Robert Rae Cornthwaite was born on April 28, 1917, in Saint Helens, Oregon, and passed away on July 20, 2006. He was an American actor in movies and TV shows.
His interest in acting started when he was a teenager and had to say one line in a school play. In 1937, he began acting in college, performing in a play called Twelfth Night while he was at Reed College in Portland, Oregon.
During the late 1930s, he attended Long Beach City College, worked at radio stations in Southern California, and later earned a degree from the University of Southern California. In World War II, Cornthwaite served as an intelligence officer in the Army Air Force.
He acted in the military, first as a radio-gunner in B-25 aircraft, then as a radio operator and superintendent of the watch. He also worked as a writer and broadcaster with the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces, handling Public Relations duties in various locations.
In 1951, he starred in Howard Hawks’s film, “The Thing from Another World,” playing Dr. Carrington. This role earned him a place in the “Science Fiction Hall of Fame” in 1993. He also appeared in other notable films like “The War of the Worlds,” “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?,” “Colossus: The Forbin Project,” and “Matinee.”
While primarily a stage actor, he appeared in numerous TV shows from the 1950s to the 1970s, including “Perry Mason,” “The Andy Griffith Show,” “The Twilight Zone,” and “Get Smart.”
Robert Cornthwaite continued acting until his later years, with one of his last major stage roles in a production of “The Cherry Orchard.” He passed away at the age of 89 on July 20, 2006, in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, due to natural causes, at the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital.