Jason Robards, Jr. did stage work in the ’50s, and in two of Eugene O’Neill’s plays established himself as a cunning actor of promise.
In the ’60s, he portrayed a memorable Doc Holliday in Hour of the Gun (1967) with James Garner. Then, he closed out the decade playing Al Capone most convincingly in The St. Valentine’s Massacre.
The Ballad of Cable Hogue and Once Upon a Time in the West put Robards on the map as the quintessential “desert rat” after the pattern of Strother Martin. He was also outstanding in the Western character study, A Big Hand for the Little Lady.
In the 1970s he received two Oscars back-to-back. He was also nominated for Melvin and Howard in 1980.
Jason Robards was once married to Lauren Bacall, and produced Sam Robards, an actor.
Robards survived a terrible car accident, which necessitated plastic surgery and almost cost him his life! He also overcame alcohol dependency before he passed on in his late 70′s.