Ann Robinson

{{Short description|American actress and stunt horse rider (1929–2025)}} {{Other people | Ann Robinson }} {{Use American English|date=July 2020}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox person | image = File:Ann Robinson 1955.jpg | alt = | caption = Robinson in 1955 | birth_date = {{birth date|1929|5|25|mf=yes}} | birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2025|9|26|1929|5|25|mf=yes}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1949–2005; 2018–2020 | spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|[[Jaime Bravo]]|1957|1967|reason=divorced}}|{{marriage|Joseph Valdez|1987|2017|reason=divorced}}}} | children = 2 }}

'''Ann Robinson''' (May 25, 1929 – September 26, 2025) was an American actress and stunt horse rider. She had a leading role in the science-fiction classic ''[[The War of the Worlds (1953 film)|The War of the Worlds]]'', and starred in the 1954 film ''[[Dragnet (1954 American film)|Dragnet]]'' as a Los Angeles police officer.

==Early life== Robinson was born on May 25, 1929,<ref>{{cite book|author=Gene Scott Freese|title=Hollywood Stunt Performers, 1910s–1970s: A Biographical Dictionary|edition=Second|isbn=978-0786476435|year=2014|publisher=Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc.|page=239|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=10dXAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA239|accessdate=September 1, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=John L. Flynn|title=War of the Worlds: From Wells to Spielberg|year=2005|publisher=Galactic Books|page=64|isbn=9780976940005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T0aCSs1-23sC&pg=PA64}}</ref> and attended [[Hollywood High School]]. Her father was employed by the Bank of Hollywood, at the corner of [[Hollywood and Vine]]. He taught her how to ride horses, beginning when she was only three. Robinson became an accomplished rider, which led to her first professional work in Hollywood as a [[stunt rider]] in film ''[[Frenchie (film)|Frenchie]]'' with [[Shelley Winters]].<ref name=ARBio/>

==Acting career== After doubling for Winters in ''Frenchie'', Robinson starred and rode in several [[Western (genre)|Westerns]] during her career, including ''[[The Cimarron Kid]]'' (1951) with [[Audie Murphy]], ''[[Gun Brothers]]'' (1956), and ''[[Gun Duel in Durango]]'' (1957).<ref name=ARBio>{{cite web|title=About Ann Robinson|url=https://www.annrobinson.com/aboutann.html|accessdate=June 23, 2011|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707145012/http://www.annrobinson.com/aboutann.html|archivedate=July 7, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Paramount Pictures]] signed Robinson as an actress in the early 1950s. Her first leading role was as Sylvia Van Buren in ''[[The War of the Worlds (1953 film)|The War of the Worlds]]'' (1953) co-starring with [[Gene Barry]],<ref name="lat">{{cite news |last1=King |first1=Susan |title=A 'War' veteran's reenlistment |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jun-27-et-weekahead27-story.html |access-date=June 20, 2018 |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=June 27, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620014750/http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jun/27/entertainment/et-weekahead27 |archive-date=June 20, 2018 |url-status=live |location=California, Los Angeles}}</ref> a role she somewhat reprised in two later films, first as Dr. Van Buren in ''Midnight Movie Massacre'' (1988) and then as Dr. Sylvia Van Buren in ''[[The Naked Monster]]'' (2005). She also reprised the role in three episodes of the television series ''[[War of the Worlds (1988 TV series)|War of the Worlds]]'' (1988).

Robinson worked on several other films, including ''[[Imitation of Life (1959 film)|Imitation of Life]]'' (1959) and the [[Doris Day]] thriller ''[[Julie (1956 film)|Julie]]'' (1956). She also had a starring role opposite Jack Webb and Ben Alexander in ''[[Dragnet (1954 film)|Dragnet]]'' (1954), a feature-film version of the hit television series. From 1955 to 1959, Robinson was cast in 10 episodes of the [[NBC]] children's Western television series ''[[Fury (American TV series)|Fury]]'' as Helen Watkins, the teacher of series character Joey Clark Newton ([[Bobby Diamond]]) and romantic interest of his adopted father, Jim Newton ([[Peter Graves]]).

Robinson's other television roles were on ''[[Adam-12]]'', ''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]'', ''[[Bachelor Father (U.S. TV series)|Bachelor Father]]'', ''[[Ben Casey]]'', ''[[Biff Baker, U.S.A.]]'', ''[[The Bob Cummings Show]]'', ''[[The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show]]'', ''[[Days of Our Lives]]'', ''[[Four Star Playhouse]]'', ''[[General Hospital]]'', ''[[Gilligan's Island]]'', ''[[It's a Great Life (TV series)|It's a Great Life]]'', ''[[The Millionaire (TV series)|The Millionaire]]'', ''[[My Little Margie]]'', ''[[Perry Mason (1957 TV series)|Perry Mason]]'', ''[[Peter Gunn]]'', ''[[Police Woman (TV series)|Police Woman]]'', ''[[Rawhide (TV series)|Rawhide]]'', ''[[Rocky Jones Space Ranger]]'', [[Rory Calhoun]]'s ''[[The Texan (TV series)|The Texan]]'', ''Waterfront'', and ''[[The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp]]''.<ref name=ARBio/> In 1955, she appeared as Joan Carter on the TV Western ''[[Cheyenne (TV series)|Cheyenne]]'' in the premiere episode titled "Mountain Fortress".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/mountain-fortress-season-one-9-20-55-cheyenne-smitty-and-news-photo/93405749|title=Cheyenne – "Mountain Fortress" – Season One – 9/20/55|work=[[Getty Images]]|accessdate=July 28, 2019}}</ref>

She was featured in several commercials for [[Home Savings of America]], Toni home [[Perm (hairstyle)|perms]], and [[Chesterfield Cigarettes]]. She performed a number of film voice-overs, also, in English and Spanish. She did the leading actress' voice in ''[[To Begin Again]]'', which won the 1984 Oscar for best foreign film. She also did loops for the [[Bruce Lee]] series ''[[The Dead Are Alive]]'', ''[[Tough Guys]]'', and ''Survive''.

In 1985, Robinson appeared in a documentary about George Pal titled ''[[The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal]]'' (produced and directed by [[Arnold Leibovit]]).<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2du2fVYT8ewC&dq=%22the+fantasy+film+worlds+of+george+pal%22+%22ann+robinson%22&pg=PA26 |page=26 |title=1950s Science Fiction Films and 9/11: Hostile Aliens, Hollywood, and Today's News |author=Melvin E. Matthews |year=2007 |publisher=Algora |isbn=978-0-87586-499-0 }}</ref> In 1988, Ann Robinson reprised her role as Sylvia van Buren from the original ''The War of the Worlds'' film for the ''[[War of the Worlds (1988 TV series)|War of the Worlds]]'' television series.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aliens still chasing her after 35 years |last=Bensoua |first=Joe |via=Newspapers.com |work=News-Pilot |date=February 16, 1989 |access-date=May 18, 2026 |url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-pilot/197776929/}}</ref> In the 2005 [[Steven Spielberg]] film, ''[[War of the Worlds (2005 film)|War of the Worlds]]'', she played a cameo role as [[Tom Cruise]]'s character's mother-in-law, the grandmother of [[Dakota Fanning]]'s character, alongside her long-ago co-star Gene Barry.<ref name=ARBio/>

==Personal life and death== In 1957, Robinson eloped to Mexico to marry [[matador]] [[Jaime Bravo]], with whom she had two sons – Jaime A. Bravo, Jr. (TV director for [[ABC Sports]] and [[ESPN]]) and Estefan A. Bravo (actor, seen in ''White Trash Wins Lotto'', a musical by [[Andy Prieboy]]). While residing in Mexico, Robinson played minor Hollywood roles, mainly in science-fiction films. The couple divorced in 1967.<ref name=ARBio/> On February 2, 1970, Bravo was killed in an automobile accident on the way to a bullfight.<ref name=ARBio/> In 1987, Robinson married [[real estate broker]] and [[business manager]] Joseph Valdez in California, where they took up residence in the [[Echo Park, Los Angeles|Echo Park]] area of Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite web|title=Echo Park residents scope out proposed Barlow Hospital development|url=https://theeastsiderlacitizen.blogspot.com/2009/echo-park-residents-scope-out-proposed.html|date=September 8, 2009|accessdate=June 24, 2011 }}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

Robinson died at her home in Los Angeles, on September 26, 2025, at the age of 96. Her death was not announced publicly until May 2026.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Barnes |first1=Mike |title=Ann Robinson, Star of 'The War of the Worlds', Dies at 96 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/ann-robinson-dead-war-of-the-worlds-1236598147/ |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |access-date=May 17, 2026 |date=May 17, 2026}}</ref>

==Selected filmography== * ''[[The War of the Worlds (1953 film)|The War of the Worlds]]'' (1953) * ''[[Cheyenne (TV series)|Cheyenne]]'' (1955) (season 1, episode 1: "Mountain Fortress") as Joan Carter * ''[[Gun Duel in Durango]]'' (1957) * ''[[Imitation of Life (1959 film)|Imitation of Life]]'' (1959) * ''[[Rawhide (TV series)|Rawhide]]'' (1960) (season 3, episode 2: "Incident of the Challenge") as Julia Garcia * ''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]'' (1961) (season 6, episode 38: "Ambition") as Helen Cox * ''[[War of the Worlds (2005 film)|War of the Worlds]]'' (2005)

==References== {{Reflist|2}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name}} * {{Tcmdb name}} * {{AFI person | 13419-Ann-Robinson | Ann Robinson }} * [https://www.thespectrum.com/story/entertainment/2016/08/10/ann-robinson-after-battling-martians-pacemaker-fire/88421072/ Ann Robinson interview], thespectrum.com; accessed August 10, 2016. * [https://www.facebook.com/ann.robinson.773981 Facebook site (official)]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Ann}} [[Category:1929 births]] [[Category:2025 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century American actresses]] [[Category:21st-century American actresses]] [[Category:American film actresses]] [[Category:American television actresses]] [[Category:Actresses from Hollywood, Los Angeles]] [[Category:People from Echo Park, Los Angeles]] [[Category:Paramount Pictures contract players]] [[Category:Hollywood High School alumni]]