Cliff Robertson

Cliff Robertson
Cliff Robertson in 1981
Born	Clifford Parker Robertson III
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1943–present
Spouse(s)	Cynthia Stone ​ (m. 1957⁠–⁠1959)​ (divorced) 1 child Dina Merrill ​ (m. 1966⁠–⁠1986)​ (divorced) 1 child
Website	http://www.cliffrobertson.info/

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. He is perhaps best known to younger audiences for playing "Uncle" Ben Parker in the Spider-Man film series.

Early life

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. In high school he was known as 'The Walking Phoenix'.

Career

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 (1964). Later came Charly (an adaptation of Flowers for Algernon for which he won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor).

Other films included Picnic (1955), Autumn Leaves (1956), Sunday in New York (1963), Too Late the Hero (1970), J. W. Coop (1972), Three Days of the Condor (1975), Obsession (1976), Star 80 (1983) and Malone (1987). More recently, Robertson's career has had a resurgence. He appeared as Uncle Ben Parker in the first movie adaptation of Spider-Man (2002), as well as in the sequels Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007). He commented on his website that ""Since Spider-Man 1 and 2, I seem to have a whole new generation of fans. That in itself is a fine residual." He was also in the horror film Riding the Bullet (2004).

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". In 1958, he portrayed Joe Clay in the very first broadcast of Playhouse 90's Days of Wine and Roses, in what some critics cite as the superior version of this poignant story. Other network appearances included CBS's The Twilight Zone (1961, 1962), The Greatest Show on Earth (1963) and ABC's Breaking Point (1964).

He had a starring role in the live space opera Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers (1953-54), as well as recurring roles on Hallmark Hall of Fame (1952), Alcoa Theatre (1959), and Playhouse 90 (1958, 1960), The Outlaws (three episodes as Chad Burns), Batman as the villainous gunfighter Shame (1966, 1968), Falcon Crest (1983-84) as Dr. Michael Ranson, and most recently, The Lyon's Den (2003). He had starring roles in episodes of 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.

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.

Personal life

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, although it was not money that was 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). 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 108 and a genuine World War II era Mk.IX Supermarine Spitfire MK923.

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.

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 also awarded the 2008 Ambassador of Good Will Aviation Award by the National Transportation Safety Board Bar Association in Alexandria, Virginia, on May 18, 2008, for his leadership in and promotion of general aviation.

Filmography

Year	Film	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 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

External links

• Official website
• Please use a more specific IBDB template. See the documentation for available templates.
• Interview in the Archive of American Television
• Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre episode "The Game" at IMDb
• Warbird Registry entry on MK923