Robert Hudson Walker (October 13, 1918 â€" August 28, 1951) was an
American actor, best remembered for his starring role as the villain
in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Strangers on a Train (1951), which was
released shortly before his death.He started in youthful boy-next-door
roles, often as a World War II soldier. One of these roles was
opposite his first wife, Jennifer Jones, in the World War II epic
Since You Went Away (1944). He also played Jerome Kern in Till the
Clouds Roll By. Twice divorced by 30, he suffered from alcoholism and
mental illness, which were exacerbated by his painful separation and
divorce from Jones.Walker was born in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Emotionally scarred by his parents' divorce when he was still a child,
he subsequently developed an interest in acting, which led his
maternal aunt, Hortense McQuarrie Odlum (then the president of Bonwit
Teller), to offer to pay for his enrollment at the American Academy of
Dramatic Arts in New York City in 1937. Walker lived in her home
during his first year in the city.While attending the American Academy
of Dramatic Arts, Walker met fellow aspiring actress Phylis Isley, who
later took the stage name Jennifer Jones. After a brief courtship, the
couple married in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on January 2, 1939. Walker had some
small unbilled parts in films like Winter Carnival (1939), and two
Lana Turner films at MGM These Glamour Girls (1939) and Dancing Co-Ed
(1939).
American actor, best remembered for his starring role as the villain
in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Strangers on a Train (1951), which was
released shortly before his death.He started in youthful boy-next-door
roles, often as a World War II soldier. One of these roles was
opposite his first wife, Jennifer Jones, in the World War II epic
Since You Went Away (1944). He also played Jerome Kern in Till the
Clouds Roll By. Twice divorced by 30, he suffered from alcoholism and
mental illness, which were exacerbated by his painful separation and
divorce from Jones.Walker was born in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Emotionally scarred by his parents' divorce when he was still a child,
he subsequently developed an interest in acting, which led his
maternal aunt, Hortense McQuarrie Odlum (then the president of Bonwit
Teller), to offer to pay for his enrollment at the American Academy of
Dramatic Arts in New York City in 1937. Walker lived in her home
during his first year in the city.While attending the American Academy
of Dramatic Arts, Walker met fellow aspiring actress Phylis Isley, who
later took the stage name Jennifer Jones. After a brief courtship, the
couple married in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on January 2, 1939. Walker had some
small unbilled parts in films like Winter Carnival (1939), and two
Lana Turner films at MGM These Glamour Girls (1939) and Dancing Co-Ed
(1939).
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