Cliff Robertson
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| Cliff Robertson | ||||||||||
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| Birth name | Clifford Parker Robertson III | |||||||||
| Born | September 9 1925 La Jolla, California, United States | |||||||||
| Years active | 1943 - present | |||||||||
| Spouse(s) | Cynthia Stone (1957-1959) Dina Merrill (1966-1986) | |||||||||
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Clifford Parker Robertson III (born September 9, 1925) is an American 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. In 1968, he won an Academy Award for his role in Charly.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Robertson was born in La Jolla, California to Audrey (Willingham) and Clifford Parker Robertson II. He attended Antioch College in Ohio and worked as a journalist for a short time.[1][2]
[edit] Career
Robertson 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's career has had a resurgence. He 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 commented on his website that ""Since Spiderman 1 and 2, I seem to have a whole new generation of fans. That in itself is a fine residual."[3] He was also in the 2004 horror film Riding the Bullet.
Robertson's television appearances include the starring role in the live space opera Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers, as well as 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." His second appearance on Batman featured his wife, Dina Merrill, as his sidekick and wife Calamity Jan. This two-part episode is considered by many Batman fans to be among the series' funniest. Also, in 1989, he narrated an AT&T promotional video documenting some of its technological improvements at the time.
[edit] Personal life
He was once married to actress Dina Merrill. 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).[4][2] Robertson received an award from Antioch College Alumni in 2007 for his contributions to his field of work.
One of Robertson's main hobbies is flying and, among other aircraft, he has owned several de Havilland Tiger Moths, an Messerschmitt Bf 108 and a genuine World War II era Mk.IX Supermarine Spitfire.[5]
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | Corvette K-225 | uncredited | |
| We've Never Been Licked | Adams | uncredited | |
| 1956 | Picnic | Alan Benson | |
| Autumn Leaves | Burt Hanson | ||
| 1957 | The Girl Most Likely | Pete | |
| 1958 | The Naked and the Dead | Lieutenant Robert Hearn | |
| 1959 | Gidget | The Big Kahuna | |
| As the Sea Rages | Clements | ||
| Battle of the Coral Sea | Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Conway | ||
| 1961 | The Big Show | Josef Everard | |
| All in a Night's Work | Warren Kingsley, Jr. | ||
| Underworld U.S.A. | Tolly Devlin | ||
| 1963 | My Six Loves | Reverend Jim Larkin | |
| 1962 | The Interns | Dr. John Paul Otis | |
| 1963 | PT 109 | Lt. John F. Kennedy | |
| Sunday in New York | Adam Tyler | ||
| 1964 | 633 Squadron | Wing Cmdr. Roy Grant | |
| The Best Man | Joe Cantwell | ||
| 1965 | Up from the Beach | Sgt. Edward Baxter | |
| Masquerade | David Frazer | ||
| Love Has Many Faces | Pete Jordon | ||
| 1967 | The Honey Pot | William McFly | |
| 1968 | The Devil's Brigade | Maj. Alan Crown | |
| Charly | Charly Gordon | Academy Award for Best Actor | |
| 1970 | Too Late the Hero | Lt. (j.g.) Sam Lawson | |
| 1972 | J. W. Coop | J. W. Coop | |
| The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid | Cole Younger | ||
| 1973 | The Men Who Made the Movies: Alfred Hitchcock | narrator | |
| Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies | Ace Eli Walford | ||
| 1974 | Man on a Swing | Lee Tucker | |
| 1975 | Out of Season | Joe Tanner | |
| Three Days of the Condor | J. Higgins | ||
| 1976 | Shoot | Rex | |
| Midway | Cmdr. Carl Jessop | ||
| Obsession | Michael Courtland | ||
| 1977 | Fraternity Row | The Narrator | |
| 1978 | Dominique | David Ballard | |
| 1980 | The Pilot (1980) | Mike Hagan | |
| 1983 | Brainstorm | Alex Terson | |
| Film | Mr. Burroughs | ||
| Star 80 | Hugh Hefner | ||
| 1985 | Shaker Run | Judd Pierson | |
| 1987 | Malone | Charles Delaney | |
| 1991 | Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken | Doctor Carver | |
| 1992 | Wind | Morgan Weld | |
| 1994 | Renaissance Man | Colonel James | |
| 1995 | Pakten | Ted Roth | |
| 1996 | Escape from L.A. | President | |
| 1998 | Assignment Berlin | Cliff Garret | |
| Melting Pot | Jack Durman | ||
| 1999 | Family Tree | Larry | |
| 2000 | Falcon Down | Buzz Thomas | |
| 2001 | Mach 2 | Vice President Pike | |
| 2002 | 13th Child | Mr. Shroud | |
| Spider-Man | Ben Parker | ||
| 2004 | Spider-Man 2 | Ben Parker | |
| Riding the Bullet | Farmer | ||
| 2007 | Spider-Man 3 | Ben Parker |
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| 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
- ^ Cliff Robertson.
- ^ a b Cliff Robertson Biography.
- ^ Cliff Robertson's Career Achievements. Access date: 14 November 2007.
- ^ McClintick, David. Indecent Exposure: A True story of Hollywood and Wall Street, William Morrow and Company, 1982.
- ^ Hall, Bob. Southeastern Antiquing and Collecting Magazine. Cliff Robertson Collects Vintage AircraftArticle on Robertson's private aviation collection. 2004.
[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 Databasede:Cliff Robertson
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