SQUIDOO REVIEW: "ENSIGN PULVER".

Ensign Pulver..........................................Robert Walker Jr
Captain Morton........................................Burl Ives
Ship's Doctor...........................................Walter Matthau
Seaman Bruno........................................Tommy Sands
Nurse "Scotty".........................................Millie Perkins
Head Nurse.............................................Kay Medford
Billings.....................................................Larry Hagman
Dowdy.....................................................Joseph Marr
Commander LeSeur...............................Gerald S. O'Loughlin
Mila..........................................................Diana Sands
Dolan.......................................................Jack Nicholson
Stefanowski.............................................Richard Gautier
Taru.........................................................Al Freeman Jr

Director.....................................................Joshua Logan
Producer...................................................Joshua Logan
Associate producer..................................Ben Kadish
Writing......................................................Thomas Heggen, Joshua Logan.
Screenplay by...........................................Peter S. Feibleman, Joshua Logan.
Music........................................................George Duning

Production company................................Warner Bros.
Released through.....................................Warner Bros. Pictures

Born: April 15, 1940

Robert Hudson Walker Jr was born at Queens Hospital in New York on April 15 1940 to actors Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones. His parents separated when young Robert was three, and his mother married David O. Selznick, the famed director, when the boy was nine, and he took control of Jennifer Jones's career. She had a miscarriage in 1950. His father died a year later from depression and a reaction to a prescription sedative. Neither Robert nor his mother went to the funeral.

Robert began his acting training at The Actor's studio in the early 60's. He married Ellie Wood during this time and had 3 children with her.

Robert's first film was The Hook (1963) with Kirk Douglas followed by The Ceremony (1963) for which he received a Golden Globe as best newcomer. He did some TV work, and two off-Broadway roles in "I knock at the Door", and "Pictures in the Hallway". He won a Theatre World Award for the roles.

After this he was offered the title role in Ensign Pulver (1964), the role previously played by Jack Lemmon in Mr Roberts (1955). This production would be its sequel, but it was not a critical success as audiences kept comparing his performance to that of Jack Lemmon. As a result his Hollywood momentum faltered and his next roles were not great ones. They were in The Happening (1967); The War Wagon (1967) with John Wayne and Kirk Douglas; The Savage Seven (1968); Killer Three (1968); Young Billy Young (1969) with Robert Mitchum in which he had the title role. He appeared with his wife in Easy rider (1969), and followed this with The Man From O.R.G.Y. (1970); Beware! The Blob (1972); Hex (1973); The Spectre of Edgar Allen Poe (1974) in which he again played the title role. In 1982 he was in "Angkor: Cambodia Express" with Nancy Kwan, Christopher George and Woody Strode.

As well as movies he played roles in several TV shows. Some of them were "The Big Valley" (1965); "Star Trek" (1966); "The Time Tunnel" (1967); "The Invaders" (1967), and "Columbo" (1974). His final TV appearances were in 1991 on "L.A.Law", and "In the Heat of the Night".

Robert Walker Jr currently lives with his third wife. They have 2 children.

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OTHER FACTS:

Height: 6'.

Eyes: Blue; Hair: Brown.

Nickname: Curly.

Pet: Boxer dog.

Spouses:
Judy Motulski - dates unknown, divorced, 2 children;
Ellie Wood - 1962 -1976, divorced, 3 children;
Dawn Walker - presently married, 2 children.

Brother - Michael Walker, died in 2007.

Half-sister committed suicide at age 20.

Stepson of David O. Selznick.

Used to race cars as a hobby.

1909 - 1995

Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was born in 1909 near Hunt City, Illinois to a Scottish / Irish family. He was one of six children born to Levi "Frank" Ives and Cordelia "Dellie" White. His father was a farmer and then a contractor for the county.

His first singing experience was at the age of four after his uncle heard him singing with his mother, and organised for young Burl to perform at the old soldiers' reunion in Hunt City. He was also a long-standing member of the Boy Scouts, and received the Silver Buffalo Award, their highest recognition. Burl Ives was also a Freemason from 1927 onward.

In high school Burl learned to play the banjo, and was a fullback in football. He enrolled in Eastern Illinois State Teacher's College in 1927 and wanted to become a football coach. However, he decided that he was wasting his time and dropped out in 1930, taking on several odd jobs thereafter including singing on the street.

He went to summer stock in the late 30's and gained a job with CBS in 1940 and he made popular several of the folk songs he had collected on his travels. During the 60's he had attained hits on the pop and country charts. He made 30 albums for Decca and 12 more for Columbia. He debuted on Broadway in 1938, but is still best known for his Broadway role as Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in the 50's.

In 1950 he was identified as having Communist associations and blacklisted as an entertainer. He appeared before the House Unamerican Activities Committee and testified that he was not a member of the Communist Party but attended their meetings to stay in touch with friends. This got him off the blacklist so that he could work again, but it opened up a rift between him and several folk singers, among them Pete Seeger. The two made up again in 1941.

Burl Ives had a career spanning some four decades and more than 30 movies. His first picture was Smoky (1946), in which he was a singing cowboy. In 1958 he reprised his Broadway role in the Hollywood version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and in the same year won an Oscar for Best supporting Actor in The Big Country opposite Gregory Peck. He is also well-remembered for East of Eden in 1955, Our Man in Havana (1959) and as the voice of Sam the Snowman in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1964. He did some memorable comedy movies such as The Brass Bottle (1964) with Barbara Eden and Tony Randall, and Ensign Pulver also in 1964. TV movies were another part of Mr Ives's repertoir, with roles in such shows as The Red Skelton Show (1968), Daniel Boone (1969), The Bold Ones (1969-1972), Alias Smith and Jones (1971-1972), Little House on the Prarie (1976) and Roots (1977).

Burl Ives retired from show business in 1989 at the age of 80, but he did still do some benefit appearances in the ensuing years. He settled in Washington state and died in 1995 of complications from mouth cancer, having been a long-time smoker of pipes and cigars.

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OTHER FACTS:

Height: 6'1".

Died: April 14 1995 Anacortes, Washington - Cancer of the mouth.

Spouses:
Helen Ehrich 1945-1971, divorced, 1 child.
Dorothy Paul 1971-1995, his death, 3 children.

Frequently did benefit performances for various charities.

He was a 33rd degree Mason.

Licensed ham radio operator.

Had hit records with: The Blue-tail Fly (his biggest hit); A Little Bitty tear; It's Just My Funny Way of Laughin'; Mr In-Between; A Holly Jolly Christmas; Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Had 3 step children: Kevin Murphy; Rob Grossman; Barbara Vaughn.

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REFERENCES
IMDb.com; Wikipedia.org; Robertwalkertribute.com;
Ken Salikof's Cinema Esoterica (kss2361.blogspot.com).