This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Steven Loomis, IC3
to remember
Taylor, Robert (born Spangler Arlington Brugh, Jr.), LT.
If you knew or served with this Sailor and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Contact Info
Home Town Filley
Last Address Beverly Hills, CA
Date of Passing Jun 08, 1969
Location of Interment Forest Lawn Memorial Park - Glendale, California
Wall/Plot Coordinates Garden of Honor Columbarium of the Evening Star
LT Robert Taylor (1911 – 1969)
American film and television actor.
Born, and served in the Navy as:
Spangler Arlington Brugh, Jr.
WWII Flight Instructor
With the arrival of World War II, Taylor entered in the U.S. Navy where he served under his given name of Spangler Arlington Brugh. In 1943, at the age of 32, he enlisted in the Naval Air Corps; was commissioned as a lieutenant but was deemed to old for active/overseas service. As USNR, he became a flight instructor for the Naval Air Transport division and served from 1943 to 1945.
He contributed greatly to the war effort, serving as a flying instructor and narrating the 1944 documentary "The Fighting Lady". He also directed 17 United States Navy training films during World War II.
His flying interest emerged after the movie Flight Command (1940), when he bought a single-engine plane and took lessons for a pilot's license. After World War II --MGM bought him a twin-engine Beechcraft which he flew regularly until the early 1960s. He was also an avid skeet-shooter.
Other Comments:
THE FIGHTING LADY 1944 “newsdrama,” narrated by Lieutenant Robert Taylor, USNR
MOVIE PLOT
William Wyler directed this 1944 "newsdrama" (released in January 1945), narrated by Lieutenant Robert Taylor, USNR, and photographed (on board the USS Yorktown) in zones of combat by the U.S. Navy. The film follows one of the many new aircraft carriers built since Pearl Harbor, known as The Fighting Lady in honor of all American carriers, as it goes into action against the Japanese in the Pacific Ocean in 1943. See the ship and its pilots undergo their baptism of fire, attacking the Japanese base on Marcus Island, and gain in experience and confidence with each new battle - Kwajalein, Truk, and “The Marianas Turkey Shoot.”
Mini Bio:
Movie star Robert Taylor was born Spangler Arlington Brugh on August 6, 1911. Known as Arlington or Arly during his youth, he graduated from Beatrice High School (Beatrice, Neb.) and then attended Doane College (Crete, Neb.) for two years. While attending Doane, he appeared in many college plays and along with fellow students Russ Gibson and Gerhart Wiebe formed “The Harmony Boys,” a musical trio in which Taylor played the cello and sang.
He transferred to Pomona College, in California in 1931, to study medicine and become a doctor, like his fatther. He became involved in student theatricals and was frequently given leading roles due to his good looks.
Taylor graduated from Pomona in 1933, majoring in psychology and drama. While appearing in a play at Pomona, Taylor was discovered by a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer casting director. He was signed to a seven-year contract at $35.00 per week. He made his screen debut in 1934 in Handy Andy, a Will Rogers film. The following year he was featured in Magnificent Obsession, and the role that made him a star. In 1937 Greta Garbo chose Taylor as her leading man in Camille. During his thirty-four year film career, Taylor made seventy-four films, appearing with such leading ladies as Joan Crawford, Maureen O’Sullivan, Katherine Hepburn, and Vivien Leigh. He died in 1969 after a long battle with cancer.
