Konrad Robert Falk (March 1, 1935 – February 8, 2020), better known as Robert Conrad, was an American actor, screenwriter, singer, stuntman and radio show host of German descent.
In his extensive career on television from 1959 till his retirement from acting in 2000, he was perhaps best known for playing cowboy secret agent James "Jim" West in the Ur-Example for Cattle Punk series, The Wild Wild West, alongside Ross Martin as Artemus Gordon, and for portraying Real Life World War II Ace Pilot Gregory "Pappy" Boyington in Black Sheep Squadron.
He was also a singer and recorded several pop/rock songs in The '50s and The '60s as "Bob Conrad", and hosted a radio show (The PM Show with Robert Conrad) on CRN Digital Talk Radio beginning in 2008.
He passed away from heart failure in Malibu on February 8, 2020 at age 84.
Tropes & Trivia in his works:
- Disowned Adaptation: Conrad was a vocal critic of the film based off his most popular series, and went so far as going to the Razzie Awards ceremony and accepting every award the film won as a form of protest. He had no involvement in the making of the film itself, howevernote , and cannot be said to have been the rightful recipient of any of its awards, so he is usually omitted from lists of Razzie winners who have accepted their awards.
- Real-Life Relative: Bob's sons, Shane Conrad and Christian Conrad, were his co-stars in High Mountain Rangers and the revamped series featuring the same characters, Jesse Hawkes.
- Write What You Know: Conrad was involved with the volunteer organization Bear Valley Search and Rescue in Bear Valley, California. It inspired him to write the TV productions High Mountain Rangers, Search and Rescue and High Sierra Search and Rescue. Also counts as Meta Casting / Actor-Shared Background since he starred in them.
