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Robert Urich (December 19, 1946 - April 16, 2002) was an Emmy-winning actor, best known for playing private investigators on the television series Spenser: For Hire (1985-1988) and Vega$ {1978-1981). He also starred in numerous other television series over the years.
Early years
He was born of Slovakian extraction and raised Roman Catholic in the small town of Toronto, Ohio. Due to the similarity in names with Toronto, Ontario, many sources list him incorrectly as being a Canadian, but his second wife, Heather, is actually a Canadian from the latter city.
Urich went to Florida State University on a football scholarship. In 1968 he earned a bachelor's degree in Radio and Television Communications. He went on to Michigan State University after working in Ohio to earn an master's in Broadcast Research and Management.
Acting Career
Between 1973 and just prior to his death in 2002, Urich had lead or supporting roles in no less than 17 television series (including several documentary programs). He also regularly hosted National Geographic TV specials. Most of his TV series were short-lived, however several were successes, including Vega$ and Spenser: For Hire. In the 1990s, Urich reprised the role of Spenser in several made-for-TV films.
In 1996 Urich announced that he had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that attacks joints called synovial cell sarcoma. He ultimately died from this disease at the age of 55, although he continued to appear in film and TV during treatment. His final TV series was in the short-lived sitcom Emeril (starring Emeril Lagasse) in 2001.
Urich was first married to actress Barbara Rucker (1968-74). He later married actress Heather Menzies in 1975, and they remained married until his death in 2002. Heather Menzies Urich had played one of the von Trapp children in the film version of The Sound of Music with Julie Andrews. Urich and Menzies adopted three children. Like her husband, Menzies battled cancer, however she is a cancer survivor. Source: Wikipedia Encyclopedia
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