Robert Conrad, ‘The Wild Wild West’ Star, Dead at 84

Robert Conrad, the star of TV’s The Wild Wild West, has died at the age of 84. Conrad was best known for his role as cowboy Secret Service agent James West in the 1960s, doing his own stunts and becoming a household name for audiences.

An icon of the Golden Age of Television in the 1950s and 60s, Conrad was an actor within Warner Bros. Television, starring in shows like Hawaiian Eye, early Stephen J. Cannell series Baa Baa Black Sheep and a memorable run as a captain on Battle of the Network Stars.

Conrad’s West was essentially James Bond as a cowboy, with the actor not hiding the fact that he enjoyed the action over the acting. He is one of the few actors in the Stunmen’s Hall of Fame and was quoted about his strategy when it came to his role on Wild WIld West according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“Ross Martin once said in an interview on the Johnny Carson show, ‘Robert does his own stunts, and I do my own acting,’ ” Conrad said before addressing if he took offense to the comments. “I applauded it, it was the truth. I did my acting tongue in cheek. I didn’t take any of it seriously. The last year, I didn’t even read the scripts, I just read my part. And it worked.”

Conrad was born in Chicago’s South Side on March 1, 1935, playing running back in high school, singing in a trio in Chicago hotels and working publicity for the Warner Bros. film Giant in 1956, creating a spark for acting.

The Wild Wild West became his major hit and a job he took after turning down the chance to play Larry Hagman’s role in I Dream of Jeannie. The show gave him opportunities to show his physical talents, practice karate and do stunts that typically wouldn’t be allowed for an actor.

Wild Wild West was sadly canceled despite high ratings in the wake of the JFK assassination in 1968. The show ran from 1965 until 1969, with Conrad saying he was “double hit” according to The Hollywood Reporter when his other series Baa Baa Black Sheep was canceled as well for being “too violent.”

Conrad’s appearance on The Battle of the Network Stars also helped define his public persona, showing off his “ego and toughness” according to THR as the captain of Team NBC. As you can see this clip, intensity was the name of the game for Conrad despite losing to ABC captain Gabe Kaplan after some race controversy.

Wild Wild West was famously made into a Will Smith movie in 1999, one of the more infamous flops of the 90s. Conrad made his distaste for the film clear from the start, knocking the casting of Smith and the need to make a film based on an established property according to the Chicago Tribune.

“This casting for Wild Wild West is silly. Will Smith? Did you see those glasses? What is that? Let me tell you what they did. Will Smith and (director) Barry Sonnenfeld came off of Men in Black and they were handed a pail and a shovel and a sandbox and told to go out and play. Sonnenfeld had me to a gratuitous meeting at the Bel-Air Hotel, and I thought, ‘How presumptuous of him to capitalize on Mike Garrison’s creation and say it would be his own.’ I don’t think they’ll have the core audience of the show. They’ll get the 9-to-16-year-olds, the Will Smith fans,” Conrad told the paper.

He later was quotes as calling the film horrible and pathetic, later going on to accept the Razzie Awards for the film.