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IMDbPro

Robert J. Wilke(1914-1989)

  • Actor
  • Producer
IMDbProStarmeter
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Robert J. Wilke
Trailer 1
Play trailer0:48
The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973)
3 Videos
57 Photos
Prolific American character actor of primarily villainous roles. The son of German parents, Cincinnati feed-store manager August Wilke and his wife Rose, Robert Joseph Wilke grew up in Cincinnati. He worked as a lifeguard at a Miami, Florida, hotel, where he made contacts in the film business. He was able to obtain work as a stuntman and continued as such until the mid-'40s, when he began getting actual roles in low-budget westerns and serials. A prominent appearance as one of the heavies in High Noon (1952) led to work in higher-quality films. He worked extensively in television as well as movies, and became an enormously familiar face, though a fairly anonymous one to the general public. His weathered visage made him a perfect western bad guy, but he occasionally played sympathetic parts as well, as in Days of Heaven (1978). An expert golfer, he was said by his friend Claude Akins to have earned more money on the golf course than he ever did in movies. He died in 1989.
BornMay 18, 1914
DiedMarch 28, 1989(74)
BornMay 18, 1914
DiedMarch 28, 1989(74)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Awards

Photos57

James Stewart, Brandon De Wilde, Jack Elam, Audie Murphy, Dan Duryea, Frank Chase, Chuck Roberson, Elaine Stewart, Robert J. Wilke, and Henry Wills in Night Passage (1957)
Jack Elam, Dan Duryea, Elaine Stewart, and Robert J. Wilke in Night Passage (1957)
Robert J. Wilke in Night Passage (1957)
Robert J. Wilke in Night Passage (1957)
Jimmie Dodd, Nat Pendleton, and Robert J. Wilke in Buck Privates Come Home (1947)
Kirk Douglas, Peter Lorre, James Mason, Paul Lukas, and Robert J. Wilke in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
James Mason and Robert J. Wilke in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Kirk Douglas, Peter Lorre, James Mason, and Robert J. Wilke in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Kirk Douglas, Peter Lorre, James Mason, Paul Lukas, and Robert J. Wilke in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Donna Reed and Robert J. Wilke in Backlash (1956)
Donna Reed, Johnny Carpenter, Fred Graham, Harry Morgan, William 'Bill' Phillips, Glenn Strange, and Robert J. Wilke in Backlash (1956)
Bruce Edwards, Virginia Lee, and Robert J. Wilke in The Black Widow (1947)

Known for

Steve McQueen, Yul Brynner, and Eli Wallach in The Magnificent Seven (1960)
The Magnificent Seven
7.7
  • Wallace(as Robert Wilke)
  • 1960
Bill Murray in Stripes (1981)
Stripes
6.8
  • Gen. Barnicke
  • 1981
Gary Cooper, Lloyd Bridges, Lee Van Cleef, Katy Jurado, Ian MacDonald, Robert J. Wilke, and Sheb Wooley in High Noon (1952)
High Noon
8.0
  • Jim Pierce(as Robert Wilke)
  • 1952
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
7.2
  • First Mate of the Nautilus
  • 1954

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • Bill Murray in Stripes (1981)
    Stripes
  • The Texas Rangers
  • Greg Evigan in B.J. and the Bear (1978)
    B.J. and the Bear
  • Victoria Principal, Barbara Bel Geddes, Patrick Duffy, Larry Hagman, Charlene Tilton, Jim Davis, Linda Gray, and Steve Kanaly in Dallas (1978)
    Dallas
  • The Great Monkey Rip-Off (1979)
    The Great Monkey Rip-Off
  • Slim Pickens, Richard Egan, Albert Salmi, Nita Talbot, and Robert J. Wilke in The Sweet Creek County War (1979)
    The Sweet Creek County War
  • Days of Heaven (1978)
    Days of Heaven
    • (as Robert Wilke)
  • Bruce Boxleitner and James Arness in How the West Was Won (1976)
    How the West Was Won
  • Wild and Wooly (1978)
    Wild and Wooly
  • Kurt Russell and Tim Matheson in The Quest (1976)
    The Quest
  • Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul in Starsky and Hutch (1975)
    Starsky and Hutch
    • (as Bob Wilkie)
  • Santee (1973)
    Santee
    • (as Robert Wilke)
  • The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973)
    The Boy Who Cried Werewolf
  • Kung Fu (1972)
    Kung Fu
    • (as Robert Wilke)
  • Kate Jackson, Georg Stanford Brown, Sam Melville, and Michael Ontkean in The Rookies (1972)
    The Rookies

Producer

  • The Great Monkey Rip-Off (1979)
    The Great Monkey Rip-Off

Videos3

The Boy Who Cried Werewolf
Trailer 0:48
The Boy Who Cried Werewolf
Tony Rome
Trailer 3:05
Tony Rome
Cheyenne: Mountain Fortress
Trailer 1:15
Cheyenne: Mountain Fortress

Personal details

Edit
    • May 18, 1914
    • Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
    • March 28, 1989
    • Los Angeles, California, USA(cancer)
    • 1973 - March 28, 1989 (his death)

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    Once a lifeguard in a Miami (FL) hotel and a high-diver at the Chicago World's Fair in 1933-34.
    • Portraying henchmen

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