- Born: Sep 09, 1925 in La Jolla, California
- Occupation: Actor, Writer, Director
- Active: '50s-2000s
- Major Genres: Drama, Action
- Career Highlights: Three Days of the Condor, Picnic, Pt 109
- First Major Screen Credit: Picnic (1955)
| Actor: Cliff Robertson |
| Filmography: Cliff Robertson |
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| Wikipedia: Cliff Robertson |
| Cliff Robertson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Clifford Parker Robertson III September 9, 1923 La Jolla, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1943 – present |
| Spouse(s) | Cynthia Stone (1957-1959) Dina Merrill (1966-1986) |
Clifford Parker "Cliff" Robertson III (born September 9, 1923) is an American actor with a film and television career that spans half of a century. Robertson won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the movie Charly. 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 is perhaps best known to younger audiences for playing "Uncle" Ben Parker in the Spider-Man film series.
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Robertson was born in La Jolla, California, the son of Audrey (née Willingham) and Clifford Parker Robertson II. He attended Antioch College in Ohio and worked as a journalist for a short time.[1][2] In high school he was known as 'The Walking Phoenix.'[3]
Robertson played a future President of the United States in PT 109 (chosen personally by John F. Kennedy to portray the then-Lt. Kennedy) and a presidential candidate in The Best Man. Then came Charly (an adaptation of Flowers for Algernon for which he won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor).
Other films included Picnic, Sunday in New York, 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."[4] He was also in the 2004 horror film Riding the Bullet.
Robertson's television appearances include guest starring roles in such series as the NBC medical drama about psychiatry The Eleventh Hour (1963) in the role of Jeff Dillon, "The Man Who Came Home Late". Other network appearances included CBS's The Twilight Zone and ABC's Breaking Point and The Greatest Show on Earth.
He had a 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), The Outlaws (three episodes as Chad Burns), Batman as the villainous gunfighter Shame (in the 1960s), Falcon Crest as Dr. Michael Ranson (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 an extra special guest villainess, Shame's wife Calamity Jan. This two-part episode is considered by many Batman fans to be among the series' funniest.
In 1989, he narrated an AT&T promotional video documenting some of its technological improvements at the time. Incidentally, Robertson, who for ten years was a national TV spokesman for AT&T (which won him the Advertising Age award for best commercial), was to be the keynote speaker at an AT&T stockholders' meeting during a strike by AT&T workers. Robertson refused to cross the picket line and did not speak at the meeting.
Robertson was married to actress Dina Merrill from 1966 to 1986.
In 1977, Robertson discovered that his name had been forged on a $10,000 check that had been due to him. He also learned that the forgery had been carried out by Columbia studio head David Begelman, and on reporting it, he inadvertently triggered one of the biggest Hollywood scandals of the 1970s. Robertson was subsequently blacklisted for several years before he finally returned to film in Brainstorm (1983).[2][5] 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, a Messerschmitt Bf 109 and a genuine World War II era Mk.IX Supermarine Spitfire MK923.[6]
Immediately after winning the Academy Award for Charly, Robertson attempted an aviation film tentatively titled “I Shot Down the Red Baron, I Think.” It was a spoof in which he played a fighter pilot against the Red Baron, who dressed in pink and was obviously gay. The Red Baron was played by Don Watson. During the summer of 1969 Robertson’s production utilized Lynn Garrison’s War One airfield, at Leixlip, Ireland, with a collection of replica aircraft, vehicles and support equipment. The film was never completed.
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | 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 National Board of Review Award for Best Actor Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |
|
| 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 | Mike Hagan | |
| 1983 | Brainstorm | Alex Terson | |
| Falcon Crest | Dr. Michael Ranson | Season 3 | |
| Class | Mr. Burroughs | ||
| Star 80 | Hugh Hefner | ||
| 1985 | Shaker Run | Judd Pierson | |
| 1987 | Malone | Charles Delaney | |
| Ford: The Man and the Machine | Henry Ford | ||
| 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 | Robertson was one of the writers of this film |
| Spider-Man | Ben Parker | ||
| 2004 | Spider-Man 2 | Ben Parker | |
| Riding the Bullet | Farmer | ||
| 2007 | Spider-Man 3 | Ben Parker |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
| Ford: The Man and the Machine (1987 Drama Film) | |
| My Father's House (1975 Drama Film) | |
| Family Tree (2000 Drama Film) |
| Are dale Robertson and cliff Robertson brothers? Read answer... | |
| What sitting president personally chose Cliff Robertson to play him in the film PT 109? Read answer... | |
| Cliff robertson won an oscar for reprising what rat-loving role which he'd played seven years earlier on cbs's the us steel hour? Read answer... |
| Was Sandra Dee and Cliff Robertson ever married? | |
| Cliff Robertson black listed in Hollywood Movies? | |
| Were sandra dee and cliff robertson ever married? |
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