Oscar winner Robards dies

Robards (left) was honoured by President Clinton

Oscar-winning US actor Jason Robards, who starred on stage and in film during a half-century in show business, has died aged 78.

He lost a long battle against cancer at Bridgeport Hospital, Connecticut, on Tuesday.

Robards won his first Academy Award as best supporting actor in the 1976 Watergate drama All the President's Men.

He played Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee.

His second, also for best supporting actor, came the following year for his role as Dashiell Hammett in the film Julia.

Robards in his last major film, Magnolia

Robards' last big-screen appearance was as the dying father of a character played by Tom Cruise in the 1999 film Magnolia.

A former sailor who followed his father into acting, he was also well known for his memorable interpretations of Eugene O'Neill characters in such plays as The Iceman Cometh and Long Day's Journey Into Night.

Robards was honoured by President Clinton at the White House in 1999 for his contribution to American culture.

'Mesmerising' actor

Among the other celebrities present was pianist and comedian Victor Borge, who died last week.

Dennis Moore, entertainments editor of USA Today, told the BBC that Robards was "one of the most mesmerising actors on our stage an in our films".

The film for which he received his first Oscar

His performance in All the President's Men had been "commanding".

"He was a classically trained actor," said Mr Moore.

"He didn't have much time for the method actors. He said he just wanted to read the words on the page.

"If they connected with him, he could give the performance.

"He wanted simply to convey what the author had put on the pages and he did that magically."

'Amazing'

Director Lanny Cotler worked with Robards in the 1998 film Heartwood, about the upheaval in California's redwood region.

He said Robards inspired his young stars, including Hilary Swank, who won an Oscar for best actress the next year in Boys Don't Cry.

"He was the most experienced actor on our cast and was by far the most flexible and the most willing to just give of himself beyond the call of the duty," Cotler said.

"It was just amazing to watch that man work."

Actress Debbie Reynolds said that despite playing solemn roles, the actor harboured a secret ambition to be a song-and-dance man.

"He always wanted to do musicals," she said. "This great actor wanted to just kick it up."