Cliff Robertson

Born

Clifford Parker Robertson III , San Diego, California, USA

Birthday

1923-09-09

Occupation

Actor

Spouse(s)

Dina Merrill (22 December 1966 - 1989) (divorced) (1 child)
Cynthia Stone (28 June 1957 - 28 June 1960) (divorced) (1 child)

Years Active

1943–2010

Clifford Parker "Cliff" Robertson III (September 9, 1923 – September 10, 2011) was an American actor with a film and television career that spanned half a century. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film PT 109, and won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the movie Charly. On television, he portrayed retired astronaut Buzz Aldrin in the 1976 adaptation of Aldrin's autobiographic Return to Earth, played a fictional character based on Director of Central Intelligence Richard Helms in the 1977 miniseries Washington: Behind Closed Doors, and portrayed Henry Ford in the 1987 Ford: The Man and the Machine. His last well-known film appearances were in 2002 through 2007 as Uncle Ben in the Spider-Man film trilogy.

Robertson was President John F. Kennedy's personal choice to play him in 1963's PT 109 as a young Lieutenant PT boat captain. The next year, Robertson played a presidential candidate in The Best Man. A life member of The Actors Studio, Robertson won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of a mentally disabled man in Charly, an adaptation of the science fiction novel Flowers for Algernon.

Other films included Picnic (1955), Autumn Leaves (1956), Gidget (1959), Wild River (1960), Underworld USA (1961), The Interns (1962), Sunday in New York (1963), 633 Squadron (1964), Devil's Brigade (1968), Too Late the Hero (1970), J. W. Coop (1972), Three Days of the Condor (1975), Obsession (1976), Class (1983), Star 80 (1983), Malone (1987) and Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken (1991). Late in his life Robertson's career had a resurgence. He appeared as Uncle Ben Parker in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002), as well as in the sequels Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007; his last acting role). He commented on his website: "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).

In 1989, he was a member of the jury at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival.

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