Understanding Robert Taylor's Marriage to Barbara Hale
Robert Taylor, born Spangler Arlington Brugh in 1911, was one of MGM's most bankable leading men throughout the 1930s and 1940s. He married actress Barbara Hale in 1949. The story of their life together isn't particularly glamorous, despite the Hollywood backdrop. It's more complicated than tabloid narratives from that era would suggest. Barbara Hale was already an established character actress before she married Taylor. She'd appeared in films like The Killers (1946) and Brute Force (1947), and later became famous for playing Della Street on the Perry Mason television series. Their wedding took place in the backyard of Taylor's house in Beverly Hills. Only a few close friends were present. What struck me when I researched their biography is that their marriage operated very differently from typical Hollywood power couples of the period. Taylor famously preferred a low-key private life. He declined to attend his own film premieres when possible. He kept his social circle small and deliberately avoided the studio system's networking expectations. This created friction with MGM management but also gave him unusual control over his personal time.
Hale continued working throughout their marriage. She didn't retreat from her career upon marrying an A-list star. This was somewhat unusual for the era, though not unprecedented. She completed several television projects during their fifteen-year marriage, including the entire run of Perry Mason from 1957 to 1966. One detail that doesn't get discussed enough: they adopted two children together, Lisa and Bryan. Taylor was reportedly a devoted father, which contradicts the distant gentleman image he sometimes projected publicly. Neighbors and family members described him as genuinely involved in their daily upbringing. The later years of their marriage are where things get difficult. Taylor struggled with severe anorexia in the early 1960s, a condition that was neither diagnosed nor understood at the time. His weight dropped dramatically. Hale managed his care privately without seeking medical attention until it became medically urgent. This was before eating disorders were recognized as treatable conditions, and the approach was largely one of suppression and silence, which was standard for the period among people of their social standing.
Robert Taylor died on June 6, 1969, from a heart attack while playing golf. He was fifty-seven. Hale continued acting for several more decades and publicly resisted any attempts by biographers to sensationalize their relationship or his illness. From a research standpoint, the most reliable sources on their marriage are Hale's own interviews given in later life and the biography Robert Taylor: The Man and His Films by John Douglas Eilers. Tabloid accounts from the 1950s and 60s should be cross-referenced carefully against primary sources, as they contain numerous inaccuracies regarding their private life. There's a persistent myth that their marriage was unhappy or that they separated during the 1960s. There's no factual evidence supporting this claim. What existed was a partnership that prioritized family life over Hollywood social obligations, which some contemporaries misread as dysfunction because it didn't conform to expected celebrity behavior patterns.
Get the Full Details
If you're looking for filmography-level detail on either of them, the American Film Institute catalog remains the most accurate reference point. Personal correspondence between them has never been published and is believed to be held in private archives.
