Robert Walker Jr. was born on April 15, 1940, at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens, New York City, to actors Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones. His parents separated when he was just three years old, and his mother later married powerful film mogul David O. Selznick.
Walker Jr. began training at the Actors' Studio in the early 1960s and married his wife Ellie Wood around the same time, with whom he had three children. Despite his parents' influence in the entertainment industry, Walker Jr. aimed to carve out his own path and avoid comparisons to his late father, who was also an actor.
Walker Jr.'s early film career included roles in The Hook (1963) and The Ceremony (1963),the latter earning him a Golden Globe Award for "promising newcomer." He also worked in television, earning a Theatre World Award for his off-Broadway performances in "I Knock at the Door" and "Pictures in the Hallway" in 1964.
Walker Jr.'s breakthrough role came when he took over Jack Lemmon's Oscar-winning role as Ensign Pulver in the sequel to Mister Roberts (1955),but the film received poor reviews and damaged his reputation in Hollywood. Despite his talent, his subsequent films lacked the quality and promise of his early work, including The Happening (1967),The Savage Seven (1968),Killers Three (1968),and Young Billy Young (1969).
Walker Jr. continued to work in television, appearing in numerous popular series from the 1960s to the early 1990s. Some of his notable roles include guest appearances in The Big Valley, Naked City, Star Trek, The Time Tunnel, Bonanza, Columbo, and Combat!, among others.
Throughout his career, Walker Jr. struggled to shake off the comparisons to his father and to find consistent success in his own right. He and his wife Ellie appeared in the hit cult film Easy Rider (1969) and continued to work in television until the 1990s, with final appearances in L.A. Law, FBI: The Untold Stories, Santa Barbara, The New Lassie, The New Adam-12, and In the Heat of the Night.
