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Robert J. Wilke

Highest Rated: 100% Wichita (1955)

Lowest Rated: 40% Fate Is the Hunter (1964)

Birthday: May 18, 1914

Birthplace: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

While he looked as rugged as other Western television actors of his day, Robert J. Wilke never quite achieved the same level of stardom as some of his contemporaries. Nevertheless, he had a lengthy and prolific career, beginning in the mid-'30s as a movie stuntman, which led to acting roles in features (in small parts, generally henchmen or ne'er do wells). By the early '50s, he was still appearing in minor Westerns when he had a breakthrough in "High Noon" as Jim Pierce, one of the three bad guys waiting for Gary Cooper's Will Kane at the train station. Although the vast majority of his subsequent film roles were also villains, "High Noon" led to a small part in "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," as well as lots of television work. During the late '50s and the '60s, Wilke landed his first recurring characters, on two episodes of "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color" and the "Zorro" series, and around this time he also became familiar to fans of Western shows, logging credits for "Gunsmoke," "Bonanza," and countless others. Toward the end of his career, his highlights included Terrence Malick's 1978 romance "Days of Heaven," in which he played the main characters' primary antagonist. Yet Wilke's farm foreman was something of a revelation, coming across more as a working man with responsibilities to carry out than the sneering villain one might have expected.

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Highest-Rated Movies

100% 65% Wichita
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100% 70% The Tarnished Angels
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95% 89% High Noon
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94% 89% Days of Heaven
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90% 74% 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
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90% 83% The Lone Ranger
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89% 87% The Magnificent Seven
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88% 84% From Here to Eternity Watchlist
50% 53% Night Passage
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40% 71% Fate Is the Hunter
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Filmography

Movies TV Shows
Manu Baunilha, Bia Chocolate 2014 Actor The Great Monkey Rip-Off 1979 Zaerbo Actor Days of Heaven 94% 89% 1978 The Farm Foreman Actor Santee 22% 1973 Deake Actor The Boy Who Cried Werewolf 20% 1973 The Sheriff Actor The Desperate Mission 1971 Gant Actor They Call It Murder 43% 1971 Sheriff Rex Brandon Actor The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler 1971 Hugh Fielding Actor A Gunfight 42% 1971 Marshal Tom Cater Actor The Rookies 1971 Officer Shaw Actor The Cheyenne Social Club 67% 1970 Corey Bannister Actor Smoky 40% 1966 Jeff Nicks Actor Fate Is the Hunter 40% 71% 1964 Stillman Actor Shock Treatment 1964 Mike Newton Actor The Gun Hawk 1963 Johnny Flanders Actor The Long Rope 1961 Ben Matthews Actor Blueprint for Robbery 1961 Capt. Swanson Actor The Slowest Gun in the West 1960 Billy the Kid Blake Actor The Magnificent Seven 89% 87% 1960 Wallace Actor Never Steal Anything Small 1959 Lennie Actor Return to Warbow 1958 Red Actor Night Passage 50% 53% 1957 Concho Actor The Tarnished Angels 100% 70% 1957 Hank Actor Hot Summer Night 1957 Tom Ellis Actor Backlash 42% 1956 Jeff Welker Actor
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