ACTOR
Robert Urich
- Known for
- Spenser: For Hire (1985), Vega$ (1978), S.W.A.T. (1975)
19 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
Robert Urich is an actor best known for Spenser: For Hire, Vega$ and S.W.A.T..
All facts (19)
- #001
During Spenser: For Hire (1985), Urich made a special arrangement with the executives to fly out of state (from Boston, Massachusetts to the West Coast) whenever needed for his eldest daughter's medical treatments.
- #002
His last film was the 2003 production Eve Uzun Bir Yol.
- #003
He holds the record for the most regular roles in television series: 13. They are Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1973), S. W. A. T. (1975), Soap (1977), Tabitha (1976), Vega$ (1978), Gavilan (1982), Spenser: For Hire (1985), American Dreamer (1990), Crossroads (1992), It Had to Be You (1993), Lazarus Adamı (1996), Aşk Gemisi: Sonraki Dalga (1998) and Emeril (2000).
- #004
He received the Gilda Radner Courage Award from Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
- #005
He devoted his final years to cancer research and education and, together with his wife, established the Heather and Robert Urich Sarcoma Research Fund at the University of Michigan.
- #006
He was a national spokesman for the American Cancer Society (1998).
- #007
He attended Florida State University on a four-year football scholarship and was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.
- #008
In 1992 he won the News and Documentary Emmy Award as narrator of the film U-Boats: Terör Kıyılarımızda (1991).
- #009
To prepare for the role of Dan Tanna in Vega$ (1978), he gained 40 kilos of muscle. His weight rose from a thin 180 pounds to a solid, muscular 220 pounds.
- #010
On April 11, 2000, Urich sued Castle Rock Television for $1.47 million (the amount he was to receive for the second season of the series The Lazarus Man (1996)), saying Castle Rock cancelled the series because he had cancer. He claimed he received no payment from the company. Urich and the production company had apparently signed an agreement with Castle Rock in 1995 for Urich to star in the "Lazarus Man" pilot. Under the agreement he was to be paid $70,000 per episode for the first season and $73,000 per episode for the second season. In July 1996 he notified Castle Rock that he had cancer and needed treatment, but the lawsuit said Urich was never able to fulfil his duties. Castle Rock terminated the agreement a month later. In the mid-1990s, Urich underwent chemotherapy, radiation treatments and two surgeries to fight synovial cell sarcoma, a rare cancer that claimed Urich's life in 2002.
- #011
Urich was from Toronto, Ohio, where he graduated from Toronto High School in Toronto, Ohio (1964). His wife, Heather Menzies, was a native of Toronto, Ontario.
- #012
In the late 1970s many producers hired him because they were struck by his boyish behaviour and looks. Urich felt that because he looked and acted like a young boy, he never matured as much as other men his age.
- #013
Robert Urich appeared as a guest star three times on the original The Love Boat (1977) and later starred as the captain in the revived series Love Boat: The Next Wave (1998).
- #014
Robert Urich had three children with Heather Menzies: Ryan Urich (born 1979), Emily (born 1980) and Allison Grady (born 1998). He had two grandchildren: Michelle (born 2004) and Lana (born 2005).
- #015
Robert Urich's ashes were interred together with those of his wife Heather Menzies at West Lake Christ Church Cemetery in West Lake, Prince Edward County Municipality, Ontario, Canada.
- #016
Robert Urich was posthumously inducted into the Lou Holtz/Upper Ohio Valley Hall of Fame (2002).
- #017
Tony Danza bought Robert Urich's house in Sherman Oaks, California, in 1986.
- #018
Robert Urich was the younger brother of Tom Urich and the uncle of actor Justin Urich.
- #019
Robert Urich lived in Thousand Oaks, California, for several years.
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