Cast & creator
Robert Preston
Best known for The Merv Griffin Show, What's My Line?, Tony Awards
Robert Preston (June 8, 1918 – March 21, 1987) was an American stage and film actor and singer, best known for his collaboration with composer Meredith Willson and originating the role of Professor Harold Hill in the 1957 musical The Music Man and the 1962 film adaptation; the film earned him his first of two Golden Globe Award nominations. Preston collaborated twice with filmmaker Blake Edwards, first in S.O.B. (1981) and again in Victor/Victoria (1982). For portraying Carroll "Toddy" Todd in the latter, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 55th Academy Awards. Preston was born Robert Preston Meservey in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of a garment worker and a record store clerk. He attended Abraham Lincoln High School, training as a musician and playing several instruments, but quit at age sixteen to study acting at the Pasadena Community Playhouse. Preston made his Broadway debut in 1940 in the play The Philadelphia Story. He went on to star in a number of successful Broadway musicals, including The Pajama Game (1954), Damn Yankees (1955), and I Do! I Do! (1966). He also appeared in a number of films, including The Music Man (1962), The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960), and Victor/Victoria (1982). Preston was a versatile actor who could play a wide range of roles. He was known for his charisma, his singing voice, and his comic timing. He was a two-time Tony Award winner and was nominated for an Academy Award. He was also a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame. Preston died of cancer in 1987 at the age of 68. He was survived by his wife, Catherine Craig; the couple had no children. A biography of the actor, @Robert Preston - Forever The Music Man”, was published in 2022.
Also known as: Robert Preston Meservey
62
film credits
25
television credits
87
1938–2020 · acting roles
6.5
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (87)
Showing 87 of 87 credits
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
1962
What's My Line?
Self
1950
Tony Awards
Self - Host / Nominee/ Performer
1956Tony Awards
Self - Host
1956Tony Awards
Self - Presenter
1956Tony Awards
Self - Performer
1956Tony Awards
Self - Presenter / Performer
1956
Climax!
William Struthers
1954Climax!
Cleve Gordon
1954Climax!
Lt. Hogue
1954
Robert Montgomery Presents
Jeff Frazer
1950Robert Montgomery Presents
Professor Richard Wanley
1950
The 20th Century Fox Hour
1955
Your Show of Shows
1950Lux Video Theatre
Phil Baxter
1950Lux Video Theatre
Dowey
1950Lux Video Theatre
Jed Kennedy
1950Lux Video Theatre
Kelly
1950Lux Video Theatre
Isaac Eaton
1950Lux Video Theatre
Tom
1950
The Bell Telephone Hour
Self
1959
The World of Hammer
Self (archive footage)
1994
How the West Was Won
Roger Morgan
1962
The Last Starfighter
Centauri
1984
The Chisholms
Hadley Chisholm
1979
General Electric Theater
Jim Tweedy
1953
Victor/Victoria
Carroll 'Toddy' Todd
1982
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
This Gun for Hire
Det. Michael Crane
1942
Reap the Wild Wind
Dan Cutler
1942
The Music Man
Harold Hill
1962
The Last Frontier
Col. Frank Marston
1955
Union Pacific
Dick Allen
1939
Night of 100 Stars
Self
1982
Mame
Beauregard
1974
Blood on the Moon
Tate Riling
1948
Best of the Badmen
Matthew Fowler
1951
Night of 100 Stars II
Self
1985
Junior Bonner
Ace Bonner
1972
North West Mounted Police
Ronnie Logan
1940
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
Self (archive footage)
2004
Beau Geste
Digby Geste
1939
Disclosure
Carole 'Toddy' Todd (archive footage)
2020
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
Rubin Flood
1960
Semi-Tough
Big Ed Bookman
1977
S.O.B.
Dr. Irving Finegarten
1981
The Lady Gambles
David Boothe
1949
My Father's House
Tom Lindholm Sr.
1975
Wake Island
Pvt. Joe Doyle
1942
Tulsa
Brad Brady
1949
Going Hollywood: The '30s
Self - Host
1984
All the Way Home
Jay Follet
1963
Outrage!
Dennis Riordan
1986
Chita Rivera: A Lot Of Livin' To Do
Self (archive footage)
2015
When I Grow Up
Father Reed
1951
Star Spangled Rhythm
Robert Preston (uncredited)
1942
Broadway's Lost Treasures
Harold Hill (segment "The Music Man")
2003
Whispering Smith
Murray Sinclair
1948
Child's Play
Joseph Dobbs
1972
The Macomber Affair
Francis Macomber
1947
Variety Girl
Robert Preston
1947
New York Town
Paul Bryson, Jr.
1941
Pacific Blackout
Robert Draper
1941
The Night of January 16th
Steve Van Ruyle
1941
Finnegan Begin Again
Mike Finnegan
1985
Wings Up
Himself
1943
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg
Stranger
1980
The Lady from Cheyenne
Steve Lewis
1941
Island of Love
Steve Blair
1963
Night Plane from Chungking
Nick Stanton
1943
September Gun
Ben Sunday
1983
The Sundowners
James Cloud ('Kid Wichita')
1950
Parachute Battalion
Donald Morse
1941
Rehearsal for Murder
Alex Dennison
1982
Made in Heaven
Zachary Meredith
1956
Face to Face
Jack Potter
1952
Moon Over Burma
Chuck Lane
1940
Big City
Rev. Philip Y. Andrews
1948
King of Alcatraz
Robert MacArthur
1938
Sentinels in the Air
Narrator (voice)
1956
Illegal Traffic
Charles Bent Martin
1938
Disbarred
Bradley Kent
1939
Wild Harvest
Jim Davis
1947
Cloudburst
John Graham
1951Confession
Self - Host
1956
My Outlaw Brother
Joe Walter
1951
Typhoon
Johnny Potter
1940