Name
Robert Stack
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1919-01-13
Deathday
2003-05-14 (84 years old)
Place of Birth
Los Angeles, California, USA
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.
Known For
7.181
Near the end of World War II, General Dietrich von Choltitz receives orders to burn down P...
5.806
Hypochondriac Joe Banks finds out he has six months to live, quits his dead end job, muste...
6.176
Eddie Kenner is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Da...
6.6
The school year is finally ending, and T.J. Detweiler is looking forward to summer. But bo...
6.1
Two losers from Milwaukee, Coop and Remer, invent a new game combining basketball with the...
6.265
A group of Vietnam War veterans re-unite to rescue one of their own left behind and taken ...
7.81
During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldi...
- 1942 To Be or Not to Be as Lieut. Stanislav Sobinski
- 1940 The Mortal Storm as Otto Von Rohn
- 1980 Airplane! as Captain Rex Kramer
- 1996 Beavis and Butt-Head Do America as Agent Flemming (voice)
- 1990 Joe Versus the Volcano as Dr. Ellison
- 1966 Is Paris Burning? as General Sibert
- 1955 Good Morning, Miss Dove as Dr. Tommy Baker
- 1955 House of Bamboo as Eddie Kenner
- 1979 1941 as Maj. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell
- 1999 Mumford as Himself
- 1951 My Outlaw Brother as Patrick O´Moore
- 1980 Douglas Sirk: Über Stars as Self
- 1983 Uncommon Valor as MacGregor
- 1941 Nice Girl? as Don Webb
- 1960 The Last Voyage as Cliff Henderson
- 1939 First Love as Ted Drake
- 1952 Bwana Devil as Bob Hayward
- 1957 The Tarnished Angels as Roger Shumann
- 1988 Caddyshack II as Chandler Young
- 1954 The High and the Mighty as John Sullivan
- 1956 Written on the Wind as Kyle Hadley
- 1971 The Grand Opening of Walt Disney World as Self
- 1959 John Paul Jones as John Paul Jones
- 2018 These Dead Souls as (archive footage)
- 1974 The Strange and Deadly Occurrence as Michael Rhodes
- 1988 Dangerous Curves as Louis Faciano
- 1956 Great Day in the Morning as Owen Pentecost
- 1963 The Caretakers as Dr. Donovan MacLeod
- 1941 Badlands of Dakota as Jim Holliday
- 1967 Action Man as Jim Beckley
- 1951 Bullfighter and the Lady as John Regan
- 1948 A Date with Judy as Stephen Andrews
- 1999 The Y2K Crisis as Host
- 1986 Big Trouble as Winslow
- 1948 Fighter Squadron as Capt. Stuart L. Hamilton
- 1942 Men of Texas as Barry Conovan
- 1953 Sabre Jet as Col. Gil Manton
- 1999 Sealed with a Kiss as Sumner Ethridge
- 1975 Adventures of the Queen as Capt. James Morgan
- 1975 Murder on Flight 502 as Captain Larkin
- 1950 Mr. Music as Jeff Blake
- 1999 Hercules: Zero to Hero as Narrator (voice) (archive sound)
- 1953 War Paint as Lt. Billings
- 1982 Barry Norman in Celebrity City as Self
- 1953 Conquest of Cochise as Maj. Tom Burke
- 1958 The Gift of Love as William 'Bill' Beck
- 1968 Laura as Mark McPherson
- 1941 Screen Snapshots Series 21 No. 1 as Self
- 1959 The Scarface Mob as Eliot Ness
- 1954 The Iron Glove as Captain Charles Wogan
- 2008 Acting for Douglas Sirk as Self (archive footage)
- 2019 Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood as (archive footage)
- 1988 Plain Clothes as Mr. Gardner
- 1986 The Transformers: The Movie as Ultra Magnus (voice)
- 1965 Asylum for a Spy as James Andrew Congers
- 1940 A Little Bit of Heaven as Bob Terry
- 1985 Midas Valley as Drew Hammond
- 1967 The Corrupt Ones as Cliff Wilder
- 2004 Unsolved Mysteries Volume 1: UFOs as Host
- 1948 Miss Tatlock's Millions as Nickey Van Alen
- 1997 Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line as Self
- 1978 Second Wind as François Davis
- 1979 Undercover with the KKK as Host - Narrator
- 1942 Eagle Squadron as Chuck S. Brewer
- 1991 The Real Story of Baa Baa Black Sheep as Lt. Littleboy (voice)
- 1950 Riviera Dream
- 2001 Killer Bud as The Gooch
- 1987 Perry Mason: The Case of the Sinister Spirit as Jordan White
- 1998 BASEketball as Robert Stack
- 1942 Keeping Fit as Bob - Factory worker
- 1943 Screen Snapshots (Series 23, No. 1): Hollywood in Uniform as Himself
- 1970 Story of a Woman as David Frasier
- 2001 Recess: School's Out as Superintendent (voice)
- 1971 The Selling of the Pentagon as Self (archive footage)
- 2001 Lana Turner... a Daughter's Memoir as Self
- 1955 Laura as Mark Macpherson
- 1979 The Muppets Go Hollywood as Self
- 1991 The Return of Eliot Ness as Eliot Ness
- 2023 Unsolved Mysteries: Behind the Legacy as Self (archive footage)
- 1996 Clark Gable: Tall, Dark, and Handsome as Self
- 1985 My Kingdom For...
- 1987 Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood as Self
- 2021 Jacques Tati, tombé de la lune
- 1961 Alcatraz Express as Eliot Ness
- 1960 The Gun of Zangara as Eliot Ness
- 1981 Falcon Crest ( 5 episodes ) as Roland Saunders
- 1984 Murder, She Wrote ( 1 episode ) as Chester Harrison
- 1988 Unsolved Mysteries ( 561 episodes ) as Host
- 1962 The Lucy Show ( 1 episode ) as Agent Briggs
- 1959 The Untouchables ( 118 episodes ) as Eliot Ness
- 1998 Hercules ( 65 episodes ) as Bob (voice)
- 1962 The Merv Griffin Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1990 Blossom ( 1 episode ) as Robert Stack
- 1973 Police Story ( 2 episodes )
- 2002 Butt-Ugly Martians ( 26 episodes ) as Stoat Muldoon (voice)
- 1950 Lux Video Theatre ( 1 episode ) as First Man
- 1951 Schlitz Playhouse of Stars ( 1 episode ) as Vic Flint
- 1981 Strike Force ( 20 episodes ) as Captain Frank Murphy
- 1984 Brothers ( 1 episode )
- 1955 The 20th Century Fox Hour ( 1 episode ) as Mark MacPherson
- 1993 Diagnosis: Murder ( 1 episode ) as Peter McReynolds
- 1949 Lights Out ( 2 episodes )
- 1984 George Washington ( 3 episodes ) as General Stark
- 1953 The Oscars ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 1985 Hollywood Wives ( 3 episodes ) as George Lancaster
- 1961 The Mike Douglas Show ( 5 episodes ) as Self - Co-Host
- 1961 The Mike Douglas Show ( 5 episodes ) as Self
- 1962 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ( 7 episodes ) as Self
- 1950 The Bob Hope Show ( 1 episode ) as Self - Cameo
- 1948 The Ed Sullivan Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1968 The Name of the Game ( 26 episodes ) as Dan Farrell
- 1976 Most Wanted ( 23 episodes ) as Captain Linc Evers
- 1996 Suddenly Susan ( 1 episode ) as Robert Stack
- 1981 Entertainment Tonight ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1975 Les Rendez-vous du dimanche ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1997 King of the Hill ( 1 episode ) as Reynolds Penland (voice) (uncredited)
- 1973 The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1944 Golden Globe Awards ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1944 Golden Globe Awards ( 1 episode ) as Self - Presenter
- 1997 The Angry Beavers ( 1 episode ) as Narrator (voice)
- 1992 Vicki! ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1990 The Fanelli Boys ( 1 episode ) as Robert Stack (uncredited)
- 1990 The Fanelli Boys ( 1 episode ) as Kyle Hadley
- 1982 Hotel ( 1 episode ) as Lewis Blackwood
- 1982 Hotel ( 1 episode ) as Charles Vandoor
- 1977 The Love Boat ( 1 episode ) as Bret Garrett
- 1974 Dinah! ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1967 The Danny Thomas Hour ( 1 episode ) as Angelo (Businessman)
- 1963 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre ( 1 episode ) as Major Morgan
- 1963 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre ( 2 episodes ) as James Andrew Congers
- 1952 The Ford Television Theatre ( 1 episode ) as Ralph Saunders
- 1952 The Ford Television Theatre ( 1 episode ) as Ben Barton
- 1951 The Red Skelton Show ( 1 episode ) as Bo Bo McGoon
- 1950 Lux Video Theatre ( 1 episode ) as Self - Intermission Guest
- 1991 Unsolved Mysteries: UFOS ( 26 episodes )
- 1990 Unsolved Mysteries: Ghosts ( 34 episodes )
- 1958 Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse ( 1 episode ) as Eliot Ness
- 1999 Lords of the Mafia ( 16 episodes ) as Self - Narrator
