Robert Ridgely (December 24, 1931—February 8, 1997) was an American actor and vocal artist, known for both on-camera roles and extensive voice-over work. Ridgely started his television career with guest roles in such 1960s series as Maverick, Sea Hunt and Surfside 6. He landed a regular role as Lt. Kimbro in the short-lived World War II series The Gallant Men. After the series was cancelled he continued with guest appearances in shows like Bonanza, WKRP in Cincinnati, Night Court and Designing Women. He also appeared in many movies, especially Mel Brooks productions such as Blazing Saddles (1974), High Anxiety (1977), Life Stinks (1991) and Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993). He also played Wally "Mr. Love" Williams, host of the fictional game show Easy Street in the 1980 movie Melvin and Howard.

Ridgely put his strong voice to use in voice-over roles in movies like Down and Dirty Duck (1974) and Oz (1980) and the video game Blazing Dragons (1996). He did a great deal of voice work on television as well. Three of Ridgely's most easily recognizable voice roles were Tarzan in Filmation's Tarzan: Lord of the Jungle, Flash Gordon in The New Adventures of Flash Gordon, and Thundarr in Ruby-Spears' Thundarr the Barbarian. Ridgely played his final movie roles in Boogie Nights and Fire Down Below (both 1997). He died of cancer at age 65.

Dr. Robert S. Ridgely (b. 1946) is an American ornithologist, specializing in the neotropics. He is the co-author of three books on neotropical ornithology: the field guide The Birds of Panama (with John Gwynne), The Birds of Ecuador (with Paul Greenfield), and the The Birds of South America (with Guy Tudor), of which two monumental volumes (out of four), covering the passerines, have appeared. He was long affiliated with the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, then Vice-President at the blank">American Bird Conservancy until 2006. He is currently working for the World Land Trust US http://www.worldlandtrust-us.org and is the president and founder of the highly successful conservation _NGO Fundación Jocotoco http://www.fjocotoco.org, which owns and manages eight nature reserves in Ecuador.

Superbly talented vocal artist and character actor supreme Robert Ridgely was born on December 24, 1931 in New Jersey. Ridgely started out as a cabaret entertainer. He began his television acting career in the early 60s with guest appearances on such TV shows as "Surfside 6," "Sea Hunt," and "Maverick." Ridgely had a recurring role as Lt. Frank Kimbro on the short-lived World War II TV series "The Gallant Men." Robert made his film debut in the 1963 feature "FBI Code 98." Ridgely was occasionally cast as sleazy charmers such as unctuous emcees and announcers. Robert popped up in four comedies for Mel Brooks: "Blazing Saddles," "High Anxiety," "Life Stinks," and "Robin Hood: Men in Tights." Moreover, Ridgely was in several pictures for director Jonathan Demme; he's especially memorable (and delightful) as smarmy game show host Wally "Mr. Love" Williams in the wonderful "Melvin and Howard." Other noteworthy movie roles are boozy, moonshine-running airplane pilot Lester Boggs in the rowdy redneck romp "The Great Lester Boggs," radio talk show host Bob Morton in "Heart Like a Wheel," and Los Angeles Mayor Ted Egan in "Beverly Hills Cop II." Robert lent his strong, smooth, booming voice to countless animated TV programs and cartoon features; the characters he voiced include Tarzan in "Tarzan: Lord of the Jungle," Flash Gordon in "The New Animated Adventures of Flash Gordon," the Peculiar Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak in the "Strawberry Shortcake" TV specials, and Thundarr in "Thundarr the Barbarian." Among the TV shows Ridgely had guest spots on are "Designing Women," "Newhart," "Night Court," "Hunter," "The Incredible Hulk," "WKRP in Cincinnati," "Kung Fu," "Bonanza," and "Get Smart." In addition, he did voice-over work for numerous TV commercials. Robert gave a terrifically robust and engaging performance as jolly porno producer the Colonel James in the fantastic "Boogie Nights," which alas turned out to be his last movie and a worthy closer to his long and distinguished career. Robert Ridgely died at age 65 from cancer on February 8, 1997 in Toluca Lake, California.