Robert Preston (1918 - 1987)
Robert Preston was born on June 8, 1918 in Newton Highlands, Massachusette. Preston passed away on March 21, 1987 in Montecito, California from lung cancer.
In 1957 Robert Preston began the part that would immortalize him in entertainment history, that of Professor Harold Hill in the musical THE MUSIC MAN. Preston won a Tony Award for the role in THE MUSIC MAN and repeated it in the film version.
In 1982 Robert Preston received an Oscar nomination for his triumphant portrayal of a witty, gay entertainer in VICTOR/VICTORIA.
Barely 20 years old when a Paramount talent scout spotted Preston at the Pasadena Playhouse, and before the year was out he had joined the studio's roster of contract players. Robert Preston started by first appearing in B pictures such as 1938's ILLEGAL TRAFFIC and KING OF ALCATRAZ then he quickly graduated to supporting roles in A productions such as 1939's UNION PACIFIC and BEAU GESTE.
Preston took a brief fling in TV during the early 1950s, starring in MAN AGAINST CRIME (1951) and ANYWHERE USA (1952).
With his performance in I DO! I DO! Robert Preston won a Broadway Tony Award as Best Actor in 1967.
Robert Preston's other notable credits include...
THE LAST STARFIGHTER (1984)
S.O.B (1981)
MAME (1974)
HOW THE WEST WAS WON (1962)
WHEN I GROW UP (1951)
BLOOD ON THE MOON (1948)
THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942)
MOON OVER BURMA (1940)
KING OF ALCATRAZ (1938)
http://www.movieactors.com/actors/robertpreston.htm
Ya Got Trouble
Well, ya got trouble, my friend.
Right here, I say trouble right here in River City
Why, sure, I'm a billiard player
Certainly mighty proud to say,
I'm always mighty proud to say it
I consider the hours I spend with a cue in my hand are golden
Help you cultivate horse sense and a cool head and a keen eye
Didja ever take and try to give an iron clad leave
to yourself from a three-rail billiard shot?
But just as I say it takes judgement, brains and maturity
to score in a balk-line game
I say that any boob can take and shove a ball in a pocket
And I call that sloth;
the first big step on the road to the depths of degreda-
I say, first- medicinal wine from a teaspoon, then beer from a bottle
And the next thing you know your son is playin'
for money in a pinchback suit
And listenin' to some big out-o'-town jasper
hear him tell about horserace gamblin'
Not a wholesome trottin' race, no,
but a race where they set down right on the horse
Like to see some stuck up jockey boy sittin' on Dan Patch?
Make your blood boil, well I should say
Now, folks, let me show you what I mean
You've got one, two, three, four, five, six pockets in a table
Pockets that mark the difference between a gentleman and a bum
With a capital 'B' and that rhymes with 'P' and that stands for 'pool'
And all week long, your River City youth'll be fritterin' away
I say, your young men'll be fritterin'
Fritterin' away their noontime, suppertime, choretime, too
Hit the ball in the pocket
never mind gettin' dandelions pulled
or the screen door patched or the beefsteak pounded
Never mind pumpin' any water 'til your parents are caught
with a cistern empty on a Saturday night and that's trouble
Oh, ya got lots and lotsa trouble
I'm thinkin' of the kids in the knickerbockers,
shirttailed young ones peekin' in the pool hall window after school
Ya got trouble, folks, right here in River City
with a capital 'T' and that rhymes with 'P'
and that stands for 'pool'
Now I know all you folks are the right kind of parents
I'm gonna be perfectly frank
Would you like to know what kind of conversation goes on
while they're loafin' around that hall?
They'll be tryin' out Bevo, tryin' out Cubebs,
tryin' out tailor-mades like cigarette fiends
And braggin' all about how they're gonna cover up
a tell-tale breath with Sen-Sen
Now one fine night they leave the pool hall
headin' for the dance at the Armory
Libertine men and scarlet women and ragtime
Shameless music that'll grab your son, your daughter
into the arms of a jungle animal instinct- massteria!
Friends, the idle brain is the devil's playground, trouble!
Townspeople: Oh, we got trouble
Harold: Right here in River City
Townspeople: Right here in River City
Harold: With a capital 'T' and that rhymes with 'P'
and that stands for 'pool'
Townspeople: That stands for pool
Harold: We surely got trouble
Townspeople: We surely got trouble
Harold: Right here in River City
Townspeople: Right here
Harold: Gotta figure out a way to keep the young ones
moral after school
Townspeople: Trouble, trouble, trouble...
Harold: Mothers of River City,
heed this warning before it's too late
Watch for the tell-tale signs of corruption
The minute your son leaves the house
does he rebuckle his knickerbockers below the knee?
Is there a nicotine stain on his index finger?
A dime novel hidden in the corncrib?
Is he starting to memorize jokes
from Cap'n Billy's Whizbang?
Are certain words creeping into his conversation?
Words like- swell?
And- 'so's your old man'?
Well if so, my friends
Ya got trouble
Townspeople: Oh, we got trouble
Harold: Right here in River City
Townspeople: Right here in River City
Harold: With a capital 'T' and that rhymes with 'P'
and that stands for 'pool'
Townspeople: That stands for pool
Harold: We've surely got trouble
Townspeople: We surely got trouble
Harold: Right here in River City
Townspeople: Right here
Harold: Remember the Maine, Plymouth Rock and the Golden Rule?
Oho, we got trouble
We're in terrible, terrible trouble
That game with the fifteen numbered balls is the devil's tool
Townspeople: Devil's tool
Harold: Yes, we've got trouble, trouble, trouble
Townspeople: Oh, yes, we got trouble here, we got big, big trouble
Harold: With a 'T'
Townspeople: With a capital 'T'
Harold: And that rhymes with 'P'
Townspeople: That rhymes with 'P'
Harold: And that stands for pool
Townspeople: That stands for pool
Harold: Remember my friends, listen to me,
because I pass this way but once