A character player whose work spanned many decades, Robert Padilla specialized in portrayals of gritty, earthy, rough-cut types, maintaining his most frequent presence in westerns and action fare. Credits include such outings as the family-oriented Disney western Scandalous John (1971), director Paul Hunt's B-western 40 Graves for 40 Guns (1971), and Robert Aldrich's comedy western/buddy picture The Frisco Kid (1979). Padilla enjoyed a rare lead (as Mario Ochoa, "The Savage") and authored the story for the violent western The Great Gundown, playing the leader of a posse of mercenaries. In 2007, Padilla signed for a bit part as an ancestor in director Dan Gildark's occultic thriller Cthulhu, following a lengthy, 15-year absence from the screen.