Young appeared in over 100 films between 1928 and 1952. In spite of having a "tier B" status, he co-starred with some of the studio's most illustrious actresses, such as
Katharine Hepburn,
Margaret Sullavan,
Norma Shearer,
Joan Crawford,
Susan Hayward,
Dorothy McGuire,
Helen Hayes,
Luise Rainer,
Hedy Lamarr,
Helen Twelvetrees and (unrelated)
Loretta Young. Most of his assignments consisted of short
B movies, also known as "programmers," which required brief two- to three-week shooting schedules. Actors who were relegated to such hectic routines appeared, as Young did, in some six to eight movies per year. As an MGM contract player, Young was obligated to accept any film assigned to him or risk being placed on suspension—and many actors who were placed on suspension were prohibited from earning a salary from any endeavor at all, even those unrelated to the film industry. In 1936, MGM summarily loaned Young to
Gaumont British in the U.K. for two films; the first,
Secret Agent, was directed by
Alfred Hitchcock, while the other, ''
It's Love Again'', co-starred
Jessie Matthews. While in England, he was convinced that MGM intended to terminate his contract, but he was mistaken. He unexpectedly received one of his most rewarding roles late in his MGM career, in
H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941), which also benefited from one of
Hedy Lamarr's most effective performances. He once remarked that he was assigned only those roles which
Robert Montgomery and other A-list actors had rejected. After his contract with MGM expired, Young starred in light comedies and dramas for studios such as
20th Century Fox,
United Artists, and
RKO Radio Pictures. From 1943, Young had more challenging roles in films like
Claudia,
The Enchanted Cottage, ''
They Won't Believe Me, The Second Woman, and Crossfire. His portrayals of unsympathetic characters in several of these later films—which had seldom been the case in his MGM pictures—were applauded by numerous critics. In 1949, he returned to MGM briefly to appear in That Forsyte Woman with Errol Flynn and Greer Garson. He played the second lead in Secret of the Incas (1954) starring Charlton Heston, the film upon which Raiders of the Lost Ark'' was subsequently loosely based. Despite the picture's superior quality while being shot on location at
Machu Picchu, it was the last feature film in which he appeared. Young's career had begun an incremental and almost imperceptible decline, despite a propitious beginning as a freelance actor without the nurturing of a major studio. He had continued starring as a leading man in the late 1940s and early 1950s, but only in mediocre films, and occasionally playing supporting roles in important films. Then, he subsequently disappeared from the silver screen—only to reappear, successfully, several years later on a much smaller one.
Television career Today, Young is most remembered as the affable insurance salesman in the long-running popular sitcom
Father Knows Best (1949–1954 on radio, 1954–1960 on television), for which he and his co-star
Jane Wyatt won several
Emmy Awards.
Elinor Donahue ("Betty"),
Billy Gray ("Bud"), and
Lauren Chapin ("Kathy") played the Anderson children in the television version. Young then created, produced, and starred with
Ford Rainey and
Constance Moore in the
nostalgic CBS comedy series
Window on Main Street (1961–1962). Another of Young's successful television series was
Marcus Welby, M.D., where he portrayed a stern but devoted and caring physician, co-starring
James Brolin as Dr. Steve Kiley, his young and occasionally impetuous partner in their joint medical practice. The series ran for seven seasons (1969–1976), earning Young an Emmy in 1970 for best leading actor in a drama series. He shared the stage on
The Dick Cavett Show with
Jimi Hendrix in September 1969. Until 1982, he made numerous television commercials for
Sanka coffee. The popular phrase "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV" from a commercial for
Vicks 44 cough medicine has been erroneously attributed to Young due to his
Marcus Welby, M.D. fame. It was actually spoken by actor
Chris Robinson and then by
Peter Bergman during the 1980s. ==Personal life and death==