Rod Taylor

Born in 1929 in Sydney, Australia, Rod Taylor became a major Hollywood star during the 1950’s and 1960’s.

After studying painting at college, Taylor initially pursued a career as a painter for a short period before he turned to acting instead.

Some stage and film experience led to Hollywood where he arrived in the mid-Fifties and immediately secured supporting roles in a number of major studio productions including The Virgin Queen (1955), Giant (1956) and Raintree County (1957).

Rugged in appearance, he played the lead in a variety of American and British pictures during the Sixties, but had his most memorable role as the resourceful hero of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds in 1963.

Towards the end of his career he divided his time between film and television and he formed his own company, Rodler Inc.. for television-film production.

He died in 2015.

• Laird Cregar and the Fog of Hangover Square

• Classic Directors: Alfred Hitchcock

• North by Northwest (MGM 1959, Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint)

• Torn Curtain (Universal 1966, Paul Newman, Julie Andrews)

• Paradine Case, The (TCF 1947, Gregory Peck, Louis Jordan)

• Saboteur (Universal 1942, Robert Cummings, Priscilla Lane)

• Mr. & Mrs. Smith (RKO 1942, Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery)

• Richard Todd

• Mary Pickford

• Classic Directors: Anthony Mann

• Shirley Temple

• TV People: Aaron Spelling

• Fredric March

• John Huston