Ross Martin

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Birthday:

22 March 1920, Gródek Jagiellonski, Lwowskie, Poland [now Horodok, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine]

Birth Name:

Martin Rosenblatt

Height:

180 cm

Born in Grodek, Poland, Ross Martin grew up on New York City's Lower East Side. He spoke Yiddish, Polish, and Russian before even learning English and later added French, Spanish, and Italian to his amazing repertoire.Despite academic training (and receiving honors in) business, instruction, and law, M. Martin chose a career of acting. His first film was the George Pal production Conquest of Space (1955). Soon after, he caught the eye of Blake Edwards who cast him in a number of widely varied roles, culminating with a fantastic part in The Great Race (1965).Ross somehow managed a series in between, the short-lived Mr. Lucky (1959). With the release of The Great Race (1965), CBS cast him in what was to become his most famous part, Secret Service agent Artemus Gordon in The Wild Wild West (1965), opposite Robert Conrad. Perhaps the show's cancellation in 1969 was for the best - he suffered a near-fatal heart attack in 1968.Afraid to take the risk of having a lead actor with a heart condition, the networks snubbed him with regards to a lead role, yet he appeared as a guest star in an amazing number of programs, not all dramatic masterpieces. Yet Ross loved to act, and took every role which came his way. Ross Martin collapsed while playing tennis, the heart condition finally taking its toll on July 3rd, 1981. Show less «

On the hazards of a job requiring changes in appearance: "I went home one afternoon to pick up a script without bothering to change, and a h...Show more »

On the hazards of a job requiring changes in appearance: "I went home one afternoon to pick up a script without bothering to change, and a half an hour later the Beverly Hills Police were at my door because a neighbor had reported a suspicious stranger lurking around Ross Martin's house. I had to peel off my beard to prove who I was." Show less «

On ad-libs: "I've been allowed to add a bit of dialogue to the characters now and then, just to help the illusion. When I portrayed a German...Show more »

On ad-libs: "I've been allowed to add a bit of dialogue to the characters now and then, just to help the illusion. When I portrayed a German count, there was a scene where a tough dived at me from the stairway. I side-stepped him and ad-libbed, Have a nice trip.' I was allowed to keep it in."Later, one man grabbed me from behind and another came at me from the front. I added, 'That's no way to treat an old man.' That was left in too. [From the 1st season B&W Episode "The Night of the Burning Diamond."] Show less «