Cliff Robertson

Clifford Parker Robertson III became a fairly successful leading man through most of his career without ever becoming a major star. Following strong stage and television experience, he made an interesting film debut in a supporting role in _Picnic (1955)_ (qv). He then played 'Joan Crawford' (qv)'s deranged young husband in _Autumn Leaves (1956)_ (qv) and was given leads in films of fair quality such as _The Naked and the Dead (1958)_ (qv), _Gidget (1959)_ (qv) and _The Big Show (1961)_ (qv).He was born to Clifford Parker Robertson Jr. and Audrey Olga (nee Willingham) Robertson. Robertson Jr. was described as "the idle heir to a tidy sum of ranching money". They have divorced when he was a year old, and his mother died of peritonitis a year later in El Paso, Texas. Young Cliff was raised by his maternal grandmother, Mary Eleanor Willingham as well as an aunt and uncle.He supplemented his somewhat unsatisfactory big-screen work with interesting appearances on television, including the lead role in _Playhouse 90: Days of Wine and Roses (1958)_ (qv). Robertson was effective playing a chilling petty criminal obsessed with avenging his father in the B-feature _Underworld U.S.A. (1961)_ (qv) or a pleasant doctor in the popular hospital melodrama _The Interns (1962)_ (qv). However, significant public notice eluded him until he was picked by President 'John F. Kennedy' (qv) to play the young JFK during the latter's World War II experience in _PT 109 (1963)_ (qv).Moving into slightly better pictures, Robertson gave some of his best performances: a ruthless presidential candidate in _The Best Man (1964)_ (qv), a modern-day Mosca in an updated version of 'Ben Jonson' (qv)'s "Volpone", _The Honey Pot (1967)_ (qv), and most memorably as a mentally retarded man in _Charly (1968)_ (qv), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor. His critical success with _Charly (1968)_ (qv) allowed him to continue starring in some good films in the 1970s, including _Too Late the Hero (1970)_ (qv), _The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972)_ (qv), and _Obsession (1976)_ (qv).He starred in, directed and co-produced the fine rodeo drama _J W Coop (1971)_ (qv) and, less interestingly, _The Pilot (1980)_ (qv). He remained active mostly in supporting roles, notably playing 'Hugh Hefner' (qv) in _Star 80 (1983)_ (qv). More recently, he had supporting parts in _Escape from L.A. (1996)_ (qv) and _Spider-Man (2002)_ (qv).Robertson died on September 10, 2011, just one day after his 88th birthday in Stony Brook, New York.::[email protected]