Jason Robards

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!.

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.

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.

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

Father of Jason Robards III, Sarah Louise Robards (born September 20,1951) and David Robards with his first wife, Eleanor Pitman. Father of Sam Robards with his third wife Lauren Bacall and father of Shannon Robards and Jake Robards with his fourth wife Lois O'Connor.

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

Was the first winner of a Best Actor Obie Award, which recognize achievement in the off-Broadway theater, for playing Hickey in the revival of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh during the 1955-1956 season. He tied for the best actor award with George Voskovec, who was cited for Uncle Vanya.

He entered feature films in The Journey (1959) and rose rapidly to even greater fame as a film star.

Starred in three Oscar Best Picture nominees: A Thousand Clowns (1965), All the President's Men (1976) and Julia (1977). All three movies won for Best Supporting Actor, with Jason Robards himself winning back-to-back for the latter two.

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.

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.

In 1978 he became the second actor to receive an Oscar, Emmy and Tony nomination in the same calendar year (for Julia (1977), Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977) and "A Touch of the Poet," respectively).

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).

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).

He was cast as the lead in Fitzcarraldo (1982) but had to drop out after filming started, because of ill-health. Footage of him in the part can be seen in Burden of Dreams (1982) and Mein liebster Feind - Klaus Kinski (1999).

He was awarded the 1986 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Distinguished Lead Performance for "The Iceman Cometh" in the University of California (Los Angeles) Center for the Arts and Theatre group production at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

He won an Emmy in 1988 for Inherit the Wind (1988).

Shares the role of Howard Hughes with Leonardo DiCaprio. In the television series (Parenthood (1990)) based on Parenthood (1989), DiCaprio took over the role that Joaquin Phoenix had played in the film--opposite Robards as his grandfather.

Has portrayed President Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln (1992), The Perfect Tribute (1991) and Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1964), President Ulysess S. Grant in The Civil War (1990) and The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981), President Franklin D. Roosevelt in F.D.R.: The Last Year (1980) and fictional President Richard Monckton (A Richard Nixon-type) in Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977).

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

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.

On April 22, 2002, the first Jason Robards Award for Excellence in Theatre was awarded to Christopher Plummer by the Roundabout Theatre.

As of 2015, he is the only actor to win consecutive best supporting actor Oscars (for All the President's Men (1976) and Julia (1977)).