Biography
While never achieving star status, or even top billing in the many films he appeared in, Robert Donner's face is very recognizable as a popular character actor of the '60s, '70s and '80s. Raised in New Jersey and Texas, Donner wound up in Los Angeles after a stint in the Navy. He was working odd jobs when his neighbor, Clint Eastwood, suggested that he try his hand at acting. Gaunt with heavy eyes and angular features, Donner's distinctive look made him easy to cast as menacing bad guys or comic heavies. He debuted in "Rio Bravo" with John Wayne and also appeared in the films "El Dorado" and "Rio Lobo" and on TV in "Rawhide," "Laredo," "The Big Valley," and "Bonanza." As the trend in the '70s switched from Westerns to crime dramas Donner went along, playing on episodes of "The Mod Squad," "Adam-12," and "S.W.A.T.." Still, he remained close to his Western roots, working with Eastwood in "High Plains Drifter" in 1973. Some of his more memorable television roles were as Yancy Tucker on "The Waltons" and the weird Exidor on "Mork and Mindy." He slowed down in the '90s but did find time to take a starring role on the 1995 series "Legend." Donner was just as well known in the Los Angeles celebrity community as he was on screen as an avid golfer, fundraiser, and popular "corporate speaker" in the Hollywood area. He died in 2006 at the age of 75.
