Prolific American character actor of primarily villainous roles. The son of German parents, Cincinnati feed-store manager August Wilke and his wife Rose, Robert Joseph Wilke grew up in Cincinnati. He worked as a lifeguard at a Miami, Florida, hotel, where he made contacts in the film business. He was able to obtain work as a stuntman and continued as such until the mid-'40s, when he began getting actual roles in low-budget westerns and serials. A prominent appearance as one of the heavies in _High Noon to have earned more money on the golf course than he ever did in movies. He died in 1989.
Once a lifeguard in a Miami (FL) hotel and a high-diver at the Chicagos Worlds Fair in 1933-34.
Father, with Patricia Wilke, of a son.