Obituary: Robert Conrad

Conrad during his prime

Actor and producer Robert Conrad, 84, who never seemed to be out of work in television from the early sixties, with Hawaiian Eye, until a bad car accident in the Sierra nearly twenty years ago put an end to his career, has died.

Conrad, born in Chicago as Conrad Robert Falk, is perhaps best known for starring in the CBS western , The Wild, Wild West, which ran from 1965 to 1969.  He was also renowned for performing his own stunts on the show.  Watching those shows, Conrad, who was rather short in stature, was almost anorexic because he was so fit.  He was also made to wear very tight pants, which he ripped numerous pairs while performing his stunts.

Anyway, he and co-star Ross Martin, who passed away in 1981 of a heart attack, were quite close friends.  He seemed to have a good sense of humor.

Conrad, who had a shitload of children from two marriages (both ending in divorce), often had his children involved in his series.  He married real young, a mere 17 years old,  to his first wife Joan Kenlay and had five children with her, but that marriage went kaput after 25 years.  Then, in the late 1970s, he took up with a way younger woman who I think was in her teens when she first met him.  Her name was LaVelda Fann.   He had three children with her, but she reportedly battled drug problems.  The pair finally divorced in 2010.  After Conrad's accident, he went into retirement.  Or he retired before, according to some sources.

He was a big Republican, often appearing on Fox News with his take on current events.  But I look at his television shows from the 1960s, and I frankly couldn't care less about what he believed.  He was real eye candy back in the day.  Not drop-dead gorgeous like John Gavin because Conrad never had the height, but he was okay all the same.  Conrad was also a close friend of Elvis Presley's, so that was another plus on his behalf.

Now I am doing this from memory here, but it seems for some years some sources had Conrad born in 1929, but I think Conrad had lied about his age for employment reasons or something to that effect.  In reality, he was born in 1935, which makes a lot more sense.

Conrad died at his home in Malibu today of  heart failure.  He would have turned 85 on March 1.

As for the 2003 car accident near his home in the Sierra Nevada, as I recall, Conrad had too much to drink, got into his Jaguar, went over the median strip,  and collided head-on with another motorist.  The motorist, Kevin Burnett, suffered severe injuries, just as Conrad did, but unlike Conrad, Burnett later died from a perforated ulcer.  He was only 28.  Conrad was convicted of DUI and sentenced to house arrest and five years probation. He later settled a civil suit with Burnett.

From the link:

Conrad Robert Falk was born on the South Side of Chicago on March 1, 1935. His father, Leonard, worked in construction and became vice president of the National Sugar Co., and his mother, Jacqueline, did PR and had clients including Patti Page and Vic Damone.

He played running back in high school, thought about a career as a boxer and, when he wasn't loading or driving a truck, sang in a trio that performed in Chicago hotels.

After standing outside theaters to drum up publicity for 1956's Giant (his mother had been dating a Warner Bros. executive, and Conrad bore a resemblance to the recently deceased James Dean), he thought he might try acting.

He attended Northwestern University, majoring in theater arts, and became friends with Rebel Without a Cause actor Nick Adams, who got him a part in Juvenile Jungle (1958).

A dozen years ago, I wrote about him here.

I don't want to forget including this clip: