A prolific character actor of tall, imposing presence, Robert F. Simon drifted into acting via the Cleveland Playhouse, hoping that this would cure his natural propensity for shyness. After training at the Actor's Studio in New York, he had a ten year run on Broadway (1942-52), in which he cut his teeth, both as actor and as stage manager, on anything from drama to musical comedy. In a roundabout way, he was even able to fulfill his original career goal of becoming a traveling salesman -- as understudy to the great Lee J. Cobb in the role of Willy Loman, in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman".
Robert started in films in 1950, but over the years was often typecast in stereotypical roles of benevolent authoritarianism or grouchy executive stress, at times drawing unkind reviews from the critics. He was considerably better served by the small screen, where, for some 35 years, he became a familiar face as generals, police captains, doctors, journalists and attorneys. He is, perhaps, most fondly remembered as George Armstrong Custer's disapproving superior, General Alfred Terry, in Custer (1967); as the sympathetic, long-suffering father of Darren Stephens in Ma sorcière bien aimée (1964); and as Maynard M. Mitchell, one of the wackiest of generals ever to have served in the Korean War (or any other war, for that matter), in M.A.S.H. (1972).
