Movie News: 5 Films in Appreciation of Rod Taylor, 1930-2015

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LOS ANGELES – The suave, Australian-born Rod Taylor may have been a leading man footnote in the early to mid-1960s, but he did star in a notable classic: the Alfred Hitchcock-directed “The Birds”. His chiseled good looks and sincere acting style were also memorable in a career that spanned more than 50 years. Rod Taylor passed away of a heart attack in Los Angeles on Jan. 7 2015, according to his daughter, Felicia Taylor. He was 84.

Rodney Sturt Taylor was born in Lidcombe, Australia, and was inspired to acting after seeing Sir Laurence Olivier portray Richard III. He played an American – as he would in subsequent roles – in his 1954 debut film, “King of the Coral Sea.” A failed screen test for another role got him a contract at MGM, and he made his debut as a leading man in the popular sci-fi film, “The Time Machine.” What followed was a scatter shot of lead roles, culminating in more character parts post the 1970s. He spent the final years of his career mostly on television, with roles on “Falcon Crest,” “Murder, She Wrote” and “Walker, Texas Ranger.” His final film role was for director Quentin Tarantino.

Taylor was married three times, and had one daughter – Felicia Taylor – a CNN Financial Reporter. He passed away in Los Angeles, four days shy of his 85th birthday.

Rod Taylor
Rod Taylor in ‘The Time Machine’
Photo credit: Warner Home Video

Five films defined Rod Taylor as a movie star, especially the first three during his most high profile years…

The Time Machine (1960) - Taylor’s first lead role also featured future TV actors Alan Young (Wilbur in “Mr. Ed”) and Sebastian Cabot (Mr. French on “Family Affair”). He portrayed H. George Wells (a nod to the story’s source author), a time traveler that ends up in the year 802,701. Part morality tale, part action film, this was a film favorite locally run in Chicago on WGN’s “Family Classics.”

The Birds (1962) - Arguably Taylor’s most high profile film, as he portrays a San Francisco lawyer whose crush on Tippi Hedren’s character comes in the midst of a shift in nature, when birds inexplicably start attacking humans. One of Alfred Hitchcock’s most frightening films was also one of his most visually complex. Unforgettable is the concluding scene, which Taylor delivers with a stealth chill.

The Glass Bottom Boat (1966) - Taking the Rock Hudson role in this frothy romantic comedy, Taylor is opposite Doris Day as an executive at an aerospace laboratory who “hooks” Day’s mermaid costume – she wears it as part of her father’s glass bottom boat tours. This watery comedy also featured some Cold War spy vs. spy zaniness, and most likely led Taylor to redirect his career.

The Picture Show Man (1977) - After doing a decade of tough guy character roles after The Glass Bottom Boat, Taylor did his first Australian based film in two decades portraying…an American. The producer was afraid that Taylor couldn’t do an Australian accent after his years in Hollywood exile. He is Palmer, a picture show (movie) exhibitor in the 1920s who is rival to an Australian exhibitor.

Inglourious Basterds (2009) - After continuing to work steadily in films and television throughout the 1980s, ‘90s and new century, and closing in on his 80th birthday, Taylor topped his long career by doing a sonorous cameo in Quentin Tarantino’s World War II drama, as none other than Winston Churchill. It was his final film role.

Sources for this article from The New York Times and Wikipedia. Rod Taylor, 1930-2015.

HollywoodChicago.com senior staff writer Patrick McDonald

By PATRICK McDONALD
Writer, Editorial Coordinator
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

© 2015 Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

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