Robert Ivers

Robert Ivers attended one of the few high schools (Tucson High 1950-1953) that offered a wide range of theatre classes including Stagecraft, Make-Up, Lighting, History of the Theatre and Acting. After appearing in all the high school productions and some Tucson Little Theatre shows, Ivers was offered scholarships to Pasadena Playhouse and the University of Arizona. A short stint at Pasadena, after learning he couldn't get on stage until his second year, was enough, and he enrolled at the University of Arizona, where he began appearing in roles during his first year. Tucson has been the host for many movie companies and, during his college days, Ivers was able to secure a few "uncredited" screen roles. During this same time, the Tucson Winter Stock Company started its operation, which proved to be the springboard for Ivers' move to Hollywood. In 1954, Milt Lewis, a talent scout for Paramount Pictures, saw Ivers in Stalag 17 (1953), at the Sartu Theatre in Hollywood and tried to get Paramount to sign him. They didn't. In 1955, Lewis saw Ivers in a production of "Rainmaker" at the University of Arizona and again failed to get the studio to sign him. It was a year later, 1956, when Jane (Loew) Sharples saw Bob in the lead in "Tea and Sympathy", a Tucson Winter Stock Company production (with Harvey Korman, a resident stock player), and sent him to her father, Arthur Loew, Sr., president of MGM. Ms. Loew's brother, Arthur M. Loew Jr., a producer, and her cousin, Stewart Stern, a screenwriter, helped Ivers prepare for audition interviews with MGM and Paramount executives. This time, Paramount Studios signed him.