Robert Allen(1906-1998)
- Actor
- Soundtrack
As a young man Robert Allen, born Irvine E. Theodore Baehr, learned
about horses: he played polo, hunted fox, and rode in the cavalry of of
New York Military School, graduating there in 1924. After graduating
Dartmouth College in 1929 with a degree in English he worked for a bank
which failed in the Depression. Then he flew as a commercial pilot, but
that company also folded. His next stop was Hollywood where he quickly
landed acting jobs. While he often was cast in the studio's more
adult-targeted productions such as The Awful Truth (1937), studio boss Harry Cohn was
seeking a suitable replacement for the troublesome (yet wildly popular)
Ken Maynard in their more modestly budgeted western unit. Allen's place in
film history came in the a half dozen "Bob Allen, Ranger" movies
produced in 1936 and 1937. Allen became good friends with his frequent
co-star (and sometime movie bad guy), Hal Taliaferro and enjoyed a good
working relationship with co-star Tim McCoy. He couldn't sing or play
guitar, so when Columbia decided to challenge Gene Autry they went with a
new cowboy star, Roy Rogers, and Allen's western career was over. He
appeared more than 40 movies and made numerous TV appearances, but he
turned primarily to Broadway and Off Broadway for the rest of his
acting life. He filled major parts in "Show Boat" and "Kiss Them for
Me" and played the nasty Mr. Babcock in "Auntie Mame," playing the part
with both Rosalind Russell and Greer Garson. In 1964 he became a real estate broker.
He died at age 92 in 1998, survived by daughter Katherine Meyer and son
Dr. Theodore Baehr.
