Robert Middleton

Robert Middleton, born Samuel Abraham Messer on May 13, 1911, in Cincinnati, Ohio, was an American actor whose imposing physical presence, heavy brows, and resonant bass voice made him a recognizable figure across Broadway, film, and television. One of four children of a building contractor, he pursued formal musical training at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and at Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His professional career began in broadcasting, working as an announcer and actor at WLW radio in Cincinnati. He also served as narrator for the educational film Duck and Cover before transitioning to stage and screen work.

Middleton appeared on Broadway between 1951 and 1954, taking roles in three productions: The Wild Duck in 1951, A Red Rainbow in 1953, and Ondine in 1954. Following his stage work, he moved into film, making his screen debut in 1954. His early film appearances placed him alongside prominent Hollywood stars, including Humphrey Bogart in The Desperate Hours (1955), Danny Kaye in The Court Jester (1955) — in which he played the armored Sir Griswold opposite Kaye in the well-known "pellet with the poison" jousting sequence — Gary Cooper in Friendly Persuasion (1956), and Elvis Presley and Richard Egan in Love Me Tender (1956). He appeared with Robert Taylor and Richard Widmark in The Law and Jake Wade (1958) and with Dean Martin in Career (1959). Late in his career, he was cast as U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton in The Lincoln Conspiracy (1977).

Television occupied a substantial portion of Middleton's career throughout the 1950s and 1960s. He guest-starred on the CBS Western series Gunsmoke in 1956, portraying the title character Dutch George in the episode of the same name, a horse thief with a history connected to Marshal Matt Dillon. He appeared in multiple episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including the 1956 episode "The Better Bargain," in which he played a gangster named Mr. Koster. He took on four episodes of The Untouchables, among them a two-part installment called "The Unhired Assassin," in which he portrayed Chicago mayor Anton Cermak. He also appeared in three episodes of Bonanza between 1960 and 1967, playing Sam Bryant in "Death at Dawn" (1960), mountain man Grizzly Martindale in "King of the Mountain" (1964), and wealthy rancher C.J. Shasta in "The Greedy Ones" (1967).

Additional television credits include the CBS anthology series Appointment with Adventure, an episode of ABC's The Real McCoys in which he played a congressional candidate who falsely claimed a farming background, and a role as "The Tichborne Claimant" in the NBC anthology series The Joseph Cotten Show. He was cast in ten episodes of the ABC family Western drama The Monroes, which also featured Michael Anderson Jr. and Barbara Hershey. In 1963, he portrayed defendant Judge Daniel Redmond in the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Witless Witness," and that same year played Josh Green in the Rawhide episode "Incident of the Mountain Man." He appeared in the 1958 premiere episode of NBC's Bat Masterson, starring Gene Barry, and in 1961 portrayed a state executioner in the Thriller episode "Guillotine." His final series appearance came in 1970, when he played a KAOS villain in "I Am Curiously Yellow," the concluding episode of Get Smart.

Middleton married his second wife, Roberta, in Cincinnati on July 14, 1951. The couple separated on September 5, 1955, and a custody hearing regarding their two sons took place on February 15, 1956. Middleton died on June 14, 1977, in Encino, California, at the age of 66.