Robert Martin Culp was born in Oakland, California on August 16, 1930. He was an American actor, screenwriter, voice actor, and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on ‘I Spy’ (1965–1968), the espionage television series in which co-star Bill Cosby and he played secret agents. Before this, he starred in the CBS/Four Star Western series ‘Trackdown’ as Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman from 1957 to 1959. The 1980s brought him back to television as FBI Agent Bill Maxwell on ‘The Greatest American Hero’. Later he had a recurring role as Warren Whelan on ‘Everybody Loves Raymond.’ Culp gave hundreds of performances in a career spanning more than 50 years.
Culp was married five times among them was French actress France Nguyen [1967-1970] and fathered of five children. Culp's grandson, Elmo Kennedy O'Connor, is a rapper and performs under the alias Bones
On March 24, 2010, Culp died after a
fall while on a walk near Runyon Canyon Park in
Hollywood, California. He was 79 years old.
CULP, Robert (Robert Martin Culp) [8/16/1930, Oakland, California, U.S.A. - 3/24/2010, Hollywood, California, U.S.A. (heart attack)] –
producer, director, writer, singer, film, TV actor, married to Elayne
Carroll (1951-1956), married to actress
Nancy Asch (Nancy Asch Wilner) (1957-1966) father of producer, writer,
cameraman, SFX, Joshua Culp (Joshua
Shannon Culp) [1958- ], actor Jason Culp (Jason S. Culp)
[1961- ] producer, director, writer,
actor Joseph Culp [1963- ], Rachel
Culp, married to France Nuyen [1939- ]
(1967-1970), married to actress Sheila Sullivan [1929- ] (1971-1981), married to Candace Faulkner
(1981-2007) father of actress Samantha Culp [1982- ].
Hannie Caulder – 1970 (Thomas Luther Price)
He appeared in many Westerns before and after "Trackdown" and even named his ranch in Hollywood after the show. His ranch had a wide collection of horses, saddles, and guns. The horse that Raquel Welch rode in "Hannie Caulder" was from Culp's "Trackdown Ranch". The way it was delivered to Welch was by a tractor trailer that was hitched onto a ferry that would take the horse from the ranch in Los Angeles to the Tabernas Desert in Almeria. When it got there, Raquel Welch was instructed not to get on him until Culp got there. When he finally arrived, Culp gave her lessons on how to ride the horse. The horse was named Hoby after Culp's character, Hoby Gilman from "Trackdown". He was part mustang and part Quarter horse. Robert Culp's horse was provided to him by Benito Stefanelli who was an Italian actor, stuntman, weapons master, interpreter, and even equestrian. He taught the rest of the cast how to speak Spanish and English in his unaccented voice and was also the armorer for Welch. This was a Spanish-British coproduction out of Spain and was directed by Burt Kennedy. Robert Culp sold the Trackdown Ranch in 1998 and moved to a better part of Los Angeles. As of 2012, the ranch has since been owned by Lenny Burke.
ReplyDelete