Dale Robertson Dies At Age 89: Star of Westerns On Film And Television Didn't Consider Himself To Be An Actor, But A John Wayne-Style 'Personality'

Dale Robertson, the star of more than 60 films and 430 television episodes, died on Wednesday in San Diego, Calif., at the age of 89.  

Robertson dies from complications relating to lung cancer and pneumonia, Robertson's wife Susan told the New York Times.

Dayle Lymoine Robertson was born 30 miles from Oklahoma City, Okla., on July 14, 1923. The star was a skilled horseback rider from the time he was 10.

Robertson fought in Africa and Europe during World War II. He was wounded twice in the war and won bronze and silver stars.

Before was about to be sent overseas, Robertson randomly picked a Hollywood photo studio near where he was stationed in California, to take a photo for his mother.

The photographer saw something in Robertson's rugged Western stoicism, blowing up the photo and hanging it in his studio window.

It wasn't long before Hollywood agents started approaching Robertson with acting work.

Dale Robertson's first major role was playing Jesse James in the 1949 film "Fighting Man of the Plains." Other films included "Sitting Bull" in 1954 and "Dakota Incident" in 1956.

His television work included "Tales of Wells Fargo," from 1957 to 1961; "Iron Horse," from 1966 to 1968; and "Death Valley Days," which he hosted from 1968 to 1972.

Robertson, who once said 70 percent of his films were westerns, also played an oil wildcatter on the nighttime soap opera "Dallas" in 1981.

Dale claimed he did all his own stunts, only getting into acting to pay for a horse farm that he eventually bought.

He once said he didn't even consider himself to be an actor, but rather a John Wayne-style personality.

"An actor can change himself to fit a part, whereas a personality has to change the part to fit himself," Robertson said in 1988. He added, "The personality has to say it his own way."

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