Biography

Powerful and highly respected American actor Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Hope Maxine (Glanville) and stage and film star Jason Robards Sr. He had Swedish, English, Welsh, German, and Irish ancestry. Robards was raised mostly in Los Angeles. A star athlete at Hollywood High School, he served in the U.S. Navy in World War II, where he saw combat as a radioman (though he is not listed in official rolls of Navy Cross winners, despite the claims some -- not he -- have made. Neither was he at Pearl Harbor during the Dec. 7, 1941 attack, his ship being at sea at the time.) Returning to civilian life, he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and struggled as a small-part actor in local New York theatre, TV and radio before shooting to fame on the New York stage in Eugene O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh" as Hickey. He followed that with another masterful O'Neill portrayal, as the alcoholic Jamie Tyrone in "Long Day's Journey Into Night" on Broadway. He entered feature films in The Journey (1959) and rose rapidly to even greater fame as a film star. Robards won consecutive Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for All the President's Men (1976) and Julia (1977), in each case playing real-life people. He continued to work on the stage, winning continued acclaim in such O'Neill works as "Moon For the Misbegotten" and "Hughie." Robards died of lung cancer in 2000.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>

Gravelly but commanding voice

Characters with a bizarre or uncoventional personal code or ethos

Recipient of 22nd Annual Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime contribution to arts and culture, presented by President Bill Clinton in Washington, DC, Dec. 5, 1999.

Was a Civil War buff in real life. He played President U.S. Grant in The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981), and was the voice of Gen. Grant in the PBS mini-series The Civil War (1990).

In 1972, he was in a horrifying accident on a winding California road. He drove his car into the side of a mountain and nearly died. His acute drinking problem contributed to the accident. He slowly recovered after extensive surgery and facial reconstruction.

Jennifer Jason Leigh added the Jason to her stage name in tribute to Robards, a long-time family friend. She said, "I like the way it sounds between Jennifer and Leigh.".

Attended Hollywood High School in Hollywood, CA, and played on the football, baseball, basketball, and track teams, at one time entertaining the idea of becoming a professional athlete.

First lead role was in the 1953 off-Broadway production of "American Gothic" directed by José Quintero.

Received all of his Oscar nominations for playing real-life people: Ben Bradlee in All the President's Men (1976), Dashiell Hammett in Julia (1977), and Howard Hughes in Melvin and Howard (1980).

Won Broadway's 1959 Tony Award as best actor (dramatic) for The Disenchanted. He was nominated seven other times: as best supporting or featured actor (dramatic) in 1957 for Long Day's Journey into Night; as best actor (dramatic) in 1960 for Toys in the Attic, in 1964 for After The Fall, in 1965 for Hughie, in 1972 for The Country Girl and in 1974 for A Moon for the Misbegotten; and as best actor (play) in 1978 for A Touch of the Poet. With eight nominations, he holds the record for being the actor nominated the most times for the Tony Award, although he only won once.

He and Leonardo DiCaprio both received Oscar-nominations for portraying Howard Hughes. Robards was nominated for Melvin and Howard (1980) and DiCaprio for The Aviator (2004).

Played Hickey in three different productions of Eugene O'Neill's play The Iceman Cometh -- off-Broadway in 1955, on television in 1960, and on Broadway in 1955.

Also played Hickey in production of Iceman Cometh 1985/86 in NYC (Lunt-Fontane) and LA (James Doolittle Theater).

He was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts in 1997 by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington, DC.

He won an Oscar for playing Benjamin Bradlee in All the President's Men (1976), making him one of 17 actors to win the Award for playing a real person who was still alive at the evening of the Award ceremony (as of 2015). The other sixteen actors and their respective performances are: Spencer Tracy for playing Father Edward Flanagan in Boys Town (1938), Gary Cooper for playing Alvin C. York in Sergeant York (1941), Patty Duke for playing Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker (1962), Robert De Niro for playing Jake La Motta in Raging Bull (1980), Sissy Spacek for playing Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), Jeremy Irons for playing Claus Von Bullow in Reversal of Fortune (1990) (1990), Susan Sarandon for playing Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking (1995), Geoffrey Rush for playing David Helfgott in Shine (1996), Julia Roberts for playing Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich (2000), Jim Broadbent for playing John Bayley in Iris (2001), Helen Mirren for playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006), Sandra Bullock for playing Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side (2009), Melissa Leo for playing Alice Eklund-Ward in The Fighter (2010), Christian Bale for playing Dickie Eklund in The Fighter (2010), Meryl Streep for playing Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady (2011) and most recently Eddie Redmayne for playing Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything (2014).

Katharine Hepburn was the godmother of his son Sam Robards.

He was nominated for a 1976 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Guest Artist in a play, Hughie, at the Academy Festival Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.

Served as a radioman aboard the U.S.S. Northampton, which was sunk by Japanese torpedoes in the Battle of Tassafaronga.

His and Leonardo DiCaprio's Oscar nominations for playing Howard Hughes makes them only the second pair to both lose. Robards lost to Timothy Hutton, while DiCaprio lost to Jamie Foxx. Prior to that, only Fredric March and James Mason both lost Oscars for playing Norman Maine in the 1937 and 1954 versions of "A Star is Born". Subsequently, the only pair of actors to both lose an Oscar for playing the same part were Anthony Hopkins and Frank Langella for playing Richard Nixon. Previously, Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro both won for playing Vito Corleone. José Ferrer won while Gérard Depardieu was only nominated for playing Cyrano de Bergerac; and John Wayne won while Jeff Bridges was only nominated for playing Rooster Cogburn. Richard Burton and Robert Shaw also lost Oscars for playing Henry VIII, but Charles Laughton won the award for the role.

His maternal grandmother was Swedish. His other roots were English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and German.

Broadway and NYC-Hollywood television actor Jack Dodson (b.1931-d.1994, age 63) and Jason Robards (b.1922-d.2000, age78) were extremely close friends. Their friendship began when they were cast in a Broadway production. They became bar mates after their curtain (call) dropped each night, when they would join together in their favorite after theater local Broadway bar. When Jason Robards was cast in a play, he would arrange for Jack to be cast, as well, so that he would have a good drinking buddy and bar mate! Jack Dodson's amiable humorous spirit and show-biz antidotes always entertained. Jason Robards and Jack Dodson had a mutual respect for each other's professional abilities and talents. Their character traits made each a man's man and a damned good best friend! The pair were a comedy performance when seated together at the pub's main bar, or at a restaurant table. When asked by the bar's host if they minded being seated at a back table adjacent the kitchen service room door, Jack's response, "that's O.K., we make the same noise sitting there as we would sitting in the middle or at this joint's front door!" and they DID!.

He was awarded the 1986 Drama Logue Award for Outstanding Performance for "The Iceman Cometh," in Mark Taper Forum production at the James A. Doolittle Theatre at the University of California in Los Angeles, California.

Alumnus of the AADA (American Academy of Dramatic Arts), Class of 1948.

Jason Robards received more nominations (8) for acting Tony Awards than any other actor. His first, in 1957 for "Long Day's Journey into Night", was for Featured Actor in a Play. The other 7 nominations were for Lead Actor in a Play: 1959 for "The Disenchanted"; 1960 for "Toys in the Attic"; 1964 for "After the Fall"; 1965 for "Hughie"; 1972 for "The Country Girl"; 1974 for "A Moon for the Misbegotten"; and 1978 for "A Touch of the Poet". Jason won once, for "The Disenchanted".

An actor doesn't change thought, theme, or mood unless the character does, and the character only does it within the words of the play.

Once you're on [stage], nobody can say, "Cut it". You're out there on your own, and there's always that thrill of a real live audience.

The theatre has kept me alive, and it's allowed me to work at my craft.

Sometimes you do junk just to keep alive. You know it's junk when you go in. You just hope you will do the best you can, and that the film will be entertaining. Many times, it isn't, but you just do those things to pay the bills.