Robert Conrad

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For the U.S. judge, see Robert J. Conrad.

Robert Conrad
Conrad as Tom Lopaka in Hawaiian Eye.
Birth name	Konrad Robert Falk or Konrad Robert Falkowski
Born	March 1 1935 (1935-03-01) (age 73) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Spouse(s)	LaVelda Fann

Robert Conrad (born March 1, 1935) is an American film and TV actor and director. He is primarily known for the 1965-1969 television series The Wild Wild West, in which he played the Secret Service agent James West. The movie remake starring Will Smith was based on this series, and Conrad was openly critical of the film.

Biography

Early life

Conrad was born Konrad Robert Falk^[1] or Konrad Robert Falkowski in Chicago, Illinois. During his early career one of Conrad's best friends was actor Nick Adams, who by many accounts helped him get work in Hollywood.^[2]

Career

Before The Wild Wild West, Conrad played Tom Lopaka in Hawaiian Eye. In the mid-1970s he played World War II fighter ace Pappy Boyington in Baa Baa Black Sheep. His half-brother, Larry Manetti, also appeared in this series. In the late 1970s, Conrad served as the captain of the NBC team for six editions of Battle of the Network Stars. He also played a modern day variation of James West in the short-lived secret agent series A Man Called Sloane in 1979, around the same time he reprised the role of West in a pair of made-for-TV films. He then starred in the TV miniseries Centennial. Conrad was widely identified in the late 1970s for his television commercials for Eveready batteries, particularly his challenge to the viewer to "knock the battery off my shoulder". The commercial was frequently parodied on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show and The Carol Burnett Show. In 1988, Conrad starred in a short lived TV series called High Mountain Rangers with two of his sons. He also starred in that show's one season spin-off Jesse Hawkes. In 1992, Conrad played the role of the Sheriff in Richard Marx's Hazard video. Conrad took over hosting The History Channel's Weapons At War (later Tech Force) in 2000 following George C. Scott's 1999 death. In 2006, Conrad recorded special audio introductions for every episode of the first season of The Wild Wild West for its North American DVD release on June 6. The DVD set also included one of Conrad's Eveready battery commercials; in his introduction, Conrad stated that he was flattered to be parodied by Carson. He was inducted into the Stuntman's Hall of Fame for his work on The Wild,Wild West series.

Personal life

Conrad is the father of eight children by two marriages. He lived in Bear Valley, California in the High Sierras until 2006 and now lives in Southern California with his current wife, LaVelda Fann, who is originally from Gadsden, Alabama, and their children. Conrad was good friends with Michael Spilotro, whom the FBI identified as an associate of the Chicago mafia (a/k/a "The Outfit") and a suspected murderer and professional burglar. The friendship came to an abrupt end when Spilotro was beaten to death with baseball bats and buried in an Indiana cornfield in a famous mafia slaying. The slaying of Conrad's mafia friend is portrayed in the movie Casino. Conrad has been out of the public eye since 2003, when he was involved in a devastating car accident. Conrad was driving his Jaguar drunk on Highway 4 in the California Sierra foothills near his Calaveras County home, when he crossed over the center median and slammed head-on into a Subaru being driven by 26-year-old Kevin Burnett. Both men suffered serious injuries.^[3][4] Conrad was convicted of drunk driving (his blood-alcohol level was 0.22 percent, nearly three times the legal limit) and was sentenced to six months of house arrest, five years probation and alcohol counseling, and is banned from bars. He also lost his driver's license for one year.^[5]

References

External links

• Robert Conrad at the Internet Movie Database