Roger Mobley | |
|---|---|
 Mobley inThe Wonderful World of Disney,circa 1968 | |
| Born | (1949-01-16)January 16, 1949 (age 77) Evansville, Indiana, U.S. |
| Occupations | Child actor (1958—1967) Green Beret (1968—1970) Police officer |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
Roger Lance Mobley (born January 16, 1949) is a formerchild actor in the 1950s and 1960s who made more than 118television appearances and co-starred in nine feature films in a nine-year career.[1] He served in theGreen Berets (46th Special Forces Company) during theVietnam War, and was subsequently apolice officer inBeaumont, Texas.[1]
Mobley is one of eight children of Arthur Lance Mobley (1922–2002)[2] and Charlene V. Mobley (1924–2012).[2][3] Lance Mobley, as the father was known, was born inCentralia in southernIllinois, and a retired pipefitter at the time of his death in a hospital in Beaumont, Texas. Charlene and he married in 1939, when he was 17, and she was 15.[4] The couple moved from Indiana in the early 1950s toPecos inReeves County inWest Texas before they headed in 1957 toWhittier, nearLos Angeles.
Mobley (pronounced "Mawbley"[5]) sang with his older brother and sister in The Little Mobley Trio in Texas where the family then lived. After moving toCalifornia when Mobley was six or seven, the trio appeared on theTed Mack's Original Amateur Hour with disappointing results.
They were spotted, though, by Lola Moore, then the pre-eminent agent for child actors, who expressed an interest in Roger and arranged his audition for the part of eight-year-old Homer "Packy" Lambert in theNBC Saturday-morningWesterntelevision series,Fury, starringPeter Graves,Bobby Diamond, andWilliam Fawcett. He appeared in 38 episodes of the series.[6]
In 1964, after having been impressed with Mobley's performance as Gustav inEmil and the Detectives,Walt Disney signed him to the title role in the highly acclaimed andEmmy-nominated "Adventures of Gallegher" serials for theWonderful World of Color. Gallegher is an amateur sleuth newspaper reporter, a character created by authorRichard Harding Davis.[1]
After 9 years and appearances in 118 television programs or feature films, Mobley's career was interrupted at the age of 18 by military service when he was drafted into theVietnam War.[3] Mobley eventually graduated Parachute Jump School (Fort Benning, Georgia) and JFK Special Warfare School (Fort Bragg, North Carolina) and was assigned to the 6th Special Group (Fort Bragg)[3] and the 46th Special Special Forces Co., 1st Special Forces (1969–1970), for sixteen months before being honorably discharged in 1970.[3]
Upon his return home to Whittier from the military, Mobley found that only $6,000 earnings from his extensive film work as a child had been saved for him. His new bride and he moved to Texas, where he landed a position on the Beaumont, Texas Police Dept.[3] He later went on to become a pastor.[3]
He has been married to his wife Shari[3] since 1968, and they have three children, 12 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Mobley and his wife are members of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | A Dog's Best Friend | Pip Wheeler | Film (withBill Williams andMarcia Henderson)[7] |
| 1961 | The Runaway | Felipe Roberto | Film[7] |
| The Silent Call | Guy Brancato | Film (withGail Russell andDavid McLean)[7] | |
| Boy Who Caught a Crook | Kid | Children's film[7] | |
| The Comancheros | Bub Schofield | Film (uncredited)[7] | |
| 1962 | Jack the Giant Killer | Peter | Adventure film[7] |
| 1963 | Inside Danny Baker | Danny Baker | Television film[7] |
| Dime with a Halo | Jose | Film[7] | |
| 1964 | Emil and the Detectives | Gustav | Film[7] |
| 1979 | The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again | Sentry | Film[7] |
| 1980 | The Kids Who Knew Too Much | Police sergeant | Television film[7] |
| 2018 | The Spark | Paul | Television film[7] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | The Mickey Mouse Club | Himself | Episode: "Talent Roundup Day - The Mobley Trio"[7] |
| 1958–1960 | Fury | Homer "Packy" Lambert | 38 episodes[7][8] |
| 1959 | Buckskin | Noah Wesley | Episode: "Mr. Rush's Secretary" (withJane Darwell)[7] |
| Bachelor Father | Little Leaguer | Episode: "Bentley Goes to Washington" (withWhit Bissell,Sue Ane Langdon, andFlip Mark)[7] | |
| 1959—1963 | Wagon Train | Multiple roles | Eight episodes[7] |
| 1960 | Hawaiian Eye | Stevie Hughes | Episode: "With This Ring" (withPaul Richards andRuta Lee)[7] |
| 1960—1961 | The Detectives | Boy and Paul | Two episodes: "A Barrel Full of Monkeys" and "Shuttle"[7] |
| 1961 | Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre | Little Martin | Episode: "The Scar" (withLew Ayres,Mort Mills,Patricia Barry, andAlan Hale, Jr.)[7] |
| The Donna Reed Show | Tony Martin, Jr. | Episode: "Tony Martin Visits" (withTony Martin)[7] | |
| Outlaws | Davey Morgan | Episode: "Blind Spot" (withGary Merrill)[7] | |
| National Velvet | Bradley Walton, III | Episode: "The Riding Mistress" (withRichard Deacon andBeverly Lunsford)[7] | |
| The Loretta Young Show | Henry Sands, Jr. | Episode: "Not in Our Stars" (withLoretta Young andH. M. Wynant)[7] | |
| Gunsmoke | Thad Ferrin | Episode: "Miss Kitty" (withFrank Sutton,Harold J. Stone, andDabbs Greer)[7] | |
| Cain's Hundred | Cort Cortner | Episode: "The Fixer"[7] | |
| 1961—1962 | 87th Precinct | Danny and Lane Conners, respectively | Episodes: "Lady Killer" and "A Bullet for Katie"[7] |
| 1961 and 1963 | Death Valley Days | Little Matt Denby and Matt, respectively | Episodes: "The Madstone" (withMyron Healey) and "Deadly Decision" (withJames Caan)[7] |
| 1961 and 1965 | Dr. Kildare | Jamie Carroll and Alan Burnside, respectively | Episodes: "Hit and Run" and "The Time Buyers"[7] |
| 1962 | Straightaway | Dale | Episode: "A Moment in the Sun" (withRobert Blake)[7] |
| The Tall Man | David Harper | Episode: "St. Louis Woman" (withJan Clayton andRuss Conway)[7] | |
| Alcoa Premiere | Lonnie Dunlap | "Second Chance" (withEarl Holliman,Andrew Prine,Cliff Robertson,Jacqueline Scott,Roy Barcroft, andDon "Red" Barry)[7] | |
| Frontier Circus | Andy Jukes | Episode: "Mighty Like Rogue" (withJ. Pat O'Malley,Jena Engstrom, andJoby Baker)[7] | |
| The Law and Mr. Jones | Tommy Pierce | Episode: "The Boy Who Said 'No'" (withRussell Johnson andEve McVeagh)[7] | |
| The Virginian | Homer Tatum | Episode: "Throw a Long Rope" (with fellow guest starsJohn Anderson,Ted Knight, andJacqueline Scott)[7] | |
| The Wide Country (seriesspun off fromAlcoa Premiere episode above) | Billy-Joe Perry | Episode: "Journey Down a Dusty Road" (withWallace Ford)[7] | |
| Cheyenne | Gabe Morse and Billy Zachary | Episodes "The Idol" and "Sweet Sam"[7] | |
| Going My Way | Miles Corbin | Episode: "Ask Me No Questions" (withKevin McCarthy andJoanne Linville)[7] | |
| Empire | Kieran Haskell | Episode: "When the Gods Laugh" (withJames Gregory)[7] | |
| 1962—1963 | Our Man Higgins | Jamie and Jamie MacDermott, respectively | Two episodes: "Golf Partner" and "The Royal and Ancient Game" (both withRoy Roberts)[7] |
| 1963 | Route 66 | Joby Paxton | Episode: "Somehow It Gets to Be Tomorrow" (withMartin Balsam)[7] |
| I'm Dickens, He's Fenster | Ralph | Episode: "Number One Son"[7] | |
| The Dakotas | Christopher Deus | Episode: "Feud at Snake River"[7] | |
| 1964 | Insight | The Urchin | Episode: "The Urchin"[7] |
| Ben Casey | Paul Hamilton, Jr. | Episode: "Keep Out of Reach of Adults" (withRichard Kiley andGeraldine Brooks)[7] | |
| Destry | Toby Brady | Episode: "Red Brady's Kid"[7] | |
| 1964—1980 | Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color | Multiple roles | 17 episodes[7][8] |
| 1965 | The Farmer's Daughter | Alan Page | Episode: "Follow the Leader"[7] |
| 1967—1968 | Dragnet | Audie Fulton and Charles L. Vail, respectively | Episodes: "The Big Kids" and "The Big Departure"[7] |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
