Actor Robert Wolders dies

Dutch actor Robert Wolders has died aged 81.
Wolders, best known for his role in the 1960’s American television series Laredo and as the longtime partner of Hollywood icon Audrey Hepburn, reportedly died on 12 July (18).
The Twitter account for the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund, with whom Wolders had a long-standing connection, confirmed the news alongside an image of the young actor smiling beside Hepburn.
“With the heaviest heart we salute our Board Member, mentor and friend Robert Wolders,” a spokesperson for the charity wrote. “May your beautiful soul rest in peace. Your shining example lives on.”
No details have been released about the cause of death.
Born in the Netherlands in 1936, Wolders studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York before his first big break on NBC’s 1965 children’s show, Flipper. The actor went on to score a number of TV roles, including The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Bewitched, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The John Forsythe Show.
In 1966, he joined the second and final season of the action comedy Laredo as Texas Ranger Erik Hunter and, a year later, landed a role on the big screen in Arthur Hiller’s war drama Tobruk alongside Rock Hudson and George Peppard.
Wolders married his Interval co-star Merle Oberon in 1975. After her death in 1979, the actor went on to date Hepburn after reportedly meeting her through a mutual friend. While the couple never wed, Wolders told editors at People magazine in 2017 that Hepburn “viewed us as being married” and presented him to others as “my Rob”.
The pair were together until her death in 1993.
Since 1995, Wolders had been dating Henry Fonda’s widow Shirlee Fonda.