Movie Musings: Disney and More

Rod Taylor: Underrated as an Actor

Giant (1956), The Time Machine (1960), and The Birds (1963) are just a few titles of films that Rod Taylor made throughout his career. Starring in more than 50 films, from romantic comedies to suspense thrillers to action-adventures, (in addition to some television and theatre appearances), he was a very busy actor. But even though his career lasted many years, he never quite got all of the attention he deserved. 

Rodney Sturt Taylor was born in Lidcombe, New South Wales, Australia on January 11th, 1930, the only child of William and Mona Taylor. His dad was a steel construction contractor and a commercial artist while his mom was a writer of more than a hundred short stories and children’s books. After attending Parramatta High School and later the East Sydney Technical and Fine Arts School, he began his career, following in his father William’s footsteps, as a commercial artist. But he was inspired to become an actor when he saw Laurence Olivier in an Old Vic Touring Production of Shakespeare’s Richard III. 

Taylor began his career performing live on an Australian-produced radio show called Blue Hills. In 1951, he starred in a reenactment of Charles Sturt’s (his great-great grand uncle’s) voyage down the Murrumbidgee and Murray Rivers, playing Sturt’s assistant, George Macleay. Taylor also appeared in several theater productions for Australia’s Mercury Theatre, including Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors and Sidney Howard’s They Knew What They Wanted. He made his film debut in the Australian-produced King of the Coral Sea (1954) and the next film he made was a Hollywood produced film shot Sydney called Long John Silver (1954)—an unofficial sequel to Disney’s Treasure Island (1950). (Both films featured Robert Newton as Silver).   

Around this time, Taylor also found work on American television shows, including Studio 57 (1954-1958) and Cheyenne (1955-1962). In 1956, he tested for the role of Rocky Graziano in MGM’s Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), a role that had originally been cast with James Dean shortly before his tragic death. In his audition, he dropped his “Aussie” accent and performed with a Brooklyn accent instead, and although the role ultimately went to Paul Newman, Taylor’s clever use of the Brooklyn accent impressed the studio to give him a long-term contract, and he played supporting roles in the films, The Catered Affair (1956), Raintree County (1957), and Ask Any Girl (1959).

Taylor made his debut as a leading man in MGM’s The Time Machine (1960) playing the role of H. George Wells. The very next year, he was hired by Walt Disney to provide the voice of the Dalmatian family patriarch, Pongo, in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). In 1963, he was hired by Alfred Hitchcock to star in “The Birds,” opposite Tippi Hedren, Suzanne Pleshette, Karl Swenson, and Jessica Tandy. This film was Taylor’s second pairing with Suzanne Pleshette, having acted with her in ’61 in the film Hong Kong: Lesson in Fear and later in Fate Is The Hunter (1964). There is a moment in the film in the Tides Restaurant scene where someone says to Rod Taylor “What happened, Mitch?” That is amusing because Rod Taylor’s character is named Mitch Brenner, though the person who says that line in real life is named Mitch Zanich, who owned the restaurant in real life and gave permission to Alfred Hitchcock shoot in his restaurant on the condition that the leading man would be named after him.

Rod Taylor later starred opposite Doris Day in the romantic comedies, Do Not Disturb (1965) and The Glass Bottom Boat (1966). “Glass Bottom Boat,” also reunited him with Edward Andrews, with whom he guest-starred on “Cheyenne.” Next, he was loaned out from MGM to Paramount to make Chuka in 1967, starring opposite Ernest Borgnine and John Mills. Taylor was also a producer on the film. He made The Train Robbers, for Warner Bros., with John Wayne and Ann-Margret, in 1973. 

Throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, Rod Taylor continued to act primarily on television. He appeared in short-lived series called Masquerade (1983) and Outlaws (1986) as well as several episodes of Murder, She Wrote (1984-1996) and Walker, Texas Ranger (1993-2001). In 1993, he hosted the documentary Time Machine: The Journey Back. The documentary ended with a mini-sequel in which he recreated his role as H.G. Wells, along with former co-star Alan Young who re-created his role as David Filby. He made an Australian-produced comedy called Welcome to Woop Woop in 1997. 

After “Woop Woop,” Taylor went into semi-retirement, but was later called back out of it when Quentin Tarantino personally asked him to portray Winston Churchill. Taylor had been a fan of Tarantino’s, but was reluctant to make another movie, and thought it was a joke when he heard from his business manager that Tarantino wanted him in the movie. When he received Tarantino’s phone number he called thinking that it was one of his drinking buddies, but found out that it was Tarantino himself, and that he had him in mind for the role of Churchill. Stunned, Taylor said, “Well why don’t you use Albert Finney. He lives in England and he’s done Churchill six times.” Tarantino replied “If Rod Taylor turns me down, I’ll call Albert Finney.” Taylor then agreed to do the part. 

Rod Taylor passed away of a heart attack on January 7th, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. He will forever be remembered for his roles in “Time Machine,” and “The Birds,” though his voice-over performance as Pongo helped make “101 Dalmatians,” a classic also. He is a true Hollywood icon whose versatility continues to be overlooked today.