Robert Young’s Daughter Carol Remembers the ‘Father Knows Best’ Star as a ‘Very Thoughtful, Caring’ Man
Born in Chicago to an Irish-immigrant laborer father, Robert moved with his family to California, where he discovered acting in high school. That’s also where he met Betty Henderson, who would become his wife of 61 years and the mother of his four daughters. “They had great respect for each other,” says Proffitt. “And Mother accepted the fact that Daddy’s career was the center of everything.”
Robert and Betty had some famous friends — Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz came over to play poker once a week. But Proffitt says her parents “really weren’t on the Hollywood scene a lot — they were more family-oriented. Dad wanted to be home every Friday night for dinner and a movie.”
Although he appeared in more than 100 films between 1931 and 1952, he usually played supporting roles and constantly worried about his family’s financial future. “I was always failing,” he recalled. “I was always going broke. I’d come home and say, ‘This is it! I’m an outcast. I’m washed up.’”
His fortunes changed with Father Knows Best, but success didn’t quiet Robert’s internal fears. “I was full of terror and fright,” he said. “I drank to escape reality.” He attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, but the contrast with his public persona caused him pain. “It’s upsetting to go counter to the image,” he said. “To play a stead- fast, happy person when you’re not gives you a sense of guilt.”
Robert played another one of those happy people on Marcus Welby, M.D., but behind the scenes he clashed with sidekick James Brolin. “At times, James thought he should be the star,” Proffitt says. “Daddy informed him that he wasn’t.”
In his later years, Robert still slipped into dark moods. After a drunken relapse, he attempted suicide in 1991. “Daddy did learn from it,” says Proffitt. “He was more appreciative of life and knew how important his family was.”
Robert died at 91 in 1998, four years after losing Betty, but he left behind a legacy of helping others through the Robert Young Center for patients with substance-abuse and mental-health problems. “Some people didn’t understand him,” says Proffitt. “But Daddy was a very thoughtful, caring person.”
