| ROBERT QUARRY |
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ROBERT QUARRY COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE  1925 - 2009 Playing the deadly Count Yorga in two successful low-budget films of the 70s has made Robert Quarry a cult film favorite. Originally conceived as a soft porn feature, “The Loves of Count Yorga” was switched to mainstream horror when Quarry signed on. His “Dashing, Dark, and Deadly” vampire character prompted AIP to groom him as Vincent Price’s obvious successor. Watch your back, Vincent! Robert Quarry was born in 1925 in Santa Rosa, California. He graduated from high school at age 14, with a reported IQ of 168. With encouragement from his grandmother, he began to work in radio and won a scholarship to the Pasadena Playhouse. In 1943, when Hitchcock’s “Shadow of a Doubt” came to film in Santa Rosa, he won a role in the movie which starred Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright. His scenes, however, were cut from the final print. Later in 1943, Quarry joined the Army---though his theatrical aspirations were still on the front-burner. He formed an acting group while in the Army and put on a hit production of “The Hasty Heart.”  When the War ended in 1945, he moved to Hollywood and scored a studio contract at MGM. He had also developed some friendships with some powerful Hollywood actors. He was still quite close with his “past co-stars” Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright. He even lived with Cotten and his wife for a while. He became Katherine Hepburn’s tennis partner, eventually going to New York to appear in her company of “As You Like It” in 1950. He stayed in New York to also act in “Taming of the Shrew” and early TV anthology shows “Philco TV Playhouse,” “Hallmark Hall of Fame,” and “Studio 57.”He was romantically linked to Veronica Lake in the 1950s and appeared with her in stage productions of “Peter Pan” and “The Gramercy Ghost.”  His film career did not flourish. He was eventually dropped by MGM after walk-on roles in “Soldier of Fortune” and “House of Bamboo.” A more substantial role in the 1956 Robert Wagner film “A Kiss Before Dying” also did nothing for his movie career. But he was having some success…in TV---“The Lone Ranger,” “Sea Hunt,” “The Millionaire,” “Navy Log,” and “Richard Diamond.”He remained a virtual unknown through the 1960s sporadically appearing on stage--- “Design for Living” with Cloris Leachman, and tours of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.” Being a buddy of Paul Newman didn’t help much either, though he did have small roles in 2 of the superstar’s films “WUSA” and “Winning.” |