Robert George Young (February 22, 1907 - July 21, 1998) was an Emmy Award winning American actor, best known for his leading roles of Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best (NBC and then CBS) and physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. (ABC). Hollywood career After appearing on stage, Young was signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)—the studio that had more stars than in the heavens—and in spite of having a "tier B" status, he co-starred with some of the studio's most illustrious actresses such as Margaret Sullavan, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Helen Hayes, Luise Rainer, and Helen Twelvetrees, among many, many others. Yet most of his assignments comprised B-movies, also known as programmers, which required a mere two to three weeks of shooting. Actors who were relegated to such a hectic schedule appeared, as Young did, in some six to eight movies per year. As an MGM contract player, Young was resigned to the fate of most of his colleagues—to accept any film assigned to him or risk being placed on suspension—and many actors on suspension were prohibited from earning a salary from any endeavor at all (even those unrelated to the film industry). In 1936, MGM summarily loaned Young to Gaumont-British for two films; the first was directed by Alfred Hitchcock with the other co-starring the luminous Jessie Matthews, and while there he surmised that his employers intended to terminate his contract. But he was mistaken. He unexpectedly received one of his most rewarding roles late in his MGM career, in H.M. Pulham, Esq., featuring one of Hedy Lamarr's rarely lauded performances, and once remarked that he was assigned only those roles which Robert Montgomery and other A-list actors had rejected. After his contract at MGM ended, Young starred in light comedies as well as in trenchant dramas for studios such as 20th Century Fox, United Artists, and RKO. From 1943, Young assayed more challenging roles in films like Claudia, The Enchanted Cottage, They Won't Believe Me, The Second Woman, and Crossfire. His portrayal of unsympathetic characters in several of these latter films — which seldom occurred in his MGM pictures — was applauded by numerous reviewers. Young appeared in 100 movies in a film career that spanned 1931 to 1952. [edit] Television Young is best known for his role in Father Knows Best (1949-1954 on radio, 1954-1960 on television), for which he and his co-star, Jane Wyatt, won several Emmy Awards. Young then created, produced, and starred with Ford Rainey and Constance Moore in the nostalgia CBS comedy series Window on Main Street (1961–1962) which only lasted six months. Film star Tim Matheson, then thirteen, got his acting start on the series. Young later became famous for Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969–1976) for which he won an Emmy for best leading actor in a drama series. Young became so well identified with his wise doctor persona that he became famous as the commercial spokesman for an aspirin product, saying, "I'm not a doctor but I play one on TV" while wearing a lab coat.[1] He continued making television commercials until the late 1980s. Young has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for film at 6933 Hollywood Blvd and one for television at 6358.