Dale Robertson (born July 14, 1923, in Harrah, Oklahoma, in Oklahoma County near Oklahoma City) is an American actor. Robertson started his career in the late 1940s while he was in the U.S. Army. While stationed at San Luis Obispo, California, Robertson went to Amos Carr Studio to have a picture taken for his mother. A copy of the photo displayed in the shop window attracted movie agents. When Dale left for Hollywood, the Oklahoma-born humorist Will Rogers, Sr., gave him this advice: "Don't ever take a dramatic lesson. They will try to put your voice in a dinner jacket, and people like their hominy and grits in everyday clothes." Robertson therefore avoided formal acting lessons.
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For most of his career, he played in Western movies and TV shows. His two best-remembered series were the westerns Tales of Wells Fargo, in which he played a roving 'trouble-shooter' named "Jim Hardie" for that company, and The Iron Horse, in which he won an incomplete railroad line in a poker game and took up the challenge of running it.
In its March 30, 1959, cover story on TV westerns, Time magazine reported that Robertson stood 6 feet tall, weighed 180 pounds, and had measurements of 42-34-34. Robertson sometimes made use of his physique in "beefcake" scenes such as the one in 1952's "Return of the Texan" when he's seen, bare-chested and sweaty, repairing a fence.
In 1981 he was part of the original starring cast of ABC's popular Dynasty, playing Walter Lankershim, a character who disappeared after the first season. Much later in the series, it was revealed that the character had died.
Robertson was also one of the hosts of the syndicated Death Valley Day during the 1960s. He is well known rodeo speaker, having appeared at such events as the Pike's Peak or Bust Rodeo in Colorado Springs. He received the Golden Boot Award in 1985, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is also in the Hall of Great Western Performers. He is an inductee in the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. He is retired on a ranch near Oklahoma City.