Robert Stack
Acting • Born 1919-01-13 – Died 2003-05-14
Biography
Robert Langford Modini Stack (January 13, 1919 – May 14, 2003) was a multilingual American actor and television host. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he also appeared on the television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries. Born in Los Angeles, California, Stack spent his early childhood growing up in Europe. Becoming fluent in French and Italian at an early age, and he did not learn English until returning to Los Angeles. Stack achieved minor fame in sporting, winning multiple championships including setting two world records and winning multiple honors in skeet shooting Stack studied drama at Bridgewater State College, earning his first Hollywood role at the age of 20 and continuing to star in numerous roles throughout the early 1940s. After serving in the military, Stack returned to Hollywood to star in numerous films including stand out roles in The High and the Mighty (opposite John Wayne) and Written on the Wind (1957), for which he was awarded an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Stack later moved on to televised dramatic series, depicting the crime-fighting Eliot Ness in The Untouchables (1959–1963), which earned him a best actor Emmy Award in 1960. Stack also starred in multiple drama series, before returning to film, this time in comedies to satirize his famed stoic and humorless demeanor. He began hosting Unsolved Mysteries in 1987, and served as the show's host throughout it's entire original run from 1987 to 2002.
Filmography
137 credits
To Be or Not to Be
Movie • 1942
Lieut. Stanislav Sobinski
The Mortal Storm
Movie • 1940
Otto Von Rohn
Airplane!
Movie • 1980
Captain Rex Kramer
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America
Movie • 1996
Agent Flemming (voice)
Joe Versus the Volcano
Movie • 1990
Dr. Ellison
Is Paris Burning?
Movie • 1966
General Sibert
Good Morning, Miss Dove
Movie • 1955
Dr. Tommy Baker
House of Bamboo
Movie • 1955
Eddie Kenner
1941
Movie • 1979
Maj. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell
Mumford
Movie • 1999
Himself
My Outlaw Brother
Movie • 1951
Patrick O´Moore
Douglas Sirk: Über Stars
Movie • 1980
Self
Uncommon Valor
Movie • 1983
MacGregor
Nice Girl?
Movie • 1941
Don Webb
The Last Voyage
Movie • 1960
Cliff Henderson
First Love
Movie • 1939
Ted Drake
Bwana Devil
Movie • 1952
Bob Hayward
The Tarnished Angels
Movie • 1957
Roger Shumann
Caddyshack II
Movie • 1988
Chandler Young
The High and the Mighty
Movie • 1954
John Sullivan
Written on the Wind
Movie • 1956
Kyle Hadley
The Grand Opening of Walt Disney World
Movie • 1971
Self
John Paul Jones
Movie • 1959
John Paul Jones
These Dead Souls
Movie • 2018
(archive footage)
The Strange and Deadly Occurrence
Movie • 1974
Michael Rhodes
Dangerous Curves
Movie • 1988
Louis Faciano
Great Day in the Morning
Movie • 1956
Owen Pentecost
The Caretakers
Movie • 1963
Dr. Donovan MacLeod
Badlands of Dakota
Movie • 1941
Jim Holliday
Action Man
Movie • 1967
Jim Beckley
Bullfighter and the Lady
Movie • 1951
John Regan
A Date with Judy
Movie • 1948
Stephen Andrews
The Y2K Crisis
Movie • 1999
Host
Big Trouble
Movie • 1986
Winslow
Men of Texas
Movie • 1942
Barry Conovan
Fighter Squadron
Movie • 1948
Capt. Stuart L. Hamilton
Sabre Jet
Movie • 1953
Col. Gil Manton
Sealed with a Kiss
Movie • 1999
Sumner Ethridge
Adventures of the Queen
Movie • 1975
Capt. James Morgan
Murder on Flight 502
Movie • 1975
Captain Larkin
Mr. Music
Movie • 1950
Jeff Blake
Hercules: Zero to Hero
Movie • 1999
Narrator (voice) (archive sound)
War Paint
Movie • 1953
Lt. Billings
Barry Norman in Celebrity City
Movie • 1982
Self
Conquest of Cochise
Movie • 1953
Maj. Tom Burke
The Gift of Love
Movie • 1958
William 'Bill' Beck
Laura
Movie • 1968
Mark McPherson
Screen Snapshots Series 21 No. 1
Movie • 1941
Self
The Scarface Mob
Movie • 1959
Eliot Ness
The Iron Glove
Movie • 1954
Captain Charles Wogan
Acting for Douglas Sirk
Movie • 2008
Self (archive footage)
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
Movie • 2019
(archive footage)
Plain Clothes
Movie • 1988
Mr. Gardner
The Transformers: The Movie
Movie • 1986
Ultra Magnus (voice)
Asylum for a Spy
Movie • 1965
James Andrew Congers
A Little Bit of Heaven
Movie • 1940
Bob Terry
Midas Valley
Movie • 1985
Drew Hammond
The Corrupt Ones
Movie • 1967
Cliff Wilder
Unsolved Mysteries Volume 1: UFOs
Movie • 2004
Host
Miss Tatlock's Millions
Movie • 1948
Nickey Van Alen
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
Movie • 1997
Self
Second Wind
Movie • 1978
François Davis
Undercover with the KKK
Movie • 1979
Host - Narrator
Eagle Squadron
Movie • 1942
Chuck S. Brewer
The Real Story of Baa Baa Black Sheep
Movie • 1991
Lt. Littleboy (voice)
Riviera Dream
Movie • 1950
Killer Bud
Movie • 2001
The Gooch
Perry Mason: The Case of the Sinister Spirit
Movie • 1987
Jordan White
BASEketball
Movie • 1998
Robert Stack
Keeping Fit
Movie • 1942
Bob - Factory worker
Screen Snapshots (Series 23, No. 1): Hollywood in Uniform
Movie • 1943
Himself
Story of a Woman
Movie • 1970
David Frasier
Recess: School's Out
Movie • 2001
Superintendent (voice)
The Selling of the Pentagon
Movie • 1971
Self (archive footage)
Lana Turner... a Daughter's Memoir
Movie • 2001
Self
Laura
Movie • 1955
Mark Macpherson
The Muppets Go Hollywood
Movie • 1979
Self
The Return of Eliot Ness
Movie • 1991
Eliot Ness
Unsolved Mysteries: Behind the Legacy
Movie • 2023
Self (archive footage)
Clark Gable: Tall, Dark, and Handsome
Movie • 1996
Self
My Kingdom For...
Movie • 1985
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
Movie • 1987
Self
Jacques Tati, tombé de la lune
Movie • 2021
Alcatraz Express
Movie • 1961
Eliot Ness (archive footage)
Falcon Crest
TV • 1981
Roland Saunders
Murder, She Wrote
TV • 1984
Chester Harrison
Unsolved Mysteries
TV • 1988
Host
The Lucy Show
TV • 1962
Agent Briggs
The Untouchables
TV • 1959
Eliot Ness
Hercules
TV • 1998
Bob (voice)
The Merv Griffin Show
TV • 1962
Self
Blossom
TV • 1990
Robert Stack
Police Story
TV • 1973
Butt-Ugly Martians
TV • 2002
Stoat Muldoon (voice)
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
First Man
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV • 1951
Vic Flint
Strike Force
TV • 1981
Captain Frank Murphy
Brothers
TV • 1984
The 20th Century Fox Hour
TV • 1955
Mark MacPherson
Diagnosis: Murder
TV • 1993
Peter McReynolds
Lights Out
TV • 1949
George Washington
TV • 1984
General Stark
The Oscars
TV • 1953
Self
Hollywood Wives
TV • 1985
George Lancaster
The Mike Douglas Show
TV • 1961
Self - Co-Host
The Mike Douglas Show
TV • 1961
Self
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV • 1962
Self
The Bob Hope Show
TV • 1950
Self - Cameo
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV • 1948
Self
The Name of the Game
TV • 1968
Dan Farrell
Most Wanted
TV • 1976
Captain Linc Evers
Suddenly Susan
TV • 1996
Robert Stack
Entertainment Tonight
TV • 1981
Self
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
TV • 1975
Self
King of the Hill
TV • 1997
Reynolds Penland (voice) (uncredited)
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
TV • 1973
Self
Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self
Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self - Presenter
The Angry Beavers
TV • 1997
Narrator (voice)
Vicki!
TV • 1992
Self
The Fanelli Boys
TV • 1990
Robert Stack (uncredited)
The Fanelli Boys
TV • 1990
Kyle Hadley
Hotel
TV • 1982
Lewis Blackwood
Hotel
TV • 1982
Charles Vandoor
The Love Boat
TV • 1977
Bret Garrett
Dinah!
TV • 1974
Self
The Danny Thomas Hour
TV • 1967
Angelo (Businessman)
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
TV • 1963
Major Morgan
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
TV • 1963
James Andrew Congers
The Ford Television Theatre
TV • 1952
Ralph Saunders
The Ford Television Theatre
TV • 1952
Ben Barton
The Red Skelton Show
TV • 1951
Self / Bo Bo McGoon
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Self - Intermission Guest
Unsolved Mysteries: UFOS
TV • 1991
Unsolved Mysteries: Ghosts
TV • 1990
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
TV • 1958
Eliot Ness
Lords of the Mafia with Robert Stack
TV • 1999
Self - Narrator