ORBITRA
Robert J. Wilke

Acting

Robert J. Wilke

May 18, 1914 – Mar 28, 1989194 titles 124 movies · 70 TV
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IMDb

Biography

Prolific American character actor of primarily villainous roles. The son of German parents, Cincinnati feed-store manager August Wilke and his wife Rose, Robert Joseph Wilke grew up in Cincinnati. He worked as a lifeguard at a Miami, Florida, hotel, where he made contacts in the film business. He was able to obtain work as a stuntman and continued as such until the mid-'40s, when he began getting actual roles in low-budget westerns and serials. A prominent appearance as one of the heavies in Le train sifflera trois fois (1952) led to work in higher-quality films. He worked extensively in television as well as movies, and became an enormously familiar face, though a fairly anonymous one to the general public. His weathered visage made him a perfect western bad guy, but he occasionally played sympathetic parts as well, as in Les moissons du ciel (1978). An expert golfer, he was said by his friend Claude Akins to have earned more money on the golf course than he ever did in movies. He died in 1989. -

Also known as

Bob Wilke · Robert Wilke · Robert Joseph Wilke

Born

May 18, 1914 – Mar 28, 1989

Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

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Photos

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Roles across career

Titles counted once; a person can act and direct on the same film (roles merged).

194

Acting credits

0

Directing

0

Writing

0

Other crew

Most critically rated

Highest TMDB score (min 100 votes)

Most commercially successful

Highest TMDB vote count (attention / reach proxy; not box office)

Career timeline

By release / first air year · movie & TV merged

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1937 2 title(s)

1938 1 title(s)

1939 4 title(s)

1940 3 title(s)

1941 2 title(s)

1943 1 title(s)

1944 10 title(s)

1945 10 title(s)

1946 7 title(s)

1947 6 title(s)

1948 3 title(s)

1949 6 title(s)

1950 7 title(s)

1951 10 title(s)

1952 12 title(s)

1953 4 title(s)

1954 6 title(s)

1955 7 title(s)

1956 8 title(s)

1957 11 title(s)

1958 10 title(s)

1959 12 title(s)

1960 8 title(s)

1961 2 title(s)

1962 4 title(s)

1963 4 title(s)

1964 3 title(s)

1965 3 title(s)

1966 4 title(s)

1967 4 title(s)

1968 2 title(s)

1969 1 title(s)

1970 1 title(s)

1971 3 title(s)

1972 2 title(s)

1973 2 title(s)

1974 1 title(s)

1975 1 title(s)

1977 1 title(s)

1978 3 title(s)

1979 1 title(s)

1981 1 title(s)

1987 1 title(s)