CLIFF ROBERTSON - Oscar-Winning Star of "Charley"

Academy Award winning actor Cliff Robertson died in a Long Island, New York, hospital on September 10, 2011. He was 88.  Robertson was born in Los Angeles on September 9, 1923, the heir to a ranching fortune. He was raised by his materal grandmother after his mother died when he was young. He served in the Merchant Marine during World War II, and attended Antioch College in Ohio after his discharge. He subsequently moved to New York City with aspirations to be a playwright, but soon found himself appearing on stage instead. He became a familiar face on early television, and was the star of the juvenile science fiction series "Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers" from 1953 to 1954. He was also seen in episodes of "Hallmark Hall of Fame", "Kraft Theatre", "Wagon Train", "The Untouchables", "Playhouse 90", "Riverboat", "The Dick Powell Theatre", and "The United States Steel Hour". He made his film debut in 1955’s "Picnic" opposite Kim Novak. He was also featured in the films "Autumn Leaves" (1956), "The Girl Most Likely" (1958) opposite Jane Powell, the World War II drama "The Naked and the Dead" (1958), "Gidget" (1959) as the Big Kahuna with Sandra Dee, "Battle of the Coral Sea" (1959), "Underworld U.S.A." (1961), "The Interns" (1962), and "Sunday In New York" (1963). He starred in the 1957 Broadway production of Tennessee Williams’ "Orpheus Descending". He was chosen to play John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film version of the future president’s World War II heroics in "PT 109". He also starred in the films "The Best Man" (1964) as Sen. Joe Cantwell, "Masquerade" (1965), "Up From the Beach" (1965), "The Honey Pot" (1967), and "The Devil’s Brigade" (1968). He also continue to perform frequently on television with roles in the series "Outlaws", "Bus Stop", "Ben Casey", "Alcoa Premiere", "Twilight Zone" (in the episodes "The Dummy" and "A Hundred Yards Over the Rim"), "The Eleventh Hour", the pilot episode of "The Outer Limits" ("The Galaxy Being"), "The Greatest Show on Earth", "Suspense", "Breaking Point", "Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In", "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre", and "Bracken’s World". He starred as western-themed Bat-villain Shame in several episodes of the "Batman" series in the mid 1960s. His role in a 1961 episode of "The United States Steel Hour" entitled "The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon" earned him an Emmy nomination as a mentally disabled man who undergoes a surgical prodedure to increase his intellect. Robertson bought the rights to the story, based on Daniel Keyes’ "Flowers for Algernon", and starred in the 1968 film adaptation, "Charley", by Stirling Silliphant. He earned the Academy Award for his performance. He starred in Robert Aldrich’s "Too Late the Hero" in 1970, and produced, directed, wrote, and starred in the modern western rodeo film "J.W. Coop" in 1971. He was outlaw Cole Younger in 1972’s "The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid, and stunt pilot Ace Eli in "Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies" (1973). He also appeared in the films "Man on a Swing" (1974), "Out of Season" (1975), "Three Days of the Condor" (1975), "Shoot" (1976), "Midway" (1976) as Commander Carl Jessop, "Obsession" (1976), Brian De Palma’s thriller "Obsession" (1976), "The Little Prince" (1979) as the voice of the Pilot, "The Pilot" (1980) which he also directed, and the 1980 horror film "Dominique". He also starred in television productions of "The Man Without a Country" (1973) as Philip Nolan, "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" (1974), "Return to Earth" (1976) as Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, "Washington: Behind Closed Doors" (1977), "Overboard" (1978), and "Two of a Kind" (1982). Robertson precipitated a major scandal in Hollywood in 1977 after learning that a $10,000 check had been sent payable to him from Columbia Pictures for work he had not done, and had been deposited in another account with his forged signature. The subsequent exposure that Columbia head David Begelman had perpetrated the fraud against Robertson and several other individuals involved in the film industry, resulted in Begelman's conviction on charges of grand theft and forgery. Begelman received a minor fine and probabtion, but Robertson became victim of an unofficial blacklist by the studios because of his role in exposing the scandal.                  He starred on television as Dr. Michael Ransom on the prime-time soap opera "Falcon Crest" from 1983 to 1984, and returned to the films as Alex Terson in 1983’s science fiction film "Brainstorm", which starred Natalie Wood in her final role. Robertson’s other film credits include "Class" (1983), "Star 80" (1983) as Playboy founder Hugh Hefner in the tale of ill-fated Playmate Dorothy Stratten, starring Mariel Hemingway, "Shaker Run" (1986), "Malone" (1987), "Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken" (1991), "Wind" (1992), "Renaissance Man" (1994), John Carpenter’s "Escape from L.A." (1996) as the President, "Assignment Berlin" (1998), "Mach 2" (2001), "Falcon Down" (2001), "The 13th Child, Legend of the Jersey Devil" (2002) which he also wrote, and 2004’s adaptation of Stephen King’s "Riding the Bullet". His later television credits include the tele-films "The Key Rebecca" (1985), "Dreams of Gold: The Mel Fisher Story" (1986), "Ford: The Man and the Machine" (1987) as Henry Ford, "Dead Reckoning" (1990), and "Judith Krantz’s Dazzle" (1995). He was featured in an episode of 1999’s reboot of "The Outer Limits", and was Hal Malloy in the short-lived 2003 series "The Lyon’s Den". He became best known to a new generation as Ben Parker, the ill-fated uncle of soon-to-be super-hero Peter Parker (played by Toby Maguire) in Sam Raimi’s 2002 film adaptation of the comic book icon "Spider-Man". Despite perishing in the first film, he returned in the sequels "Spider-Man 2" (2004) and "Spider-Man 3" (2007) in flashback sequences. Robertson was married to actress Cynthia Stone from 1957 to 1960, and to actress and heiress Dina Merrill from 1966 to 1986.