Adam Roarke

Adam Roarke was born on Aug 08, 1937 in USA. Adam Roarke's big-screen debut came with 13 West Street directed by Philip Leacock in 1962, strarring Jack (as Jordan Gerler). Adam Roarke is known for El Dorado directed by Howard Hawks, John Wayne stars as Cole Thornton and Robert Mitchum as El Dorado Sheriff J.P. Harrah. The upcoming new movie Adam Roarke plays is Sioux City which will be released on Apr 17, 1994.

Burly Brooklyn-born tough guy Adam Roarke made an infamous name for himself in 1960s biker flicks, usually donning a black leather jacket and a mean, mean scowl, typically the head of a bunch of hell-raisers. Nine of his more than 30 films would be in motorcycle movies, sometimes at odds with young rebel Jack Nicholson before his 'Easy Rider' fame.The former Richard Jordan Gerler was born on August 8, 1937, and destined to become some type of entertainer as his dad was a vaudeville comic and his mom a chorus girl. His parents met while performing in a Ziegfeld Follies show. He grew up rough and rebellious and was a former gang member surviving on the streets of New York. He eventually straightened up by enlisting in the Army. Following his military duty, he studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse and eventually earned a Universal contract to boot, making his film debut (billed as Jordan Gerler) in the crimer Lutte sans merci (1962). Some of his early work includes a bit part in the film Ensign Pulver (1964) and parts on the TV shows Combat! (1962) and Le Virginien (1962).Adam played tough on TV in many of the "hip" 60's and 70's shows at the time such as La nouvelle équipe (1968), the first pilot episode of Star Trek (1966) and Des agents très spéciaux (1964). His cult films include Le retour des anges de l'enfer (1967) with Nicholson, Les sept sauvages (1968), Un monde psychédélique (1968) again with Nicholson, Hell's Belles (1969) and The Losers (1968). In addition, he appeared on horseback in John Wayne's western El Dorado (1966), and co-starred with Anthony Perkins in Play It As It Lays (1972), Peter Fonda in Larry le dingue, Mary la garce (1974), and Peter O'Toole in Le diable en boîte (1980).Parts grew scarce in the early 80s and Adam decided to focus his attentions on teaching. In 1982 he opened the Film Actor's Lab in Dallas, Texas and settled there. One of his prized students would be Lou Diamond Phillips of "La Bamba" fame. During this time he also acted in and co-directed the low-budget vengeance thriller La mort en douce (1986) with Loren Bivens and co-written by former protégé Phillips. Adam's last film was a featured role in the low-budget film Sioux City (1994) directed by and starring Phillips.Adam, 58, died suddenly of a heart attack in his sleep in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Euless, Texas. A sturdy 60's 'leader of the pack' prototype was survived by second wife Carla Delane-Roarke who co-starred in the film Final Cut (1988) and actor/son Jordan Gerler.