Cast & creator
Dale Robertson
Best known for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Mike Douglas Show, The Mike Douglas Show
Dayle Lymoine Robertson was an American actor best known for his starring roles on television. He played the roving investigator Jim Hardie in the long-running NBC/ABC hit television series Tales of Wells Fargo, and Ben Calhoun, the owner of an incomplete railroad line in ABC's The Iron Horse. He was often presented as a deceptively thoughtful but modest Western hero. From 1968 to 1970, Robertson was the fourth and final host of the syndicated Death Valley Days anthology series. For most of his career, Robertson played in western films and television shows—well over sixty titles in all. His best-remembered series, Tales of Wells Fargo aired on NBC from 1957 to 1961, when it moved to ABC and expanded to an hour-long program for its final season in 1961-1962. The show was originally produced by Nat Holt whom Robertson felt he owed his career to for giving him his first leading roles.[10] Robertson also did the narration for Tales of Wells Fargo through which he often presented his own commentary on matters of law, morality, and common sense. He was unique among his television contemporaries, stating that he hated the gun he was forced to carry, but saw it as a necessary evil, a "tool of the trade", and kept practicing.[citation needed] In its March 30, 1959, cover story on television westerns, Time reported Robertson was 6 feet tall, weighed 180 pounds, and measured 42-34-34. He sometimes made use of his physique in "beefcake" scenes, such as one in 1952's Return of the Texan where he is seen bare-chested and sweaty, repairing a fence. In 1960, Robertson guest-starred as himself in NBC's The Ford Show, starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.[12] In 1962, he similarly appeared on a short-lived western comedy and variety series, ABC's The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show. In 1963, after Tales of Wells Fargo ended its five-year run, he played the lead role in the first of A.C. Lyles' second feature westerns, Law of the Lawless.
Also known as: Dayle Lymoine Robertson
46
film credits
28
television credits
73
1948–2007 · acting roles
6.4
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (74)
Showing 74 of 74 credits
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
1962
The Mike Douglas Show
Self - Co-Host
1961The Mike Douglas Show
Self
1961
The Love Boat
Mason Fleers
1977
Murder, She Wrote
Lee Goddard (uncredited)
1984
Dallas
Frank Crutcher
1978
Dynasty
Walter Lankershim
1981
Climax!
1954Climax!
Nicky Jordan
1954
The Red Skelton Show
Robinson Crusoe
1951
The Steve Allen Show
Self
1956The Steve Allen Show
Self - Guest
1956
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Self
1956
The 20th Century Fox Hour
Lt. Clay Tucker
1955
The Ford Television Theatre
Donny Weaver
1952
Studio 57
1954
This Is Your Life
Self
1952
Tales of Wells Fargo
Jim Hardie
1957
Hollywood Squares
Self
1966
The Hollywood Palace
Self
1964
The Johnny Cash Show
Self
1969
J.J. Starbuck
J.J. Starbuck
1987
Harts of the West
1993The George Burns Show
Self
1958
Death Valley Days
Self - Host
1952
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Jim Hardie
1951
The Iron Horse
Ben Calhoun
1966
O. Henry's Full House
Barney Woods (segment "The Clarion Call")
1952
The Boy with Green Hair
Policeman (uncredited)
1948The Boy with Green Hair
1948
Law of the Lawless
Judge Clem Rogers
1964
The Secret of Convict Lake
Narrator (Voice) (uncredited)
1951
Elvis: That's the Way It Is
Self (uncredited)
1970
Two Flags West
Lem
1950
The Walking Major
Major Clark J. Allen
1970
Melvin Purvis G-Man
Melvin Purvis
1975
The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang
Judge Isaac Parker
1979
Legends of the West
Maj. Robert Parrish in 'Sitting Bull' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1992
Flamingo Road
Tunis Simms (uncredited)
1949East Connection
1970
Take Care of My Little Girl
Joe Blake
1951
Sitting Bull
Bob Parrish
1954
City of Bad Men
Brett Stanton
1953
Top of the World
Lee Gannon
1955
The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story
2000
Devil's Canyon
Billy Reynolds
1953
Fighting Man of the Plains
Jesse James
1949
Blood on the Arrow
Wade Cooper
1964
The Man from Button Willow
Justin Eagle (voice)
1965The Man from Button Willow
Presenter
1965
The Farmer Takes a Wife
Dan Harrow
1953
The Kansas City Massacre
Melvin Purvis
1975
A Day of Fury
Jagade
1956
The Gambler from Natchez
Vance Colby
1954
Golden Girl
Tom Richmond
1951
The One Eyed Soldiers
Richard Owen
1966
The Cariboo Trail
Will Gray
1950
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
John Oakhurst
1952
Tim Conway: Timeless Comedy
Self (archive footage)
2007
Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon
Jim Hardie
1961
Return of the Texan
Sam Crockett
1952
Lure of the Wilderness
Opening off-screen Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
1952
Dakota Incident
John Banner
1956
Fast and Sexy
Raffaele
1958
Hell Canyon Outlaws
Sheriff Caleb Wells
1957
Son of Sinbad
Sinbad
1955
Scalplock
Benjamin Calhoun
1966
The Silver Whip
Race Crim
1953
Call Me Mister
Capt. Johnny Comstock
1951
Lydia Bailey
Albion Hamlin
1952
Coast of Skeletons
A.J. Magnus
1965
The High Terrace
Bill Lang
1956The Living Swamp
Narrator