Robert Brubaker

Robert Brubaker (October 9, 1916 – April 15, 2010) was an American character actor best known for his roles in television and movie Westerns, including Gunsmoke and 40 Guns to Apache Pass.

Brubaker was born in Robinson, Illinois, on October 9, 1916, the son of George Brubaker. His interest in acting developed when he was a student at Robinson Township High School. He dropped out of Northwestern University after two years and went to New York.

During World War II, Brubaker was an aircraft commander in the U.S. Army Air Force. Later, he served during the Berlin Airlift and during the Korean War he was a part of the Strategic Air Command.

Brubaker debuted as a professional actor in Oh Say Can You Sing, Dance or Act (1936), a production of the Federal Theatre Project. While he worked at radio station KMPC, Brubaker caught the attention of an executive of Paramount Pictures, and his film debut came in a bit part in Blonde Alibi (1946).

Brubaker portrayed a deputy in the syndicated television series U.S. Marshal. He was the only actor to have two recurring roles on the television series, Gunsmoke, portraying both a bartender named Floyd and a stagecoach driver named Jim Buck (often uncredited). Some of Brubaker's other credits included the Rock Hudson film, Seconds, and television crime dramas The Walter Winchell File and Perry Mason, and the television police drama The Asphalt Jungle.

After he left acting, Brubaker worked for Forest Lawn Cemetery as a director in the training department. When he retired from that job, he moved to Lake Elsinore, California.

Brubaker died on April 15, 2010, at the age of 93 in Riverside, California. He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, in Southern California.