Sam Robards


Actor

About

Also Known As
Sam Prideaux Robards
Birth Place
New York City, New York, USA
Born
December 16, 1961

Biography

The handsome, easy-going son of famed actors Jason Robards and Lauren Bacall, Sam Robards studied acting and appeared in several plays Off-Broadway before making an impressive screen debut as a suitor to Molly Ringwald in Paul Mazursky's "Tempest" (1982), a savvy adaptation of Shakespeare's deserted island fantasy. He next drunkenly avoided commitment in the coming-of-age drama "Fandango...

Family & Companions

Suzy Amis
Wife
Actor. Met while filming "Fandango" (1985); married in May 1986; appeared together in "The Ballad of Little Jo" (1993); divorced.
Sidsel Jensen
Wife
Model. Married on November 8, 1997 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Biography

The handsome, easy-going son of famed actors Jason Robards and Lauren Bacall, Sam Robards studied acting and appeared in several plays Off-Broadway before making an impressive screen debut as a suitor to Molly Ringwald in Paul Mazursky's "Tempest" (1982), a savvy adaptation of Shakespeare's deserted island fantasy. He next drunkenly avoided commitment in the coming-of-age drama "Fandango," featuring a then unknown Kevin Costner and Robards' wife-to-be Suzy Amis, before Lewis Gilbert's "Not Quite Jerusalem" (both 1985) saw him play a happy-go-lucky American volunteer for kibbutz life romantically involved with Joanna Pacula. The film adaptation of Jay McInerney's "Bright Lights, Big City" (1988) marked his first association with actor Michael J Fox and the only time to date he has acted in a movie with his father. That same year, he had a supporting role in "Bird," Clint Eastwood's heartfelt biopic of famed jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker. He also portrayed Chaplain Kirk in Brian De Palma's flawed yet majestic Vietnam film, "Casualties of War" (1989), which reteamed him with Fox.

Robards returned to features in a Western starring Amis, "The Ballad of Little Jo" (1993), and landed roles in two 1994 movies, Alan Rudolph's "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle," portraying The New Yorker magazine founder Harold Ross, and Robert Altman's sharp satire of the French fashion industry, "Ready-to-Wear (Pret-a-Porter)" (which also featured Bacall), playing the efficient assistant to an influential fashion editor. After joining the fine ensemble of young talent for Ted Demme's "Beautiful Girls" (1996), Robards provided the voice of Henry in Steven Grynberg's "Love from Ground Zero" (1998) and then appeared in the successful dark comedy "American Beauty" (1999), delivering one of his more memorable feature turns as one of the two Jims (with Scott Bakula), the gay neighbors of the Burnham family.

Robards has enjoyed his best exposure on the small screen. He made his debut as the son of the title character, an imprisoned Argentinean newspaperman, in "Jacobo Timerman: Prisoner Without a Name, Cell without a Number" (NBC, 1983). He went on to play the brother of young man who seemingly disappeared in the fact-based "Into Thin Air" (CBS, 1985) and supported Valerie Bertinelli as "Pancho Barnes" (CBS, 1988) before headlining the short-lived drama series "TV 101" (CBS, 1988-89) as a TV news photographer who returns to his high school to instill some of his passion for journalism into a new generation of students. Robards also co-starred on Fox's wacky sitcom "Get a Life!" its first season (1990-91), playing straight man to series star Chris Elliott.

The 1995 USA movie "Donor Unknown" cast him against type as an ambitious, amoral transplant surgeon willing to stoop to nefarious means to obtain organs for his work. He contributed to two projects dealing with the notorious Nazi Adolph Eichmann, acting in TNT's superb "The Man Who Captured Eichmann" (1996) and voicing Avrahim Aviel for the following year's PBS documentary, "The Trial of Adolph Eichmann. Robards' Sheriff in "Maximum Bob" (ABC, 1998), Barry Sonnenfeld's critically-acclaimed summer series loosely based on the Elmore Leonard novel, was a compassionate sort given to ballroom dancing to compensate for the death of his wife. Cut from the same cloth was his sensitive portrayal of Bobby Riordan, the Florida gym teacher who befriends the battered Fran Benedetto and her son in the CBS-movie "Black and Blue" (1999), adapted from the Anna Quindlen novel. His recurring part as Arthur on ABC's "Spin City" during the 1998-99 season reunited him with series star Michael J. Fox, as they both vied for the affections of the same woman. Robards was back on the big screen playing the adoptive father of a robotic child programmed to love in a futuristic society in "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" (2001).

Life Events

1980

Acting debut in the Off-Broadway production of "Album"

1982

Feature film debut, Paul Mazursky's "Tempest"

1983

TV-movie debut, "Jacobo Timerman: Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number" (NBC)

1985

Met future wife Suzy Amis while filming "Fandango"

1988

Only feature to date that featured both he and his father Jason in the cast, "Bright Lights, Big City"

1988

Cast in the lead role of the journalism teacher Kevin Keegan in the CBS drama series, "TV 101"

1989

Portrayed Chaplain Kirk in Brian De Palma's "Casualties of War"

1990

Played regular role of Larry Potter on the first season of the comedy series, "Get a Life!" (FOX)

1993

Acted opposite then wife, Suzi Amis in "The Ballad of Little Jo"

1994

Portrayed Harold Ross (founder of <i>The New Yorker</i>) in "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle"

1994

Appeared in Altman's "Ready to Wear (Pret-a-Porter)"; also co-starring his mother Lauren Bacall

1995

Cast against type as an ambitious, amoral transplant surgeon in "Donor Unknown" (USA)

1996

Joined the ensemble of fine young talent in Ted Demme's "Beautiful Girls"

1996

Cast in the TNT movie "The Man Who Captured Eichmann," starring Robert Duvall as Eichmann

1997

Contributed the voice of Avraham Aviel to the PBS documentary, "The Trial of Adolph Eichmann"

1998

Provided the voice of Henry in "Love from Groud Zero"

1998

Had a recurring role as Arthur on the ABC sitcom "Spin City"

1999

With Scott Bakula, portrayed the gay neighbors, in "American Beauty"

1999

Portrayed Mike Riordan in CBS TV-movie "Black and Blue," adapted from the Anna Quindlen novel

2000

Appeared in the Off-Broadway play "The Altruists" by Nicky Silver

2001

Co-starred as the adoptive father of a robotic child in "A.I. Artificial Intelligence"

2001

Acted in the live CBS broadcast of "On Golden Pond"

2002

Received a Tony nomination for his role in Arthur Miller's "The Man Who Had All the Luck"

2004

Appeared as White House correspondent, Greg Brock in season five of "The West Wing" (NBC)

2004

Played a father that gets critically injured in "Catch that Kid"

2005

Co-starred in Henry Jaglom's "Going Shopping" with Victoria Foyt, Lee Grant and Bruce Davison

2006

Played the pompous megalomaniac producer of a reality TV program in "Surviving Eden"

2007

Cast in a recurring role on the CW series "Gossip Girl" as Captain Archibald, Nate's (Chase Crawford) strict father

2008

Took over the role of Richard Hannay in the NYC theatrical run of "The 39 Steps"

Family

Jason Robards Sr
Grandfather
Actor. Acted on stage and was also prominent in silent film and early talkies.
Jason Robards
Father
Actor. Bon on July 26, 1922; married to Lauren Bacall from July 4, 1961 to September 10, 1969; received back-to-back Best Supporting Actor Oscars in 1976 and 1977; died December 26, 2000 after a long battle with cancer.
Lauren Bacall
Mother
Actor. Born on September 16, 1924; married to Robards from July 4, 1961 to September 10, 1969.
Jason Robards III
Half-Brother
Actor. Born in 1948; father, Jason Robards Jr; mother, Eleanor Pitman.
Stephen Humphrey Bogart
Half-Brother
TV news producer, author. Born on January 6, 1949; father, Humphrey Bogart; mother, Lauren Bacall.
Sarah Louise Robards
Half-Sister
Older; father, Jason Robards Jr; mother, Eleanor Pitman.
Leslie Howard Bogart
Half-Sister
Nurse, yoga teacher. Born on August 23, 1952; father, Humphrey Bogart; mother, Lauren Bacall.
David Robards
Half-Brother
Older; father, Jason Robards Jr; mother, Eleanor Pitman.
Shannon Robards
Half-Sister
Younger; father, Jason Robards Jr; mother, Lois O'Connor.
Jake Robards
Half-Brother
Actor. Born c. 1974; father, Jason Robards Jr; mother, Lois O'Connor.
Jasper Evans Robards
Son
Born in April 1990; mother, Suzy Amis.
Calvin Robards
Son
Born in February 1999; mother, Sidsel Jensen.

Companions

Suzy Amis
Wife
Actor. Met while filming "Fandango" (1985); married in May 1986; appeared together in "The Ballad of Little Jo" (1993); divorced.
Sidsel Jensen
Wife
Model. Married on November 8, 1997 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Bibliography