossible, Jesse Hawkes, and high Sierra Search and Rescue.
Other achievements:
Although he played in so many shows; he has not been as highly awarded as other people who have been in the business for much less time than him. But he has still been able to grab a nomination for a Golden Globe and a People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Performer in a New TV Program. True to his rebel nature Robert is one of the few actors to even dare to perform his own stunts. Many times, this is what got him into trouble. For example while working on the set of The Wild Wild West he fell 12 stories and upon landing hit his head on solid concrete; this was while performing a stunt. Yes one can argue that this was dumb but Robert would not have been Robert if he let somebody take away his rebel spirit. If you have not seen any of his work I suggest you do so whenever you get the time.
