Dale Robertson

Born

July 14, 1923

Died

2013

From

Harrah, Oklahoma, USA·San Diego, California, USA

Credits on file

Decades active

In short · Acted for seven decades — 57 credits.

Remembered for

Ranked by community engagement + sustained interest across this person's credits in our database.

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Biography

Dale Robertson was born on July 14, 1923, in Harrah, Oklahoma. During World War II he served in a tank crew and with the combat engineers in North Africa and Europe, receiving two wounds; while still on active duty in the U.S. Army he began his acting career after a photograph taken for his mother while he was stationed at San Luis Obispo, California, was displayed in a photo‑shop window and attracted the attention of movie scouts. The six‑foot, 180‑pound Robertson then moved toward Hollywood, following advice from Will Rogers Jr., who urged him to avoid formal training and retain his own persona, which he did by not taking acting classes.

Robertson was typecast in Western films and television series during the genre’s height of popularity in America. He headlined two TV series: *Tales of Wells Fargo* (1957), playing roving trouble‑shooter Jim Hardie, and *Iron Horse* (1966), in which his character won a railway in a poker game. He also served as one of the hosts of the syndicated series *Death Valley Days* (originally 1952) alongside Ronald Reagan during the 1960s, and later appeared in the inaugural season of *Dynasty* (1981).

In 1985 Robertson received the Golden Boot Award and was inducted into both the Hall of Great Western Performers and the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. He retired to a ranch near Oklahoma City, not far from his birthplace of Harrah.

Filmography · 56 of 56

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