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Reported Problem for Robert Preston
posted by BeauGesteSTAFFMOD on February 3, 2024 at 11:01 PM
Item: Robert Preston
Language: en-US
Type of Problem: Incorrect_content
Extra Details: Preston’s bio on TMDB states “ Preston died of cancer in 1987 at the age of 68. He was survived by his wife, Catherine Craig, and their two children.” This statement is inaccurate. No children were born to the marriage of Robert Preston and his wife, Catherine Craig.
On p. 408 of Lillian Ross and Helen Ross, The Player: A Profile of an Art, 2nd ed. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1962). Robert Preston was interviewed by the authors and stated, “…my wife is an excellent cook. We have no children.”
Reply by genplant29
on February 4, 2024 at 12:15 AM
Hello, and welcome to TMDb. Thank you for the correction and information.
All data appearing on TMDb is crowd-sourced, therefore is as added by site users. My guess is that probably the contributor who last June added the "survived by...two children" mention may have seen that published in a Robert Preston obituary, but that, if so, it most likely referred to children born to his wife during the years prior to their marriage; many obits list stepchildren without differentiating that they're not the decedent's biological kids.
Reply by BeauGeste
on February 4, 2024 at 2:42 AM
Neither Robert Preston and his wife, Catherine Craig were previously married (or had any children) prior to their marriage on November 8, 1940. To infer that the actor had “two children” in his TMDB bio is completely false.
A comprehensive biography of Robert Preston was published in 2022 [see: “Robert Preston: Forever the Music Man” on ns Amazon at https://a.co/d/f7tCI9k]; the biography confirms that the couple had no children nor were either of them married previously to bring stepchildren into their marriage. Preston and his wife were married in 1940 and remained married until his death in 1986.
Reply by BeauGeste
on February 4, 2024 at 2:44 AM
oops- death in 1987.
Reply by BeauGeste
on February 4, 2024 at 2:51 AM
Preston’s obituary in the New York Times indicates he was survived only by his wife and his 96-year-old father:
“He is survived by his wife, Catherine, and his father, Frank Meservey Sr. of Los Angeles.”
ROBERT PRESTON, ACTOR, IS DEAD AT 68
https://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/23/obituaries/robert-preston-actor-is-dead-at-68.html?unlocked_article_code=1.S00.eHQ9.8568gJm0gz8o&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare