The future TV star adopted the name Robert Conrad as a young man because, he said, his mother married a number of times. He bore a resemblance to the actor James Dean, and when Dean was killed in a car wreck in 1955, Mr. Conrad was drawn into the publicity campaign for the posthumous release of Dean’s film “Giant” in 1956. In that capacity he was visiting Dean’s grave in Fairmount, Ind., when he met another young actor, Nick Adams, who was also there. Mr. Adams urged Mr. Conrad to come to Hollywood and got him a bit part in a movie he was cast in, “Juvenile Jungle.” Mr. Adams eventually dropped out of that film, but Mr. Conrad remained, making his film debut. Mr. Conrad was filming a movie, “Young Dillinger,” in which he played the outlaw Pretty Boy Floyd (Mr. Adams was Dillinger), when his agent called with the offer to audition for “The Wild Wild West.”

Source: New York Times February 09, 2020 03:22 UTC