Early Career (1939-1942)

When Phylis Isley resumed her classes at
the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
on January 2, 1938, she met a fellow
student from Utah named Robert Walker.
They immediately became very close
friends. They both shared a passion for
acting.  As the semester progressed,
Robert and Phylis were inseparable. They
spent most of their spare time together
discussing acting and the theater as well
as taking long walks around New York. 
They shared a common dream - to make
a living in the craft that they loved best.

It was not long before they were in love.
Toward the end of the semester, the
students were  required to audition again
for the following year.  Robert and Phylis
decided to do their scene together and they chose one from The Barretts  of Wimpole Street, one of Phylis' favorites. Both passed the test and were invited back for another year. 

Phylis was to return to Tulsa for the summer and Robert stayed in New York to look for work.  He was not very successful, and in a spur of the moment decision, decided to work on a banana boat. Phylis overlooked his odd career move but was surprised when
they reunited in the Fall and Robert told her that he had decided to quit the Academy.  He felt that it was a waste of his time and he thought he could find work on his own.  Phylis agreed with him, and much to the dismay of her parents, she quit the school also.

They soon found that their prospects
in the theater were bleak and they
were unable to find work.  Phil Isley,
worried over his daughter's situation,
lured her back to Tulsa with a $25 a
week radio job.  Phylis told him that
she would accept only if Walker was
offered the same deal.  Isley agreed
and the young couple moved to Tulsa.
The new job would be a 13 week stint
radio program called "The Phylis Isley
Radio Theater".  The Isley's soon
became very fond of Robert Walker.

Robert and Phylis were married on January 2, 1939, one year after they met.  Phil Isley urged the young couple to go to Hollywood.  In their brand new Packard convertible (a wedding gift from the Isleys), they headed West, stopping briefly in Utah to visit Walker's family.  However, once in Hollywood, even with her father's letters of recommendation, work was hard to find.  As a last resort, Phylis found a job at the low budget Republic Studios.  She was immediately assigned her first film role in a John Wayne "Three Mesquiteer" western called New Frontier.  It was only a week's work and following that, she was cast in a Dick Tracy serial called Dick Tracy's G-Men.  Walker had only found work in a handful of bit roles.  Disheartened, they decided to go back to New York. Phylis asked to be released from her contract at Republic. Republic at first refused but changed their minds after Phylis's father gave them a call and explained that the two merely wanted to leave Hollywood and not go to another studio.

They sold the Packard and headed back East where they rented an unheated apartment in Greenwich Village. They started job hunting again but Phylis soon found that she was pregnant. Concerned about her health, Robert found them a house in Long Beach, Long Island. At 5:00 a.m. on the morning of April 15, 1940, Phylis gave birth to Robert Walker Jr. at Jamaica Hospital in Queens.

Robert began to find jobs in radio while Phylis modeled hats for the John Robert Powers Agency. The family again moved to a three bedroom house at 150 Brompton Road in Nassau County. Just three months after the birth of Robert Jr., Phylis was shocked to discover that she was pregnant again. She gave birth to Michael Walker on March 17, 1941.

Shortly after the birth of Michael, on a rare evening out, the couple saw a play called "Claudia" starring Dorothy McGuire at the Booth Theater. Phylis loved the play and the lead part and saw the play several times. She was elated when she heard that the producers and author of the play were looking for another actress to play the role in Chicago.

Robert used his influence to get Phylis a reading through his agent Audrey Wood. Rose Franken, the author, was impressed by Phylis but it would be another Phyliss - Phyliss Thaxter - who eventually won the role. However, Hollywood producer David O. Selznick was searching for an actress to play the part on screen and Franken recommended that he see both Phyllis Thaxter and Phylis Walker and decide for himself.

July 15, 1941 was a hot day when Phylis reported to the New York offices of David O. Selznick to read for the role of "Claudia." Phylis was overcome with nerves and did what she thought was a bad reading and left the office upset and in tears. Selznick was impressed enough, however, to have his secretery Kay Brown, call her back the next day for another reading. Phylis thought they were merely being polite and forgot the episode and had just stepped out of the shower when Kay Brown called her the next day to inquire why she was not at the office. Phylis quickly hailed a cab, hanging her head out the window on the way to dry her hair. This time her reading went much better and within two weeks, during the last week of July 1941, Selznick signed her to a contract.

Continue to Actress, 1943-1970

First screen test