Vintage postcard. Photo: MGM. Robert Walker in Vengeance Valley (Richard Thorpe, 1951).
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 216, Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer.
Young lovers whose hopes for a future together remain unfulfilled
Robert Hudson Walker was born in Salt Lake City in 1918. Walker was the youngest of four children of a newspaper publisher.
In 1938, he studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA )in New York. A year later, Walker married actress Jennifer Jones, whom he had met at the AADA. They had two sons who later both became actors, the oldest is Robert Walker Jr.
Jones met film producer David O. Selznick who cast her in the film The Song of Bernadette (Henry King, 1943). That same year Walker also landed a studio contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as well as his first major film roles in Hollywood, having gone uncredited for his first three small film roles in 1939.
Walker played a soldier in World War II in the war film Bataan (Tay Garnett, 1943) starring Robert Taylor, and would go on to play soldiers on several occasions. Jones and Walker appeared together in the lavishly produced Home Front film Since You Went Away (John Cromwell, 1944) as young lovers whose hopes for a future together remain unfulfilled.
At the time, their marriage was already on the rocks, with Jennifer Jones leaving him for David O. Selznick. They divorced in 1945. Since You Went Away (1944) was one of the most successful films of the year and finally established Walker in Hollywood.
Belgian collectors card by Kwatta. Photo: M.G.M.
Dutch postcard, no. 125. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
The nice, often sensitive and shy 'boy next door'
In his films in the 1940s, Robert Walker primarily adopted the role schema of the nice, often sensitive and shy 'boy next door'. In 1945 he starred in The Clock (Vincente Minnelli, 1945) as a soldier who falls in love with Judy Garland's character on his last weekend in New York before being stationed in Europe.
In the post-war period, Walker played two well-known musicians, Jerome Kern in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) and Johannes Brahms in Song of Love (Clarence Brown, 1947) with Katharine Hepburn. Later Walker appeared several times in comedies such as One Touch of Venus (William A. Seiter, 1948) opposite Ava Gardner and Please Believe Me (Norman Taurioog, 1950) with Deborah Kerr, but with only moderate success.
In his private life, Walker increasingly struggled with alcohol problems and mental illness after his divorce from Jennifer Jones. In 1948, Robert Walker was briefly married to Barbara Ford, the daughter of film director John Ford. He was hospitalised at the Menninger Clinic in 1949. In his last marriage, he was married to actress Hanna Hertelendy from July 1949 until his death.
In 1951, he died in Los Angeles from an allergic reaction to a tranquilliser after drinking alcohol. He died one month after the premiere of his now best-known film The Stranger on the Train (1951) by Alfred Hitchcock. In this classic thriller, he offered a memorable portrayal of a psychopathic mother's son from a wealthy home who tries to persuade another train passenger (Farley Granger) to commit murder.
In the same year, Robert Walker also played another villainous role in the Western Vengeance Valley (Richard Thorpe, 1951) alongside Burt Lancaster. Walker died at the age of 32 while filming his last film, My Son John (1951), directed by Leo McCarey.
American autograph card.
Vintage postcard, no. 951. Photo: M.G.M.
French postcard in the Série Hitchcock by Editions ZREIK, Paris, no. H. Image: Warner Bros. American poster for Strangers on a Train (Alfred Hitchcock, 1951) with Farley Granger, Ruth Roman and Robert Walker.
Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German), and IMDb.
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