A serious and talented actor, at his best playing somewhat troubled characters, Cliff Robertson has been 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 . Cliff Robertson died on September 10, 2011, just one day after his 88th birthday in Stony Brook, New York.
Was a well-known sailplane pilot, and was also the voice in the "Running On Empty" documentary video about the Barron Hilton Cup, a prestigious soaring competition.
Personally chosen by John F. Kennedy to portray a World War II US Navy Lieutenant Kennedy in PT 109 .
Alfred Hitchcock considered him for the role of Sam Loomis in Psycho , but the role went to John Gavin. Robert Wise considered him for the lead role in The Sand Pebbles , but that role went to Steve McQueen.
He owned a number of vintage aircraft, including an original German Messerschmitt ME-108, which was on display at the Parker-OMalley Air Museum (closed in 2009) in Ghent, New York.
(March 2002) Special guest at Roger Ebert s 4th annual Overlooked Film Festival in Champaign, Illinois.
Was a member of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1989.
He had a daughter, Stephanie Robertson , with his first wife, Cynthia Stone. He also had a daughter, Heather Robertson , with his second wife, Dina Merrill.
Was responsible for unraveling a major studio fraud in the 1970s, which led to the downfall of powerful Columbia Pictures president David Begelman. The morality of Hollywood was such that it did more short-term harm to Robertsons career than to Begelmans, who soon after was hired to run MGM. The full story is told in David McClinticks 1982 bestseller, "Indecent Exposure".
He personally campaigned for Congressman Mo Udall in the New Hampshire Democratic Presidential primary in 1976.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 18-year-old Cliff - then serving on a merchant ship in the Pacific Ocean - was reported dead to his family in California.
Along with Leonard Nimoy , David McCallum , Barbara Rush and Peter Breck , he is one of only five actors to appear in both "The Outer Limits" and "The Outer Limits" .
Inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2006 in the Advocate category.
He has two roles in common with Martin Sheen : (1) Robertson played John F. Kennedy in PT 109 while Sheen played him in "Kennedy" and Robertson played Ben Parker in Spider-Man , Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3 while Sheen played him in The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 .
Tried to raise money to make a sequel to Charly and even shot a 15-minute portion of it.
Passed up the chance to play the lead role in Dirty Harry , which went to Clint Eastwood.
His parents are Clifford Parker Robertson Jr. and the former Audrey Olga Willingham. His father 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. Robertson was raised by his maternal grandmother, Mary Eleanor "Eleanora" Willingham; an aunt and an uncle.
In 1972, he said that "Nobody made more mediocre films than I did", including Too Late the Hero , which he described as "a bunch of junk".
After serving as a merchant marine, he studied at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He left the college without getting his degree. He moved to New York City where he studied at the Actors Studio.
Robertson, a longtime resident of Water Mill, New York at the time of his death, died at Stony Brook University Medical Center, a day after his 88th birthday.
He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on December 17, 1986.
Both he and his then wife Dina Merrill played "Special Guest Villains" in "Batman" .
Following his death, he was interred at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in East Hampton, New York.
He appeared in two different comic book company adaptations: Shame in Batman a DC comics adaption, and Uncle Ben in the Spider-man trilogy, a Marvel comics adaption.
The reason that Cliff Robertson was not at the Oscars to receive his Best Actor award was because he was in the middle of filming the movie, Too Late the Hero in the Philippines. The director Robert Aldridge would not allow him to leave owing to budget constraints.
Ex-son-in-law of Marjorie Merriweather Post and E.F. Hutton.
Robertson was the director and an actor in the film "Morning, Winter and Night" which began filming in Massachusetts in 1978 but shut down after one week when the production ran out of money. A featured actor was Brooke Shields.
Show business is like a bumpy bus ride. Sometimes you find yourself,temporarily juggled out of your seat and holding onto a strap. But the,main idea is to hang in there and not be shoved out the door.
