Robert Milasch

Robert Milasch (April 18, 1885 – November 14, 1954) was an American actor who worked in silent and sound film as well as on the stage, including a Broadway appearance in 1919. Standing 6 feet 6 inches tall, he built a career that spanned circus performance, early cinema, and theatrical production.

Milasch left his hometown of Smoke Mountain, Tennessee, at age 9 after a wagon circus passed through the village. By age 13 he had joined a second circus as a contortionist and traveled with it to South Africa. Following a dispute with his employer that resulted in a physical beating, he departed that troupe and made his way to England, where he worked as a clown. He returned to the United States in 1898 and joined the Gaumont Film Company, appearing in short films for the organization.

His film career formally began in 1903 at the Edison Manufacturing Company, when he was 18 years old. Among his earliest Edison work were two appearances in The Great Train Robbery, the landmark 1903 production. He continued acting in films throughout the silent era, accumulating credits that included The Eagle's Mate (1914), Black Beauty (1921), The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln (1924), The Iron Horse (1924), Captain Blood (1924), and Peter Pan (1924). His work in the sound era consisted almost entirely of uncredited roles, among them appearances in Chasing Rainbows (1930) and Dangerous Nan McGrew (1930).

Alongside his film work, Milasch performed on stage. In 1919 he appeared on Broadway in the musical Come Along. Milasch died of uremic poisoning on November 14, 1954, in Woodland Hills, California, at the age of 69.