Dayle Lymoine Robertson was an American actor best known for his starring roles on television. He played the roving investigator Jim Hardie in the NBC/ABC television series Tales of Wells Fargo, and Ben Calhoun, the owner of an incomplete railroad line in ABC's The Iron Hors...
Dakota Incident, The Silver Whip, City of Bad Men, Return of the Texan, A Day of Fury, Son of Sinbad, Sitting Bull, Two Flags West, The Gambler from Natchez, The Farmer Takes a Wife, Devil's Canyon, O. Henry's Full House, Take Care of My Little Girl, Golden Girl, The Man from Button Willow, Law of t...
TV Shows
Dynasty, J.J. Starbuck, Death Valley Days, Iron Horse, Tales of Wells Fargo
Star Sign
Cancer
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Quote
1
[on the failure of his series Iron Horse (1966)] I liked the show after it got started but I grew to dislike it. The network didn't seem to take an interest in it. It would have been a great series; as it was, it was just a mediocre show. They all had to get their fingers in the pie.
2
[on why his character was killed off in Dynasty (1981)] They got me to do 15 episodes . . . but that was enough. They kept putting all of this sex and stuff into it and I didn't do it the way they wanted. I never had the ability to keep my big mouth shut.
3
An actor can change himself to fit a part, whereas a personality has to change the part to fit himself. The personality has to say it his own way.
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Fact
1
He was a staunch conservative Republican.
2
Now retired and currently living in Oklahoma [October 2008]
3
He and his first wife had daughter Rochelle.
4
Started military service in Fort Sill in Oklahoma before being sent to the horse cavalry at Fort Riley, Kansas, and then to officers' school at Fort Knox, Kentucky where he was commissioned a Second Lieutuenant in the Armed Forces. From there he was sent to the Engineer School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
5
During his first year of college, he and some of his friends signed up for military duty after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941.
6
Attended Classen High School in Oklahoma City. Into his junior year he was declared "ineligible" to play sports because of two professional boxing matches he had previously fought in. As such, he decided to enroll in the Oklahoma Military Academy in the city of Claremore wherein he could participate in sports. Dale went on to be nominated "All Around Athlete" while attending the Academy.
7
Parents: Melvin and Varval Robertson.
8
Was a horse rider by age ten and was training polo ponies in his teens.
9
Wounded twice during WWII while serving in the Army in North Africa and Europe, he was awarded the Bronze and Silver stars and a Purple Heart for his courage.
10
His resemblance to Clark Gable helped him get into the movies.
11
Retired after he finished his role as Zeke in the TV series Harts of the West (1993) in order to spend more time at his Yukon, Oklahoma ranch and raise horses. Ill health forced him in recent months to move to the San Diego California area just months before his death of emphysema and pneumonia and he died at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla.
12
The old-fashioned Robertson claims to have been "killed off" by the powers-that-be on Dynasty (1981) because he balked at the sexual situations demanded of his character.
13
Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1983.
14
At the age of 17 he was attending Oklahoma Military College, and boxing in professional prize fights to earn money. Harry Cohn approached him after a fight in Wichita, Kansas and asked him to come out to Hollywood to play the role of Joe Bonaparte in a boxing picture called "Golden Boy." Robertson refused, saying he was in the middle of training 17 polo ponies, and could not leave his family at his age. William Holden eventually was cast in the Golden Boy (1939) role.
15
Robertson entered the U.S. Army during World War II. After stateside training he served as a tank commander in the 777th Tank Battalion in the North African campaign. He was standing in the hatch when his tank was hit by enemy fire. His tank crew were killed, but he was blown out of the hatch and survived with shrapnel wounds to his lower legs, the scars of which he still bears. Fully recovered, he went on to serve with the 322nd Combat Engineer Battalion during the European campaign. He was wounded a second time, this one in the right knee during a mortar attack. Again he made a complete recovery.
Himself - Host / Jack Reardon / Harry Roebuck / ...
The Red Skelton Hour
1968
TV Series
Robinson Crusoe
Iron Horse
1966-1968
TV Series
Ben Calhoun
The One Eyed Soldiers
1966
Richard Owen
Scalplock
1966
TV Movie
Benjamin Calhoun
Coast of Skeletons
1965
A. J. Magnus
The Man from Button Willow
1965
Justin Eagle (voice)
Diamond Jim: Skulduggery in Samantha
1965
TV Movie
Diamond Jim Brady
Blood on the Arrow
1964
Wade Cooper
Law of the Lawless
1964
Judge Clem Rogers
Tales of Wells Fargo
1957-1962
TV Series
Jim Hardie
Fast and Sexy
1958
Raffaele
Hell Canyon Outlaws
1957
Sheriff Caleb Wells
Undercurrent
1957
TV Series
Daniel Weaver
The 20th Century-Fox Hour
1957
TV Series
Lt. Clay Tucker
Climax!
1957
TV Series
Nicky Jordan
Schlitz Playhouse
1956
TV Series
Jim Hardie
Studio 57
1956
TV Series
High Terrace
1956
Bill Lang
Dakota Incident
1956
John Banner
A Day of Fury
1956
Jagade
The Ford Television Theatre
1956
TV Series
Donny
Son of Sinbad
1955
Sinbad
Top of the World
1955
Maj. Lee Gannon
Sitting Bull
1954
Major Robert 'Bob' Parrish
The Gambler from Natchez
1954
Capt. Vance Colby
City of Bad Men
1953
Brett Stanton
Devil's Canyon
1953
Billy Reynolds
The Farmer Takes a Wife
1953
Dan Harrow
The Silver Whip
1953
Race Crim
O. Henry's Full House
1952
Barney Woods (segment "The Clarion Call")
Lure of the Wilderness
1952
Opening off-screen Narrator (voice, uncredited)
Lydia Bailey
1952
Albion Hamlin
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
1952
John Oakhurst
Return of the Texan
1952
Sam Crockett
Golden Girl
1951
Tom Richmond
The Secret of Convict Lake
1951
Narrator (voice, uncredited)
Take Care of My Little Girl
1951
Joe Blake
Call Me Mister
1951
Capt. Johnny Comstock
Two Flags West
1950
Lem
The Cariboo Trail
1950
Will Gray
Fighting Man of the Plains
1949
Jesse James
The Girl from Jones Beach
1949
Lifeguard (uncredited)
Flamingo Road
1949
Tunis Simms (uncredited)
The Boy with Green Hair
1948
Cop (uncredited)
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Dean Martin Show
1969
TV Series performer - 1 episode
The Johnny Cash Show
1969
TV Series performer - 1 episode
The Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Show
1962
TV Series performer - 1 episode
The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show
1960
TV Series performer - 1 episode
Tales of Wells Fargo
1957
TV Series performer - 2 episodes
The Farmer Takes a Wife
1953
performer: "On the Erie Canal" 1953, "Somethin' Real Special" 1953, "With the Sun Warm Upon Me" 1953, "We're in Business" 1953, "I Could Cook" 1953 - uncredited
O. Henry's Full House
1952
performer: "Gwine to Rune All Night De Camptown Races" 1850 - uncredited
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Man from Button Willow
1965
presenter
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Someone Cry for the Children: The Girl Scout Murders
1993
Video documentary
Narrator
The 7th Annual Golden Boot Awards
1989
TV Special
Himself
Oklahoma Passage
1989
TV Mini-Series
Himself
The New Hollywood Squares
1987
TV Series
Himself - Panelist
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1964-1987
TV Series
Himself - Guest
All-Star Party for 'Dutch' Reagan
1985
TV Special
Himself
Hour Magazine
1984
TV Series
Himself
Family Feud
1984
TV Series
Himself
The Mike Douglas Show
1971-1979
TV Series
Himself - Co-Host / Himself - Actor
The Six Million Dollar Man
1974
TV Series
Himself
American Horse and Horseman
1973
TV Series
Host (1973)
Hee Haw
1971
TV Series
Himself - Special Gust / Himself - Guest Star
Death Valley Days
1969-1970
TV Series
Himself - Host
The Dean Martin Show
1969
TV Series
Himself
The Johnny Cash Show
1969
TV Series
Himself - Singer
The Joey Bishop Show
1967-1969
TV Series
Himself
Operation: Entertainment
1969
TV Series
Himself - Host
First Annual All-Star Celebrity Baseball Game
1967
TV Special
Himself - Celebrity
The Bob Hope Show
1967
TV Series
Himself
The Hollywood Palace
1964-1966
TV Series
Himself - Host
The Hollywood Squares
1966
TV Series
Himself - Panelist
The Celebrity Game
1965
TV Series
Himself
That Regis Philbin Show
1965
TV Series
Himself
The Match Game
1964
TV Series
Himself - Team Captain
The Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Show
1962
TV Series
Himself
Here's Hollywood
1961
TV Series
Himself
This Is Your Life
1961
TV Series
Himself
About Faces
1960
TV Series
Himself
The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show
1960
TV Series
Himself - Actor / Singer
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1960
TV Series
Himself
Celebrity Golf
1960
TV Series
The George Burns Show
1958
TV Series
Himself
Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall
1958
TV Series
Himself
The Steve Allen Plymouth Show
1957-1958
TV Series
Himself - Guest / Himself - Tales of Wells Fargo / Himself
The Living Swamp
1955
Short documentary
Narrator
The 27th Annual Academy Awards
1955
TV Special
Himself - Audience Member
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
2014
TV Special
Himself - In Memoriam
The 65th Primetime Emmy Awards
2013
TV Special
Himself - Actor (In Memoriam)
Legends of the West
1992
Documentary
Actor in 'Sitting Bull' (uncredited)
Wayne and Shuster Take an Affectionate Look At...
1965
TV Series documentary
Gunfight at Black Horse Canyon
1961
TV Movie
Jim Hardie
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1985
Golden Boot
Golden Boot Awards
1973
Trustees Award
Western Heritage Awards
For outstanding contribution to western film.
1960
Star on the Walk of Fame
Walk of Fame
Television
On 8 February 1960. At 6500 Hollywood Blvd.
1953
Sour Apple
Golden Apple Awards
Least Cooperative Actor
Known for movies
Tales of Wells Fargo (1957-1962) as Jim Hardie
Iron Horse (1966-1968) as Ben Calhoun
Sitting Bull (1954) as Major Robert 'Bob' Parrish
J.J. Starbuck (1987-1988) as Jerome Jeremiah 'J.J.' Starbuck
$5 Million
