Robert Guillaume

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Robert Guillaume

Robert Guillaume in 1980
Born Robert Peter Williams
November 30, 1927 (1927-11-30) (age 80)
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Spouse(s) Marlene Williams (div. 1983)
Donna Brown Guillaume (1984-present)

Robert Guillaume (born November 30, 1927) is an Emmy- and Grammy Award- winning American stage and television actor, perhaps best known for his role as Benson Du Bois on the TV series Soap and the spin-off Benson, and voicing the mandrill Rafiki in The Lion King and also voicing Dr. Eli Vance in the Half-Life 2 series.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Guillaume was born as Robert Peter Williams (Guillaume is the French form of William) in St. Louis, Missouri. He studied at St. Louis University and Washington University and served in the United States Army before pursuing an acting career. He made his Broadway debut in Kwamina in 1961. Other stage appearances included Golden Boy, Tambourines to Glory, Guys and Dolls, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, the Los Angeles production of The Phantom of the Opera (succeeding Michael Crawford in the lead role), and Purlie!.

[edit] Career

[edit] Soap and Benson

Guillaume made several guest appearances on sitcoms such as Good Times and The Jeffersons before making his series-regular debut on the ABC series Soap, playing Benson DuBois as a butler on that series from 1977 to 1979 and then on a spinoff series, Benson, until 1986. He won Emmy Awards for both series, in 1979 and 1985.

[edit] Television commercials

In the 1980s Guillaume was a commercial pitchman for Ocean Spray, promoting its line of grapefruit juice. He also was the spokesman for "Milk of Magnesia".

[edit] Sports Night

He also appeared as marriage counselor Edward Sawyer on The Robert Guillaume Show (1989), Detective Bob Ballard on Pacific Station (1991), and television executive Isaac Jaffe on Aaron Sorkin's short-lived but critically acclaimed Sports Night (1998-2000). Guillaume suffered a mild stroke on January 14, 1999, while filming an episode of the latter series. He recovered and his character was later also depicted as having had a stroke. He also made a guest appearance on 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter

[edit] Film

Guillaume has also appeared in a number of films, including Seems Like Old Times (1980), The Kid with the Broken Halo (co-starring Gary Coleman), Lean on Me (1989), First Kid (1996), and Big Fish (2003). His voice has also been used for characters in television series Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Fish Police, and Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child and for the voice of Rafiki in the movie The Lion King and its sequels and spin-offs. He voiced Mr. Thicknose in The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze. He also supplied the voice for Eli Vance in the 2004 video game Half-Life 2 and its subsequent sequels.

[edit] Other Tidbits

Guillaume is known as an accomplished singer and several episodes of Benson provided Guillaume a storyline to vocally perform.

Guillaume stirred some controversy when he replaced Michael Crawford as The Phantom in the National tour of Phantom of the Opera, some tickets being returned before the actor even made his show debut. He is further known to have the distinction as the first, and to date only, African American to assume the role of the Phantom.

Guillaume has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

[edit] External links


v • d • e
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Comedy Series

Ted Knight (1976) · Gary Burghoff (1977) · Rob Reiner (1978) · Robert Guillaume (1979) · Harry Morgan (1980) · Danny DeVito (1981) · Christopher Lloyd (1982) · Christopher Lloyd (1983) · Pat Harrington, Jr. (1984) · John Larroquette (1985) · John Larroquette (1986) · John Larroquette (1987) · John Larroquette (1988) · Woody Harrelson (1989) · Alex Rocco (1990) · Jonathan Winters (1991) · Michael Jeter (1992) · Michael Richards (1993) · Michael Richards (1994) · David Hyde Pierce (1995) · Rip Torn (1996) · Michael Richards (1997) · David Hyde Pierce (1998) · David Hyde Pierce (1999) · Sean Hayes (2000)
v • d • e
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor - Comedy Series

Jack Albertson (1976) · Carroll O'Connor (1977) · Carroll O'Connor (1978) · Carroll O'Connor (1979) · Richard Mulligan (1980) · Judd Hirsch (1981) · Alan Alda (1982) · Judd Hirsch (1983) · John Ritter (1984) · Robert Guillaume (1985) · Michael J. Fox (1986) · Michael J. Fox (1987) · Michael J. Fox (1988) · Richard Mulligan (1989) · Ted Danson (1990) · Burt Reynolds (1991) · Craig T. Nelson (1992) · Ted Danson (1993) · Kelsey Grammer (1994) · Kelsey Grammer (1995) · John Lithgow (1996) · John Lithgow (1997) · Kelsey Grammer (1998) · John Lithgow (1999) · Michael J. Fox (2000)