Robert Stack is probably best remembered for his television credits, either as the host of Unsolved Mysteries or for his Emmy-winning role of Eliot Ness on The Untouchables series. But Stack's movie career in the '40s and '50s was just as impressive as his later TV success. Stack co-starred with big names like Deanna Durbin and Rock Hudson -- and he was an Oscar® nominee for Best Actor for Written on the Wind (1956).

He was born Charles Langford Modini Stack on January 13, 1919 in Los Angeles. His parents divorced when he was a baby and, as the story goes, Stack's mother named him Charles after his grandfather; it was his father who, for no known reason, would later call him Robert. Stack's mother took him to Europe at age three. So while he spoke fluent Italian and French, he had to learn English when he returned to the States at age six. Growing up, Stack was an ace skeet shooter and often gave lessons to celebrities like Clark Gable and wife Carole Lombard. He placed second at the National Skeet Shooting Championship in 1935 and the following year his five-man team set a new record.

Stack studied drama at USC and, in 1939, at twenty years old, he made his screen debut in First Love (1939). Appearing opposite Deanna Durbin, Stack gave the young actress her first screen kiss in the film. Stack and Durbin made a second film together in 1941 called Nice Girl?. Another early Stack role was that of Otto in the anti-Nazi film The Mortal Storm (1940). In 1942, Stack starred with Carole Lombard and Jack Benny in the Ernst Lubitsch comedy To Be or Not To Be.

Other notable Stack films of the '40s include: A Date with Judy (1948) co-starring Wallace Beery, Jane Powell and Elizabeth Taylor; Fighter Squadron (1948) which featured Edmond O'Brien and Rock Hudson in a bit part; and the screwball comedy Miss Tatlock's Millions (1948).

One of Stack's favorite films came in 1951 with Bullfighter and the Lady. The movie was produced by John Wayne and was filmed during a 12-week shoot in Mexico. Despite the sunny locale, there were problems with the production, including injuries to two bullfighters. Apparently, there was also some confusion about the Mexican unions and the need for a bribe to secure crews and a sound stage. Nonetheless, the shoot held fond memories for Stack; he seemed to take to the local atmosphere and the tequila.

Back in Hollywood, Stack made movie history in 1952, appearing in Bwana Devil, the first feature film to use the 3-D process. Along with its groundbreaking status, the film also proved to be controversial. To meet Production Code standards, a kissing scene between Stack and Barbara Britton had to be cut for distribution. The concern reportedly centered on the fact that "due to the 3-D effect, [the actors] seem[ed] to leap off the screen into a romantic embrace."

Stack spent the 1950s in mostly action and western roles, in films like War Paint (1953), The High and the Mighty (1954) with John Wayne and Jacques Tourneur's Great Day in the Morning (1956). In a more dramatic turn, he starred opposite Lauren Bacall, Rock Hudson and Dorothy Malone in Written on the Wind. The film, directed by Douglas Sirk, would earn Stack his only Oscar® nomination for playing the alcoholic son of a Texas oil baron.

In 1957, Robert Stack, who was considered quite an eligible Hollywood bachelor, married Rosemarie Bowe, a contract player at both MGM and Columbia who had appeared in bit parts in films like Lovely to Look at (1952) and Million Dollar Mermaid (1952). She stepped up to bigger roles in B-movies like The Golden Mistress (1954) and The Adventures of Hajji Baba (1954). The couple would have two children and remain married until Stack's death in 2003.

Stack turned his attention to television in the late '50s. His most notable role was, of course, that of Special Agent Eliot Ness on The Untouchables. The classic crime series ran for four seasons and earned Stack an Emmy for Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor. Stack guest starred in a number of TV series over the years, appeared in several made-for-TV movies and of course hosted the '80s quasi-reality series Unsolved Mysteries. Still, he found time away from his small screen success to return to the big screen in projects like Airplane! (1980) and Joe Versus the Volcano (1990).

Robert Stack died May 14, 2003 in Beverly Hills.

by Stephanie Thames