Cliff Robertson
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Clifford Parker Robertson III, commonly known as Cliff Robertson (born September 9, 1925), is an American Academy Award-winning actor with a film and television career that spans half of a century. In addition to his Oscar and Emmy and several lifetime achievement awards from various film festivals, Robertson has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. He was once married to actress Dina Merrill.
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[edit] Film
He is notable for his performances in PT 109 (chosen personally by John F. Kennedy to portray the then-Lt. Kennedy), The Best Man, Charly (an adaptation of Flowers for Algernon for which he won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor), Picnic, Autumn Leaves, Too Late the Hero, Three Days of the Condor, Obsession, J. W. Coop, Star 80 and Malone.
More recently, Robertson appeared as Uncle Ben Parker in the first movie adaptation of Spider-Man, as well as in the sequels Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3. He was also in the 2004 horror film Riding the Bullet.
[edit] Television
Robertson's television appearances include recurring roles on Hallmark Hall of Fame, Alcoa theatre, and Playhouse 90 (in the 1950s), Outlaws, The Twilight Zone, and Batman as the villainous gunfighter Shame (in the 1960s), Falcon Crest (in the 1980s), and most recently, The Lyon's Den. He had starring roles in both the 1960s and 1990s versions of The Outer Limits.
He was awarded an Emmy for his leading role in an 1965 episode from Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre entitled "The Game."
[edit] Hollywood check forgery scandal
In 1977, Robertson learned that his name had been forged on a $10,000 check that had been due to him. He discovered that the forgery had been carried out by Columbia studio head David Begelman, and on reporting it, the result was one of the biggest Hollywood scandals of the 1970s. Robertson was subsequently blacklisted for several years before finally getting back into film in Brainstorm (1983). [1]
| Preceded by Rod Steiger for In the Heat of the Night |
Academy Award for Best Actor 1968 for Charly |
Succeeded by John Wayne for True Grit |
[edit] References
- ^ David McClintick, Indecent Exposure: A True story of Hollywood and Wall Street, William Morrow and Company, 1982.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Cliff Robertson at the Internet Movie Database
- Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre episode "The Game" at the Internet Movie Database
- Article on Robertson's private aviation collection, from Southeastern Antiquing and Collecting Magazine
