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Jason Nelson Robards Jr. (July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he gained a reputation as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill. Robards received numerous accolades and is one of 24 performers to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting having earned competitive wins for two Academy Awards, a Tony Awards, and an Emmy Award. He was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1979, earned the National Medal of Arts in 1997, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 1999.
Robards started his career in theatre, making his Broadway debut playing James Tyrone Jr. in the 1956 revival of the Eugene O'Neill play Long Day's Journey into Night earning a Theatre World Award. He earned the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role in the Budd Schulberg play The Disenchanted (1959). His other Tony-nominated roles were in Long Day's Journey into Night (1956). Toys in the Attic (1960), After the Fall (1964), Hughie (1965), The Country Girl (1972), A Moon for the Misbegotten (1973), and A Touch of the Poet (1978).
He made his feature film debut in The Journey (1959). He went on to win two consecutive Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for playing Ben Bradlee in All the President's Men (1976), and Dashiell Hammett in Julia (1977). He was Oscar-nominated for playing Howard Hughes in Melvin and Howard (1980). His other notable films include Long Day's Journey into Night (1962), A Thousand Clowns (1965), Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), Parenthood (1989), Philadelphia (1993), Enemy of the State (1998), and Magnolia (1999).
On television, Robards won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his performance as Henry Drummond in the NBC television adaptation Inherit the Wind (1988). His other Emmy-nominated roles were in Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1964), A Moon for the Misbegotten (1975), (1977), and F.D.R.: The Last Year (1980).
As a youth, Robards also experienced the decline of his father's acting career. The elder Robards had enjoyed considerable success during the era of , but he fell out of favor after the advent of sound film, leaving the younger Robards soured on the Hollywood film industry. The teenage Robards excelled in athletics at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles. Although his prowess in sports attracted interest from several universities, Robards decided to enlist in the United States Navy upon his graduation in 1940.
During the Battle of Tassafaronga in the waters north of Guadalcanal on the night of November 30, 1942, Northampton was sunk by hits from two Japanese . Robards found himself treading water until near daybreak, when he was rescued by an American destroyer. For its service in the war, Northampton was awarded six battle stars. Two years later, in November 1944, Robards was radioman aboard the light cruiser , the flagship for the invasion of Mindoro in the northern Philippines. On December 13, she was struck by a kamikaze aircraft off Negros Island in the Philippines. The aircraft hit one of the port five-inch gun mounts, while the plane's two bombs set the midsection of the ship ablaze. With this damage and 223 casualties, Nashville was forced to return to Pearl Harbor and then to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, for repairs.
Robards served honorably during the war, but was not a recipient of the U.S. Navy Cross,Sterner, C. Douglas. Index: Recipients of the Navy Cross, All Wars/All Periods, All Branches of Service. Pueblo CO, 2006 contrary to what has been reported in numerous sources. The inaccurate story derives from a 1979 column by Hy Gardner.Gardner, Hy. Panorama magazine, Vol. II, No. 1, Sunday Daily Herald, January 7, 1979, p. 2 Aboard Nashville, Robards first found a copy of Eugene O'Neill's play Strange Interlude in the ship's library. The New York Times Magazine, January 20, 1974Black, Steven A., et al. (editors) (2002). Jason Robards Remembered – Essays and Recollections. McFarland & Co., Jefferson, North Carolina. . Also while in the Navy, he first started thinking seriously about becoming an actor. He had emceed for a Navy band in Pearl Harbor, got a few laughs, and decided he liked it. His father suggested he enroll in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) in New York City, from which he graduated in 1948. Robards left the Navy in 1946 as a Petty officer first class. He was awarded the Good Conduct Medal of the Navy, the American Defense Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.
Robards' big break was landing the starring role in José Quintero's 1956 off Broadway theatre revival production - and the later 1960 television film - of O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh, portraying the philosophical salesman Hickey; he won an Obie Award for his stage performance. He later portrayed Hickey again in another 1985 Broadway theatre revival also staged by Quintero.
Robards originated the role of Jamie Tyrone Jr. in the original Broadway production of O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning Long Day's Journey into Night (1956), which was also directed by Quintero and ran for 390 performances. Robards appeared alongside Fredric March, Florence Eldridge and Bradfor Dillman. Robards earned the Theatre World Award for his performance and was also nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.
Robards continued to be busy on television, guest starring in The Alcoa Hour, Seven Lively Arts, Studio One and Omnibus.
After his Broadway success, Robards was invited to make his feature film debut in the Anatole Litvak directed drama The Journey (1959) starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr.
He returned to Broadway acting in Budd Schulberg's play The Disenchanted, winning the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. It only had a short run but the Lillian Hellman play Toys in the Attic (1960), where Robards acted opposite Maureen Stapleton and Irene Worth, ran 456 performances. For the role he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.
Robards starred in the TV version of For Whom the Bell Tolls for Playhouse 90, Billy Budd for The Dupont Show of the Month, A Doll's House, and The Iceman Cometh.
In 1961 Robards starred in Big Fish, Little Fish by Hugh Wheeler directed by John Gielgud. This was followed by the enormously popular Broadway hit A Thousand Clowns (1962–63) by Herb Gardner. In Hollywood Robarts appeared in two flop films, By Love Possessed (1961) and Tender is the Night (1962).
Robards returned to Broadway to appear in two plays directed by Elia Kazan, Arthur Miller's After the Fall (1964) and S.N. Behrman's But For Whom Charlie (1964). Roberts was also in Eugene O'Neil's Hughie (1964) directed by Quintero
In films, Robards played Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1964) for television and Murray Burns in the comedy-drama A Thousand Clowns (1965) repeating his stage performance, for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. He was in two episodes of Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre including an adaptation of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.
His films included Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966), a comedy Western, and Any Wednesday (1966), an adaptation of a popular Broadway hit. Robards did Noon Wine (1966) for Sam Peckinpah on television, the film that revived Peckinpah's career. On Broadway he was in The Devils (1966), which only had a short run.
In 1967 Robards portrayed Doc Holliday in the western film Hour of the Gun and played Al Capone in The St. Valentine's Day Massacre. That same year he acted in Divorce American Style acting alongside Dick Van Dyke, Debbie Reynolds, Van Johnson, and Jean Simmons.
The following year he played Manuel "Cheyenne" Gutiérrez in the Sergio Leone western film Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). He acted opposite Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, and Claudia Cardinale. That year he also acted in the William Friedkin directed musical comedy The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and the biographical drama Isadora.
Robards did The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde for television and on Broadway Robards was in We Bombed in New Haven (1968) a play by Joseph Heller.
Robards acted in the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!, a depiction of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, that led the United States into World War II. Robards played Brutus in Julius Caesar (1970) opposite Charlton Heston, did Rosolino Paternò, soldato... (1970) in Italy and played the lead in The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970) for Peckinpah. Robards starred in Fools (1970), Johnny Got His Gun (1971), Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971) for AIP, and The War Between Men and Women (1972). On television he did The House Without a Christmas Tree (1972), The Thanksgiving Treasure and Old Faithful (1973).
Robards continued to appear on Broadway in revivals such as The Country Girl (1972) and A Moon for the Misbegotten (1973). He repeated his performance in Moon for television in 1975.
Robards had a small role in Peckinpah's Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973). He was also in A Boy and His Dog (1975), The Easter Promise (1975), Mr. Sycamore (1975), and Addie and the King of Hearts (1976).
Robards appeared in two dramatizations based on the Watergate scandal; in 1976, he portrayed Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee in the film All the President's Men, based on the book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, denying Network a chance to sweep all four acting categories (something only Humphrey Bogart had done previously). The next year, he played fictional president Richard Monckton (based on Richard Nixon) in the 1977 television miniseries , based on John Ehrlichman's roman à clef The Company.
Robards was reunited with O'Neill and Quintero for A Touch of the Poet on stage in 1977. He was alson in The Spy Who Never Was (1977), Julia (1977), Comes a Horseman (1978), A Christmas to Remember (1978), Hurricane (1979), Caboblanco (1980), Haywire (1980) (as Leland Hayward, (1980), Raise the Titanic (1980), Melvin and Howard (1980) (as Howard Hughes), and The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981).At the Movies: The Man Who Made 'Klute' Directs Jane Fonda as a Rancher Flatley, Guy. New York Times 3 June 1977: 26.Movies: Bronson: After 62 films, still the reliable pro Siskel, Gene. Chicago Tribune 7 Sep 1980: d3. On stage, Robards was in Hughie (1981). Robard's performance in Melvin and Howard earned him another Oscar nomination.
In 1983 Robards appeared in a popular Broadway revival of You Can't Take It With You, a 1985 revival of The Iceman Cometh with Quintero and A Month of Sundays (1987) directed by Gene Saks. Robards appeared in the lead role of James Tyrone Sr., in a 1988 production of Long Day's Journey into Night directed by Quintero.
For television Robards did Sakharov (1984), The Atlanta Child Murders (1984), The Long Hot Summer (1985), Johnny Bull (1986), The Last Frontier (1986), Laguna Heat (1987), Breaking Home Ties (1987), Inherit the Wind (1988) and The Christmas Wife (1988). For films he made Square Dance (1987), Bright Lights, Big City (1988), and The Good Mother (1988). Robards also appeared onstage in a revival of O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness! (1988) directed by Arvin Brown, Love Letters (1990) with Colleen Dewhurst, Park Your Car in Harvard Yard (1991) by Israel Horovitz, as well as Harold Pinter's No Man's Land (1994).
In 1989 he acted in the Ron Howard directed comedy-drama Parenthood starring Steve Martin and Dianne Wiest and the British drama Reunion with a screenplay by Harold Pinter. That year he also acted in the comedy Dream a Little Dream and the psychological thriller Black Rainbow.
The following year he acted in the crime comedy Quick Change starring Bill Murray, Geena Davis, and Randy Quaid. On TV he did The Perfect Tribute (1991), (1991), An Inconvenient Woman (1991), Mark Twain and Me (1991), and Heidi (1993). For films Robards was in Storyville (1992), The Adventures of Huck Finn (1992) and in 1993 he acted in Harold Pinter's British legal film The Trial opposite Kyle MacLachlan and Anthony Hopkins and the AIDS legal drama Philadelphia starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington.
Robards portrayed three presidents in films. He played Abraham Lincoln in the television films Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1964) and The Perfect Tribute (1991), and supplied the voice for the 1992 television documentary miniseries Lincoln. He also played the role of Ulysses S. Grant in The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981) and supplied the Union General's voice in the PBS miniseries The Civil War (1990). He also played Franklin D. Roosevelt in F.D.R.: The Last Year (1980). Robards appeared in the documentary (1992).
Robards appeared in The Roots of Roe (1993), The Paper (1994), Little Big League (1994), The Enemy Within (1994), My Antonia (1995), Crimson Tide (1995), Journey (1995), A Thousand Acres (1997), Heartwood (1998), The Real Macaw (1998), and Beloved (1998) In 1995 Robards appeared on stage in Molly Sweeney. He played a congressman in Tony Scott's political thriller Enemy of the State starring Will Smith (1998). In his final film role, he played a cancer patient in the Paul Thomas Anderson directed drama Magnolia (1999). His last TV appearance was in Going Home (2000).
Robards was a resident of the Southport section of Fairfield, Connecticut."From the Archives" feature ("The Week of July 8") of The Advocate (Stamford, Connecticut), July 9, 2007, page A7, Stamford edition. He died of lung cancer in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on December 26, 2000. His remains were buried at Oak Lawn Cemetery in Fairfield.
| 1959 | The Journey | Paul Kedes | |
| 1961 | By Love Possessed | Julius Penrose | |
| 1962 | Tender Is the Night | Dr. Richard "Dick" Diver | |
| Long Day's Journey into Night | Jamie Tyrone | ||
| 1963 | Act One | George S. Kaufman | |
| 1965 | A Thousand Clowns | Murray Burns | |
| 1966 | A Big Hand for the Little Lady | Henry Drummond | |
| Any Wednesday | John Cleves | ||
| 1967 | Divorce American Style | Nelson Downes | |
| The St. Valentine's Day Massacre | Al Capone | ||
| Hour of the Gun | Doc Holliday | ||
| 1968 | Isadora | Singer | |
| Once Upon a Time in the West | Manuel "Cheyenne" Gutiérrez | ||
| The Night They Raided Minsky's | Raymond Paine | ||
| 1970 | Rosolino Paternò, soldato… | Sam Armstrong | |
| The Ballad of Cable Hogue | Cable Hogue | ||
| Julius Caesar | Marcus Junius Brutus | ||
| Tora! Tora! Tora! | Walter Short | ||
| Fools | Matthew South | ||
| 1971 | Jud | ||
| Johnny Got His Gun | Joe's Father | ||
| Murders in the Rue Morgue | Cesar Charron | ||
| 1972 | The War Between Men and Women | Stephen Kozlenko | |
| 1973 | Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid | Governor Wallace | |
| 1975 | A Boy and His Dog | Lou Craddock | |
| Mr. Sycamore | John Gwilt | ||
| 1976 | All the President's Men | Ben Bradlee | |
| The Spy Who Never Was | Inspector Barkan | ||
| 1977 | Julia | Dashiell Hammett | |
| 1978 | Comes a Horseman | Jacob "J.W." Ewing | |
| 1979 | Hurricane | Captain Bruckner | |
| 1980 | Caboblanco | Gunther Beckdorff | |
| Raise the Titanic | Admiral James Sandecker | ||
| Melvin and Howard | Howard Hughes | ||
| 1981 | The Legend of the Lone Ranger | Ulysses S. Grant | |
| 1983 | Max Dugan Returns | Max Dugan | |
| Something Wicked This Way Comes | Charles Halloway | ||
| The Day After | Dr. Russell Oakes | ||
| 1987 | Square Dance | Dillard | |
| 1988 | Bright Lights, Big City | Mr. Hardy | Uncredited |
| The Good Mother | Muth | ||
| 1989 | Dream a Little Dream | Coleman Ettinger | |
| Reunion | Harry Strauss | ||
| Parenthood | Frank Buckman | ||
| Black Rainbow | Walter Travis | ||
| 1990 | Quick Change | Chief Rotzinger | |
| 1992 | Storyville | Clifford Fowler | |
| 1993 | The Adventures of Huck Finn | The King | |
| The Trial | Doctor Huld | ||
| Philadelphia | Charles Wheeler | ||
| 1994 | The Paper | Graham Keighley | |
| The Enemy Within | General R. Pendleton Lloyd | ||
| Little Big League | Thomas Heywood | ||
| 1995 | Crimson Tide | Rear Admiral Anderson | Uncredited |
| 1997 | A Thousand Acres | Larry Cook | |
| 1998 | The Real Macaw | Grandpa Girdis | |
| Beloved | Mr. Bodwin | ||
| Enemy of the State | Congressman Phillip Hammersley | Uncredited | |
| Heartwood | Logan Reeser | ||
| 1999 | Magnolia | Earl Partridge | |
| 1951–1954 | The Big Story | Mr. Simms Aaron Dudley | Episode: "Arthur Mielke of the Washington Times Herald" Episode: "Aaron Dudley, Reporter" |
| 1955 | The Philco Television Playhouse | Mason Joe Grant | Episode: "The Outsiders" Episode: "The Death of Billy the Kid" |
| Star Tonight | Abraham Lincoln | Episode: "Flame and Ice" "Television and Radio Highlights". The Atlanta Constitution. August 25, 1955. p. 26. Retrieved March 2, 2025. "'The Flame and Ice,' starring Jason Robards Jr., deals with an episode in the life of Lincoln, showing his inner torment when faced with a decision which affects both the nation and his son. This is the Star Tonight presentation.'Gianakos, Larry James (1980). Television Drama Series Programming: A Comprehensive Chronicle, 1947-1959 · Volume 1. The Scarecrow Press. p. 436. . "30. 'Flame and Ice' (8-25-55) Jason Robards Jr., Gordon Dilworth, Joe Helgessen, Miko Oscard." | |
| 1955–1956 | Armstrong Circle Theatre | Paul Foster Ralph Sawyer Reinhardt Schmidt | Episode: "Man in Shadow" Episode: "The Town That Refused to Die" Episode: "Lost $2 Billion: The Story of Hurricane Diane" |
| Justice | Karder | Episode: "Pattern of Lies" Episode: "Decision by Panic" | |
| 1956–1957 | The Alcoa Hour | Jayson Bert Palmer Bridger | Episode: "Night" Episode: "The Big Build-Up" Episode: "Even the Weariest River" |
| 1955–1957 | Studio One in Hollywood | Prisoner Leonard O'Brien Cameron | Episode: "Twenty-Four Hours" Episode: "The Incredible World of Horace Ford" Episode: "A Picture in the Paper" |
| 1958 | Omnibus | Prime Minister | Episode: "Moment of Truth" |
| 1959 | Playhouse 90 | Robert Jordan | Episode: "For Whom the Bell Tolls: Part 2" |
| NBC Sunday Showcase | Alex Reed | Episode: "People Kill People Sometimes" | |
| A Doll's House | Dr. Rank | TV Movie | |
| 1960 | Dow Hour of Great Mysteries | Detective Anderson | Episode: "The Bat" by Mary Roberts Rinehart |
| The Play of the Week | Theodore 'Hickey' Hickman | Episode: "The Iceman Cometh" | |
| 1962 | That's Where the Town is Going | Hobart Cramm | TV Movie |
| 1964 | Abe Lincoln in Illinois | Abraham Lincoln | TV Movie |
| 1963–1966 | Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Irish LaFontain Ivan Denisovich | Episode: "Shipwrecked" Episode: "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" |
| 1966 | ABC Stage 67 | Royal Earle Thompson | Episode: "Noon Wine" |
| 1969 | Spoon River | Reader | TV Movie |
| 1972 | Circle of Fear | Elliot Brent | Episode: "The Dead We Leave Behind" |
| The House Without a Christmas Tree | Jamie Mills | TV Movie | |
| 1973 | The Thanksgiving Treasure | James Mills | TV Movie |
| 1974 | The Country Girl | Frank Elgin | TV Movie |
| 1975 | The Easter Promise | Jamie | TV Movie |
| A Moon for the Misbegotten | James Tyrone Jr. | TV Special | |
| 1976 | Addie and the King of Hearts | Jamie Mills | TV Movie |
| 1977 | President Richard Monckton | Miniseries; 6 episodes | |
| 1978 | A Christmas to Remember | Daniel Larson | TV movie |
| 1980 | F.D.R.: The Last Year | President Franklin D. Roosevelt | TV movie |
| Haywire | Leland Hayward | TV movie | |
| 1983 | The Day After | Russell Oakes | TV Movie |
| 1984 | American Playhouse | Erie Smith | Episode: "Hughie" |
| Sakharov | Andrei Sakharov | TV Movie | |
| Great Performances | Grandpa Martin Vanderhof | Episode: "You Can't Take It with You" | |
| 1985 | The Atlanta Child Murders | Alvin Binder | 2 episodes |
| The Long Hot Summer | Will Varner | 2 episodes | |
| 1986 | Johnny Bull | Stephen Kovacs | TV Movie |
| The Last Frontier | Ed Stenning | TV Movie | |
| 1987 | Laguna Heat | Wade Shepard | TV Movie |
| Breaking Home Ties | Lloyd | TV Movie | |
| 1988 | Inherit the Wind | Henry Drummond | TV Movie |
| The Christmas Wife | John Tanner | TV movie | |
| Thomas Hart Benton | Narrator | TV movie | |
| 1990 | The Civil War | Ulysses S. Grant (voice) | Nine episodes |
| 1991 | The Perfect Tribute | Abraham Lincoln | TV Movie |
| Armand Hammer | TV Movie | ||
| An Inconvenient Woman | Jules Mendelson | 2 episodes | |
| On the Waterways | Narrator | 13 episodes | |
| Mark Twain and Me | Mark Twain | TV movie | |
| 1991–1997 | American Experience | Narrator | 7 episodes |
| 1992 | Lincoln | Abraham Lincoln | Voice; TV movie |
| 1993 | Heidi | Grandfather | Miniseries; 2 episodes |
| 1994 | The Enemy Within | General R. Pendleton Lloyd | TV Movie |
| 1995 | My Antonia | Josea Burden | TV Movie |
| Journey | Marcus | TV Movie | |
| 2000 | Going Home | Charles Barton | Final appearance |
| 1956–1958 | Long Day's Journey into Night | James Tyrone Jr. | Helen Hayes Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1958 | Henry IV, Part 1 | Hotspur | Stratford Shakespearean Festival | |
| 1958 | The Winter's Tale | Polixenes | Stratford Shakespearean Festival | |
| 1958–1959 | The Disenchanted | Manley Halliday | Coronet Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1960–1961 | Toys in the Attic | Julian Berniers | Hudson Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1961 | Big Fish, Little Fish | William Baker | ANTA Playhouse, Broadway | |
| 1962–1963 | A Thousand Clowns | Murray Burns | Eugene O'Neill Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1964–1965 | After the Fall | Quentin | ANTA Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1964 | But for Whom Charlie | Seymour Rosenthal | ANTA Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1964–1965 | Hughie | "Erie" Smith | Royale Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1965–1966 | The Devils | Urbain Grandier | Broadway Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1968 | We Bombed in New Haven | Captain Starkey | Ambassador Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1972 | The Country Girl | Frank Elgin | Billy Rose Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1973–1974 | A Moon for the Misbegotten | James Tyrone Jr. | Morosco Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1977–1978 | A Touch of the Poet | Cornelius Melody | Helen Hayes Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1983–1984 | You Can't Take It with You | Martin Vanderhof | Plymouth Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1985 | The Iceman Cometh | Theodore Hickman "Hickey" | Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1987 | A Month of Sundays | Cooper | Ritz Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1988 | Ah, Wilderness! | Nat Miller | Neil Simon Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1988 | Long Day's Journey into Night | James Tyrone | Neil Simon Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1989–1990 | Love Letters | Andrew Makepiece Ladd III | Edison Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1991–1992 | Park Your Car in Harvard Yard | Jacob Brackish | Music Box Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1994 | No Man's Land | Hirst | Criterion Center Stage, Broadway | |
Robards received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his role in the television film Inherit the Wind (1988). "Emmy Awards Database of nominees and winners". In 1997, Robards received the U.S. National Medal of Arts, the highest honor conferred to an individual artist on behalf of the people. Recipients are selected by the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts and the medal is awarded by the President of the United States. In 1999, he was among the recipients at the Kennedy Center Honors, an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. "Kennedy Center list of Honorees". In 2000, Robards received the first Monte Cristo Award, presented by the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, and named after O'Neill's home. Subsequent recipients have included Edward Albee, Kevin Spacey, Wendy Wasserstein, and Christopher Plummer.
Robards narrated the public radio documentary, Schizophrenia: Voices of an Illness, produced by Lichtenstein Creative Media, which was awarded a 1994 George Foster Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting. According to Time, Robards offered to narrate the schizophrenia program, saying that his first wife had been institutionalized for that illness. The Souls that Drugs Saved Time Magazine. October 10, 1994. Robards is in the American Theater Hall of Fame, inducted in 1979. The Jason Robards Award was created by the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York City in his honor and his relationship with the theater.
| 1959 | Best Actor in a Play | The Disenchanted | |
| 1960 | Toys in the Attic | ||
| 1964 | After the Fall | ||
| 1965 | Hughie | ||
| 1972 | The Country Girl | ||
| 1974 | A Moon for the Misbegotten | ||
| 1978 | A Touch of the Poet | ||
| Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role | Abe Lincoln in Illinois | ||
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