Matinee Classics - Robert Urich Biography & Filmography

Robert Urich ACTOR

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ROBERT URICH BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Robert Urich was born on December 19th, 1946 in Toronto, Ohio with the birth name Robert Michael Urich. He was raised in Ohio and excelled in football during high school therefore, earning a scholarship to study at Florida State University where he earned a B.A. in Communications. He followed this degree with obtaining his masters from Michigan State University and went on to find work at WGN radio in Chicago, Illinois working as a sales representative.

Later he found work as a Television weatherman and it was then that he realized how much he enjoyed being in front of the camera. Soon he began finding work as a stage actor appearing in such productions as, "The Rainmaker".

After relocating to California he began to find work on a number of television series such as, "The F.B.I." 91972), "Kung Fu" (1973), "Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law" (1973), "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" (1973) and "Marcus Welby, M.D" (1973).

Urich then got his big break working with Aaron Spielberg on the television series, "S.W.A.T." (1975). The series only lasted one season, however, Urich made a good impression on Spielberg and luckily, just three years later he was cast in another Spielberg series, "Vega$" (1978) which had a more successful run.

Other credits he soon began to add to his resume were roles on such television series, "The Lazarus Man", "Love Boat: The Next Wave", "Gavillan", "The Mistral's Daughter", "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color", "Spenser For Hire", "Lonesome Dove" and "Carol & Company".

Although he had been diagnosed with cancer, he was able to recover and go into remission. He and his wife established the Heather and Robert Urich Fund for Sarcoma Research at the university of Michigan and spent a lot of their spare time devoted to cancer research and education.

He continued acting after overcoming cancer and along with working as a television series actor, he also appeared in a variety of television movies such as, "The Defiant Ones" (1986), "Dragon Fight" (1989), "Murder By Night" (1989), "Stranger at my Door" (1991), "Revolver" (1992) and "The World's Greatest Magic" (1994).

Some of his final roles were in the television series, "First Years" (2001), "Emeril" (2001) and the television movies, "The President's Man: A Line in the Sand" (2002), "Night of the Wolf" (2002) and "Aftermath" (2002).

Robert Urich married twice throughout his lifetime, first to Barbara Rucker in 1968 and this marriage lasted until 1974. He then married Heather Menzies-Urich in 1975 and they had three children together and remained married until he passed away at the age of fifty five on April 16th, 2002 in Thousand Oaks, California after again suffering from cancer.

Filmography

2003 Aftermath

2002 Night of the Wolf

2002 Clover Bend

2002 The President's Man: A Line in the Sand

2001 Emeril

2001 First Years

2001 For Love of Olivia

2001 Late Boomers

1999 Miracle on the 17th Green

1999 Final Run

1998 Love Boat: The Next Wave