Roger Mobley
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| Roger Mobley | |
|---|---|
| Born | Roger Lance Mobley January 16, 1949 Evansville Vanderburgh County Indiana, USA |
| Residence | Jasper, Texas |
| Alma mater | Whittier Christian High School in Whittier, California |
| Occupation | Child actor (1958-1967) Green Beret (1968-1970) Police officer |
| Spouse(s) | Sharie Barclay Mobley (m. 1968) |
| Children | Matthew Jason Mobley Rebekah M. Justice |
| Parent(s) | Arthur Lance and Charlene V. Mobley |
| Website | |
Roger Lance Mobley (born January 16, 1949 in Evansville, Indiana) was a busy child actor in the 1950s and 1960s, making over 110 television appearances and co-starring in nine feature films in his nine-year career,[1] before becoming a member of the Green Berets (46th Special Forces Co.) during the Vietnam War. He was later an officer with the Police Department in Beaumont, Texas.[2]
Contents
Background
Mobley (pronounced "Mob'-ly" in real life but "Mobe'-ly" as a performer at the behest of studio executives who didn't like the way the former sounded)[3] sang with his older brother and sister in The Little Mobley Trio in Texas where the family then lived. After moving to California when Mobley was six or seven, the trio appeared on the Ted Mack Amateur Hour with disappointing results. However, they were spotted by Lola Moore, then the preeminent agent for child actors, who expressed an interest in Roger and arranged an audition for the boy for a part in an already running television western. Mobley was eight years old when he appeared as "Packy" Lambert on the NBC television series, Fury, starring Peter Graves, Bobby Diamond, and William Fawcett.[4] Many of Mobley’s subsequent myriad television guest appearances were also westerns, but he was capable of playing against type as with his affecting 1963 guest starring role in Route 66 (TV series) ("Somehow it Gets to Be Tomorrow") as Joby Paxton, a troubled youngster with a complex characterization.
In 1964 after having been impressed with Mobley's performance in Emil and the Detectives (1964 film), Walt Disney signed young Mobley to the title role in the highly acclaimed and Emmy- nominated "Adventures of Gallegher" serials for his Wonderful World of Color. Gallegher is an amateur sleuth newspaper reporter, a character created by the author Richard Harding Davis.[5] Contrary to popular rumor, it is Mobley's name that Walt Disney wrote on his very last memo. (see Walt Disney's last memo YouTube)
After nine years and appearances in 118 television programs or feature films, Mobley's career was interrupted at the age of eighteen by military service. Mobley was quoted as having said, "Uncle Walt [Disney] had plans for me, but so did Uncle Sam, and Uncle Sam won."[6]
Personal life
Military background
In 1968, Mobley was inducted (drafted) into the United States Army. After boot camp at Fort Ord, California. Mobley asked to have his term of service extended in order to qualify for training in special forces. He completed parachute jump training at Fort Benning, Georgia. after having volunteered for the Special Forces training at the John F. Kennedy Center for Special Warfare at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. On completion of his training, Mobley was assigned to the 46th Special Forces Company (Airborne), 1st Special Forces Group. He returned to the United States, after service in Vietnam [7] in November 1970 upon his honorable discharge from the Army.[8]
Upon returning to civilian life, Mobley found that he had little savings from his extensive work as a child actor and was later unsuccessful in reviving his acting career,.[9] He and his bride, his childhood sweetheart, moved to Beaumont, Texas where he joined the police department. He was also a criminal investigator for the Cities of Vidor and Jasper, Texas.[10]
Besides law enforcement, Mobley worked many kinds of blue collar jobs, including pipefitter, longshoreman; welder; bull rider; lumberjack; milk delivery driver; Federal Express truck driver; prison guard; and lifeguard. He was a football/basketball coach at a private school in Beaumont. He was employed as a climber/inspector on wind turbine farms around the nation before retiring,[11] though as of 2016 works as a carousal operator at the Little Rock Zoo. (Roger Mobley's Facebook Page)
Political and Religious Beliefs
According to his autobiographical sketch on his Facebook Page, Mobley appears to be a staunch Christian conservative, opposing legalized abortion and same-sex marriage as well as expressing disapproval of divorce. He notes that the Bible is his favorite book. He is a member of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.
References
- ↑ http://www.brokenwheelranch.com
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GMrUWHzAjU)
- ↑ Feature Players Volume 3, Tom & Jim Goldrup, 1997, Ben Lomond,CA., page 204
- ↑ (http://www.brokenwheelranch.com/rogersbiography.htm)
- ↑ Growing up on the set, Tom & Jim Goldrup,McFarland & Co.,Inc., Jefferson, NC, 2002 page 212
- ↑ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GMrUWHzAjU)
- ↑ Interview with Roger Mobley for Classic Images Magazine, Ken Dennis, 2012
- ↑ (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0595040/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm)
- ↑ Growing up on the set, Tom & Jim Goldrup,McFarland & Co., Inc.,Jefferson, NC, 2002 pg. 213
- ↑ (http://www.brokenwheelranch.com/rogersbiography.htm)
External links
- Pages using infobox person with unknown parameters
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- 1949 births
- Living people
- American male child actors
- Male Western (genre) film actors
- American male television actors
- American male musicians
- American military personnel of the Vietnam War
- United States Army soldiers
- Actors from Evansville, Indiana
- People from Reeves County, Texas
- People from the Greater Los Angeles Area
- People from Beaumont, Texas
- People from Newton County, Texas
- People from Jasper County, Texas
- American police officers
- American clergy
- American Christians
