Robert Armstrong

As the big-time promoter Carl Denham in 1933's "King Kong," Robert Armstrong uttered one of the most famous lines in movie history. "Twas beauty killed the beast," he said at the close of that now iconic film. Although "King Kong " put Armstrong on the map as an actor, it would also cause him to be typecast as a fast-talking promoter in several adventure movies to follow. He played Carl Denham again in the sequel, "Son of Kong," and was cast in a similar role in 1949's "Mighty Joe Young," which was also about a giant gorilla.

In the 1950s Armstrong tried his hand at television. He acted in a series of TV playhouse programs, which were live broadcasts of hour-long dramatic plays, as well as many of the popular television series of the time, including "Lassie" and "Perry Mason." In a career that lasted from 1927 to 1964, Armstrong acted in over a hundred films and television series before succumbing to cancer at the age of 82 in 1973.