By Lee Pfeiffer
Oscar winning actor Cliff Robertson has died at age 88. He passed away a day after his birthday. Robertson had a long and illustrious career that began in the golden days of television and extended to the Spiderman movies of recent years. Although he generally played quiet, dignified characters, Robertson marched to his own drumbeat- a trait that earned him respect but that also damaged aspects of his career. In 1977 when he was still very much an in-demand leading man, Robertson ignored advice to hush up a scandal that involved the head of Columbia Pictures, David Begelman, who had utilized Robertson's name in a bizarre check forging scandal. Begelman was momentarily disgraced, payed a small fine and was later rewarded for his crime by being appointed as the head of MGM. Meanwhile, Robertson found his own career went into immediate decline. He had been virtually blacklisted by the good old boy network that controlled the studios. Nevertheless, he had no regrets because he always put principal before his own career.
Robertson's good looks combined with his abilities to play dramatic roles as well as light romantic comedies made him a hot commodity in the industry by the early 1960s. Yet he had to endure the frustration of seeing roles he won acclaim for on TV go to other actors when the stories were brought to the big screen. One such case was The Days of Wine and Roses for which Jack Lemmon played the role Robertson had introduced too audiences in the TV version. Determined not to let that happen again, Robertson bought the rights to the story Flowers for Algernon, in which he played a mentally challenged adult in the TV adaptation. The moving story followed the man as he undergoes a medical experiment that sees his intellect rise to that of a genius- with unexpectedly tragic results. Robertson spent years nurturing a big screen version that was released in 1968 as Charly. He won the Best Actor Oscar against all odds during an era in which playing handicapped people was considered to be a career faux pas. He was not able to attend the ceremony because director Robert Aldrich would not let him leave the Philippines locations for Too Late the Hero.
His career got a major boost in 1963 when he starred as John F. Kennedy in Warner Brothers' P.T. 109 which told the story of the future president's heroic WWII exploits. Kennedy personally chose Robertson for the role. Among his other major films were Picnic, Sunday in New York, Obsession, The Best Man, Too Late the Hero, The Devil's Brigade, 633 Squadron and the recent Spiderman movies in which he played the role of Uncle Ben. He also directed the acclaimed 1972 film J.W. Coop about an aging rodeo star.
Robertson was one of those leading men who made everything look too easy. Consequently, his contributions to the industry have often been overlooked. On a personal level, I have great memories of the man. In the early days of Cinema Retro Cliff was one of the first major stars to enthusiastically support us. His friend and publicist Steve Thompson and I spent a day at his house at Water Mill, New York on Long Island where he regaled us with wonderful stories. Some were moving, some were amusing and some were shocking (these we promised to never publish). We published his memories of making Charly in issue #4- but we fortunately still have many more of his stories from those interviews that we can print in future issues to honor the legacy of this gracious and talented man.
Like all lovers of classic movies, we deeply mourn his passing.
(For NY Times obituary click here)