Robards, Jason (1922-2000), was a leading American stage and motion-picture actor. Robards won consecutive Academy Awards as best supporting actor in 1976 and 1977 for his performances in All the President’s Men (1976) as newspaper publisher Ben Bradlee and in Julia (1977) as detective novelist Dashiel Hammett . Robards was also nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of financier Howard Hughes in Melvin and Howard (1980). As a stage actor, Robards won a Tony Award as best actor for his Broadway performance in the drama The Disenchanted (1958). He appeared in two famous productions of plays by Eugene O’Neill , The Iceman Cometh and Long Day’s Journey into Night (both 1956). He also played the leading role in Arthur Miller’s drama After the Fall (1964). Robards won an Emmy Award for his performance in the television miniseries Inherit the Wind (1988).
Jason Nelson Robards, Jr., was born on July 26, 1922, in Chicago. His father, also named Jason Robards, was a popular stage and screen actor of the early 1900’s. After his father died in 1963, the younger Robards dropped the Jr. from his name.
As a young man, Robards served in the United States Navy for seven years before deciding to pursue an acting career. He appeared in minor roles on the stage and on television before gaining national recognition in The Iceman Cometh. Robards made his film debut in The Journey (1958). His other movies include Tender Is the Night (1959), A Thousand Clowns (1965), The Hour of the Gun (1967), Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), Parenthood (1989), Philadelphia (1993), The Paper (1994), and Magnolia (1999). He died on Dec. 26, 2000.
