Robert Hays
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Biography
An earnest, boyishly handsome actor, Robert Hays has often adopted an amusing deadpan expression as well-meaning but clueless romantic leads caught up in farcical situations. A "Marine brat," Hays grew up in Turkey, India and England before graduating from high school in Nebraska. Attending college in San Diego, he caught the theater bug after studying acting for a semester and promptly joined the Actor's Guild at the Old Globe Theater. Hays stayed with the company for five years, performing in plays ranging from "Richard III" to "The Glass Menagerie" to "Say Who You Are," winning the Globe's Atlas award for the latter.
Hays made his TV debut guesting on ABC's detective series "Harry O" and began appearing on TV-movies soon thereafter. A first series, "The Young Pioneers" (ABC, 1978), with Hays as the eponymous couple's neighbor, fizzled after three episodes, but he had more luck with "Angie" (ABC, 1979-80). As clean-cut Brad Benson, Hays played a wealthy young doctor who dealt with sitcom adventures after marrying a poor waitress (Donna Pescow). The show was never a huge hit, but it got Hays noticed, and he made a successful debut in features with the hilarious disaster spoof, "Airplane!" (1980). As Ted Striker (a role he reprised for the 1982 sequel) he was quite funny as the goofy yet stalwart former pilot who must try to land an endangered plane.
Hays' wide-eyed, middle-America good looks suggested promise in films, but the unpopular "Take This Job and Shove It" (1981), based on the hit song, failed to consolidate his fame. Subsequent features were minor farces all cut from the same cloth. In "Trenchcoat" (1982) and "Fifty/Fifty" (1991), he played bumbling spies, while "Honeymoon Academy" (1990) had him married to a spy caught up in work during their honeymoon. "Scandalous" (1984), meanwhile, put Hays in comic suspense once more as a reporter charged with murder. He later did direct-to-video releases like "No Dessert Dad, Till You Mow the Lawn" and "Raw Justice" (both 1994).
The likable Hays, a highly recognizable TV face, kept busy in the comic TV-movies "The Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything" (syndicated, 1980) and "Murder by the Book" (NBC, 1987). "Running Against Time" (USA, 1990) found a feckless, time-traveling Hays trying to prevent JFK's assassination, and he also had his hands full with "Deadly Invasion: The Killer Bee Nightmare" (Fox, 1995). Often cast in roles calling for him to react as much as act, he proved a good choice for a TV version of "Mr. Roberts" (NBC, 1984) and did his charming professional best by such short-lived TV series as "Starman" (ABC, 1986-87), "FM" (NBC, 1989-90) and "Cutters" (CBS, 1993). Hays had a rare opportunity to display his underused dramatic ability as Victoria Principal's abusive husband in "The Abduction" (Lifetime, 1996).
Filmography
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Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1975
Made TV debut on an episode of the ABC detective series, "Harry O", starring David Janssen (date approximate)
1976
Earliest TV work also included a supporting role in the TV-movie pilot for the ABC drama series, "The Young Pioneers"; also acted in the second pilot movie later that year, "The Young Pioneers' Christmas"
1978
TV series debut: reprised his role as Dan Gray on the short-lived (three episodes) ABC historical drama series, "The Young Pioneers"
1980
Made feature film debut in the leading of the hit disaster-movie spoof, "Airplane!"
1981
First film made outside the U.S., The Canadian-feature, "Utilities"
1982
Reprised the role of Ted Striker for the sequel comedy, "Airplane II: The Sequel"
1985
Last feature film for five years, "Stephen King's Cat's Eye"
1987
Made TV directorial debut helming "The Test", an episode of the series, "Starman"
1990
Returned to features as the male lead of the adventure comedy, "Honeymoon Academy"
1993
Played Joe Polachek, one of the leading roles, on the short-lived (five episodes) CBS sitcom, "Cutters"
1994
Supplied the voice for the title character of Tony Stark (a.k.a. Iron Man) on the animated children's adventure series, "Iron Man"
1996
Had strong dramatic role as Victoria Principal's abusive husband in the Lifetime TV-movie "The Abduction"
1998
Co-starred with Shelley Long in The WB sitcom "Kelly Kelly"
2001
Briefly returned to sitcoms as Bette Midler's husband in episodes of "Bette" (CBS), show was cancelled after only one of those in which he appeared aired
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