Robert Urich (December 19, 1946 – April 16, 2002) was an actor, best known for playing private investigators on the television series Spenser: For Hire (1985–1988) and Vega$ (1978–1981). He also starred in numerous other television series over the years including: S.W.A.T. (1975), Soap (1977) and The Lazarus Man (1996).
Early years
He was of Rusyn and Slovak extraction and raised Roman Catholic in the small town of Toronto, Ohio. Due to the similarity in names with Toronto, Ontario, many sources list him incorrectly as being a Canadian. His second wife, Heather, actually is a Canadian from the latter city.
Urich attended Florida State University on a football scholarship. In 1968, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Radio and Television Communications. While attending, he joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He went on to Michigan State University after working in Ohio to earn a master’s degree in Broadcast Research and Management.
Urich was first married to actress Barbara Rucker (1968–74). He later married actress Heather Menzies in 1975, and they remained married until his death in 2002. Heather Menzies Urich had played one of the von Trapp children, Louisa, in the film version of The Sound of Music with Julie Andrews. Urich and Menzies adopted three children, Ryan, Emily and Allison. Like her husband, Menzies battled cancer (ovarian) and she is a cancer survivor. She works tirelessly with the Urich Fund for Sarcoma Research at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Acting career
Between 1973 and just prior to his death in 2002, Urich had lead or supporting roles in no less than 19 television series and miniseries (including several documentary programs). He also regularly hosted National Geographic TV specials. In 1992, Urich hosted the CBS TV special The Bat, the Cat, and the Penguin, which was a behind-the-scenes look of the upcoming motion picture Batman Returns. Most of his TV series were short-lived, however several were successes, including Vega$ and Spenser: For Hire. In the 1990s, Urich reprised the role of Spenser in several made-for-TV films. He also played a main character, Jake Spoon, in the acclaimed television miniseries Lonesome Dove, a role for which he received many positive reviews.
In 1996, Urich announced that he had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, synovial cell sarcoma, that attacks joints. The TV series he was working on at the time, The Lazarus Man, was doing well but was ultimately cancelled. His failing health was cited as the reason. Urich ultimately died from this disease, although he continued to appear in film and TV during treatment. His final TV series role was in the sitcom Emeril in 2001.
