Robert Donner (April 27, 1931 - June 8, 2006) was an American character actor who spent more than 40 years working in Film and TV. Robert played the recurring part of Exidor, Mork's eccentric friend, and adoptive father, and the bane of Mindy's existence, on Mork and Mindy.
Biography[]
Born in Manhattan, New York City, Donner grew up in New Jersey, Michigan and Texas. Upon graduating from high school, he spent four years in the US Navy, where he was stationed in California, serving as he put it "three years, 11 months, 29 days, and six and one-half hours". Deciding he liked living there, upon his release from the Navy, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked odd jobs and attended college at Cal State Northridge. Living in an apartment in Studio City. [1]
After embarking on an, initially unplanned acting career, he met his first wife Cissy Wellman, on the set of the 1964 Jerry Lewis, the Disorderly Orderly, both with uncredited roles, him as an intern and her as a nurse, but they caught each other's eyes behind the scenes. Cissy Wellman, was the daughter of William Wellman director of such classic films as "Beau Geste," "The Ox-Bow Incident" and "BattleGround.", but even though she was on set, she didn't even want to be an actor. She was more interested in being a stewardess. She was used to flying anywhere at a moment's notice, so when Donner called her to join him on location, she flew out not knowing he would soon propose. He was smitten, and she said yes. They were married on 11th December 1965 at the Little Brown Church in Studio City in L.A. where many other stars wed, including Patty Duke to Harry Falk Jr. the very same year — and, a dozen years prior, Ronald and Nancy Reagan. [2]
When not busy acting, Donner was extremely active in athletics, and was known as one of Hollywood's most enthusiastic golfers. He was a member of the former "Hollywood Hackers" playing off a 7 handicap and was a leader of a group of entertainment industry professionals known as "Don Porter's Thursday Golf Group" (his nickname being "The Benevolent Dictator Emeritis") as well as joining others at many of the Celebrity Golf Tournaments who raise money for various charities around the world. Robert also played in many tennis tournaments and was frequently called upon during "Celebrity Nights" in which he performed stand-up comedy and promised 'not to sing'. His reputation in this area also lead him to become known as one of Hollywood's "in demand" Corporate Speakers. [3]
"Being an actor is like going to Las Vegas with your life. You never know when opportunity will knock!". He says, "I believe that everyone who is serious gets an opportunity. It's a matter of being ready when that opportunity presents itself. Study your craft and take any job you can get!" [3]
His marriage to Cissy Wellman ended around the same time as Mork & Mindy finished, and he remarried at the end of 1982 year to Jill Sherman, a producer and writer.
Robert Donner died in his sleep, on the 8th of June, 2006, aged 75, of a sudden heart attack at his home in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, and was cremated. [1]
Career[]
Robert 'Bobby' Donner had never planned to be an actor. However, while living in his Los Angeles apartment in Studio City, he became friends with a neighbor, a young actor -- Clint Eastwood. Eastwood thought Mr. Donner was funny and had a 'good' face, and urged him to study acting, according to Donner's biography.
Donner's first role was an uncredited part in the Howard Hawks directed John Wayne starring Rio Bravo (1959) and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962). He landed his first named screen credit in an episode of the TV Series The Detectives, and made 4 appearances from 1961-1965 as different characters on friend and neighbor Clint Eastwood's show 'Rawhide'. However uncredited often became the norm for the first few years of his career. until bit parts in two Jerry Lewis movies, The Nutty Professor (1963) and The Disorderly Orderly (1964) completely changed Donner's life. Calling himself nothing but a glorified extra up to that point, Donner said, those parts marked a first turning point, "I'm forever in Jerry Lewis' debt." both professionally and personally, as it was on the set of The Disorderly Orderly, that he met Cissy Wellman who he was to marry.[2]
The same year he was married (1965), Robert Donner became one of the founding members of of Harvey Lembeck's comedy-improv group, The Crazy Quilt Comedy Company, which using techniques developed by Lembeck sought to encourage actors to develop their abilities in improv and comedy. "Bobby was very, very skilled at comedy. He worked all the time in an era when they were phasing out character actors," said Michael Lembeck, whose father, Harvey, taught Mr. Donner at comedy-improv workshops. "And he had a very droll, very dry sense of humor." [4] The Harvey Lembeck Comedy Workshop eventually included alumni such as John Ritter, Penny Marshall, and Donner's future Mork & Mindy co-star, Robin Williams, and Harvey Lembeck himself would play the Orkan, Ovits in Season 4.
He continued to find movie roles, appearing in another John Wayne movie, El Dorado (1966), Paul Newman's "Cool Hand Luke" (1967), the Bob Hope film "The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell" (1968), two more John Wayne Movies "The Undefeated" (1969), "Rio Lobo" (1970), "Vanishing Point" (1971), "High Plains Drifter" (1973), "The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing" (1973), and numerous other films, always in supporting roles.
At the same time he was picking up television roles developed into a popular character actor, specializing in either menacing or comic, eccentric roles, which kept him always employed. He shows up in guest roles in such television series as Combat!, Daniel Boone, I Spy, The Guns of Will Sonnett, The Mod Squad, Gunsmoke, High Chaparral, Bonanza, Lassie, and had a recurring role as the ex-convict/informant T.J. on Adam-12 (1968 - 1973). His role in Adam 12 overlapped his other recurring role that of the eccentric friend of John Boy Walton, Yancy Tucker on The Waltons (1972 -78), appearing 19 times during that period and marrying his real life wife on screen, Cissy Wellman playing the character of Sissy Walker, in the episode "The First Casualty"..[2] he also appeared in "Little House on the Prairie", "The Six Million Dollar Man", "Columbo," "The Incredible Hulk," "MacGyver," "The Fall Guy," "Matlock", "Falcon Crest.", "Murder She Wrote", "Legend" and "Dharma & Greg". "I guess I'm like the rest of my fellow character actors," Donner told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in 1988. "I keep my guns loaded and go where the action is."[5]
His golfing fanatic status was also made use of in Leslie Nielsen's 'Bad Golf Made Easier' series of videos in the 1990s.His last film appearance was in the film "Hoot" (2006), which was released after his death.
Mork & Mindy[]
In 1978 Robert Donner hopped shows from the Walton's to Mork & Mindy, after his first appearance as Exidor the leader of an invisible cult called the Friends of Venus whom only Exidor could see, in 'Mork Run's Away' went over exceptionally well with both crew and audiences. Known for his droll, dry sense of humor, it was his role of Exidor that finally won him a public audience following.
Appearing in 23 Episodes, Donner's Exidor was along with Tom Poston's Mr. Bickley, the only recurring character (not originally a member of the main cast, ala Conrad Janis) to appear across all 4 seasons.
Robert Donner was also extremely close friends with the Veteran character Actor Charles Lane, who appeared as Judge Baker in Little Orphan Morkie the episode where Exidor formally adopts Mork.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Robert Donner.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Yancy and Sissy on the Waltons were married in real life too. - MeTV.com - December 28, 2020
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Robert Donner 1931-2006. - B.Simon - Industry Central: The Working Actor
- ↑ Robert Donner. LA Times Staff - June 16, 2006
- ↑ Robert Donner, 75, Often-Seen Character Actor. Valerie J. Nelson, | June 15, 2006
External links[]
- Robert Donner article at Wikipedia
Robert Donner at the internet Movie Database (IMDb)
