Robert Conrad

After he eloped, he and his wife lived under the assumed name "Robert Conrad" so their parents wouldn't find them. They only told their parents where they were in May of 1952 after his wife found out she was having a baby. They were thrilled because they figured it would be too late for their parents to annul the marriage.

Got fired from his job at the docks in December of 1953 for handing out a petition to get his union steward fired. His wife was six months pregnant with their second child at the time.

His daughter Nancy was born on his 19th birthday (March 1, 1954).

Began his career as a contract player for Warner Bros. in 1956.

Robert Conrad was a graduate of Northwestern University, spending his first few years out of school supporting himself and his family by driving a milk truck and singing in a Chicago cabaret. Conrad befriended up-and-coming actor Nick Adams during this period, and it was Adams who helped Conrad get his first Hollywood work in 1957. A few movie bit parts later, Conrad was signed for a comparative pittance by Warner Bros.

studios, and in 1959 was cast as detective Tom Lopaka on the weekly adventure series Hawaiian Eye.

As Bob Conrad, he defeated Ed Hickman on points on March 15, 1962, in San Diego, CA, in a six-round professional boxing match.

Upon the 1963 cancellation of this series, Conrad made a handful of Spanish and American films and toured with a nightclub act in Australia and Mexico City.

Cast as frontier secret agent James West in The Wild Wild West (1965) in 1965, Conrad brought home $5000 a week during the series' first season and enjoyed increasing remunerations as West remained on the air until 1969. There are those who insist that Wild Wild West would have been colorless without the co-starring presence of Ross Martin, an opinion with which Conrad has always agreed.

The 6/11/69 and 8/20/69 editions of "Variety", in its Hollywood Production Pulse column, shows Conrad starring with Richard Crenna and Tippi Hedren in a film called "Seven Against Kansas", directed by David Friedkin, which started filming June 10, 1969, in Almeria, Spain. There's no evidence that the film was ever completed.

The actor's bid to star in a 1970 series based on the venerable Nick Carter pulp stories got no further than a pilot episode, while the Jack Webb-produced 1971 Robert Conrad series The D. A. was canceled after 13 episodes.

When Roy Scheider pulled out of the 1972 adventure weekly Assignment: Vienna, Conrad stepped in--and was out, along with the rest of Assignment: Vienna, by June of 1973.

Conrad had better luck with 1976's Baa Baa Black Sheep, aka Black Sheep Squadron, a popular series based on the World War II exploits of Major "Pappy" Boyington.

As can be gathered from the Liddy assignment, Conrad's politics veered towards conservatism; in 1981, he and Charlton Heston were instrumental in toppling Ed Asner and his liberal contingent from power in the Screen Actors Guild.

Gordon Liddy (whom the actor admired) in the 1982 TV movie Will: The Autobiography of G.

Gordon Liddy (1982).

Was offered the role of Hannibal Smith on The A-Team (1983), but turned it down because he preferred to produce his own projects.

Turned down George Gaynes' role in Police Academy (1984), which he later regretted.

Despite debuting to strong ratings, High Mountain Rangers (1987) got canceled after one season as ratings fell sharply.

Cast as a nurse on this series was Conrad's daughter Nancy, setting a precedent for nepotism that the actor practiced as late as his tenth TV series, 1989's Jesse Hawkes, wherein Conrad co-starred with his sons Christian and Shane. Though few of his series have survived past season one, Conrad has enjoyed success as a commercial spokesman and in the role of G.

When Wild Wild West (1999), the 1999 theatrical remake of his TV series The Wild Wild West (1965) swept the 20th Annual Razzie Awards, "winning" five statuettes (including Worst Picture), Conrad accepted three of the awards in person as his way of expressing his low opinion of what had been done with his source material.

Was seriously injured in a head-on car crash in 2003 in which he sustained head injuries and neurological damage that left his right hand and arm paralyzed and slowed his speech. Convicted of DUI, he was sentenced to six months of house arrest, five years probation and alcohol counseling. He also lost his driver's license for one year.

Addressed the Republican National Convention in 2004.

Interviewed in Tom Weaver's book "I Talked with a Zombie" (McFarland & Co., 2008).