Robert Foulk
American actor (1908-1989)
Robert C. Foulk (May 5, 1908 – February 25, 1989) was an American television and film character actor who portrayed Sheriff H. Miller in the CBS series Lassie from 1958 to 1962.
Early years
Foulk attended the University of Pennsylvania, studying to be an architectural draftsman.
Stage
Acting
Foulk's Broadway credits include What a Life, Brother Rat (1936), Boy Meets Girl (1935), and two productions of As Husbands Go in 1930 and in 1932.
Directing
Foulk was an aide to producer-director George Abbott, and he went on to direct productions in places such as Palos Verdes.
Television
Between 1953 and 1959, Foulk was in thirteen episodes of the NBC anthology series, The Loretta Young Show. From 1954 to 1957, he was in five episodes as Ed Davis in the sitcom Father Knows Best with Robert Young, when the series aired on NBC. In 1956, he played Jackley in the Walt Disney Mickey Mouse Club serial "The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure".
In 1957 and 1958, Foulk played the outlaw Curly Bill Brocius in three episodes, "Gunslinger from Galeville", "Ride Out at Noon", and "Skeleton Canyon Massacre", of the western television series Tombstone Territory. In 1958, Foulk portrayed Sheriff Brady in the film, The Left Handed Gun. From 1959 to 1960, he had the recurring role of bartender Joe Kingston in the NBC western series Wichita Town. Foulk appeared in five episodes of The Rifleman.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Robert Foulk” is american actor (1908-1989). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Robert, Foulk and American, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “american actor (1908-1989)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3435123. VIAF identifies the subject as 33551019. The Library of Congress control number is n88132383. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1908, 1989, 1958 and 1962.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Robert Foulk”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Robert Foulk primary sources, Robert Foulk archive and Robert research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Robert Foulk”?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Robert Foulk” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.