Jason Robards

Jason Nelson Robards Jr. (July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he gained a reputation as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill. Robards received numerous accolades and is one of 24 performers to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting having earned competitive wins for two Academy Awards, a Tony Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. In addition to these plaudits, Robards was nominated for five Golden Globes, two BAFTAs, an Actor Award, a Laurel Award and a Grammy Award. He was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1979, earned the National Medal of Arts in 1997, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 1999.

Robards started his career in theatre, making his Broadway debut playing James Tyrone Jr. in the 1956 revival of the Eugene O'Neill play Long Day's Journey into Night earning a Theatre World Award. He earned the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role in the Budd Schulberg play The Disenchanted (1959). His other Tony-nominated roles were in Long Day's Journey into Night (1956). Toys in the Attic (1960), After the Fall (1964), Hughie (1965), The Country Girl (1972), A Moon for the Misbegotten (1973), and A Touch of the Poet (1978).

He made his feature film debut in The Journey (1959). He went on to win two consecutive Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for playing Ben Bradlee in All the President's Men (1976), and Dashiell Hammett in Julia (1977). He was Oscar-nominated for playing Howard Hughes in Melvin and Howard (1980). His other notable films include Long Day's Journey into Night (1962), A Thousand Clowns (1965), Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), Parenthood (1989), Philadelphia (1993), Enemy of the State (1998), and Magnolia (1999).

On television, Robards won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for his performance as Henry Drummond in the NBC television adaptation Inherit the Wind (1988). His other Emmy-nominated roles were in Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1964), A Moon for the Misbegotten (1975), Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977), and F.D.R.: The Last Year (1980).