Biography for
Cliff Robertson

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Date of Birth

9 September 1925, La Jolla, California, USA

Birth Name

Clifford Parker Robertson III

Height

5' 11" (1.80 m)

Mini Biography

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 (1955). He then played Joan Crawford's deranged young husband in Autumn Leaves (1956) and was given leads in films of fair quality such as The Naked and the Dead (1958), Gidget (1959) and The Big Show (1961).

He supplemented his somewhat unsatisfactory big-screen work with interesting appearances on television, including the lead male role in the small-screen version of "Days of Wine and Roses" in 1958. Robertson could be effective playing a chilling petty criminal obsessed with avenging his father in the B-feature Underworld U.S.A. (1961) or a pleasant doctor in the popular hospital melodrama The Interns (1962). However, significant public notice eluded him until he was picked by President John F. Kennedy to play the young JFK during the latter's WWII experience in PT 109 (1963).

Moving into slightly better pictures, Robertson gave some of his best performances: a ruthless presidential candidate in The Best Man (1964), a modern-day Mosca in an updated version of Ben Jonson's "Volpone", The Honey Pot (1967), and most memorably as a mentally retarded man in Charly (1968), for which he won an Academy award for best actor. His critical success with "Charly" allowed him to continue starring in some good films in the 1970s, including Too Late the Hero (1970), The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972) and Obsession (1976).

He also acted in, directed and co-produced the fine rodeo drama J.W. Coop (1972) and, less interestingly, _Pilot, The (1981)_. Since then, he has remained active mostly in supporting roles, notably playing Hugh M. Hefner in Star 80 (1983). More recently he had supporting parts in Escape from L.A. (1996) and Spider-Man (2002).

IMDb Mini Biography By: pchemoc389@rogers.com

Spouse

Dina Merrill	(22 December 1966 - 1986) (divorced) 1 daughter
Cynthia Stone	(1957 - 1959) (divorced) 1 child

Trivia

He is a well known sailplane pilot. He was the voice in the "Running On Empty" documentary video about the Barron Hilton Cup, a prestigeous soaring competition.

Personally chosen by John F. Kennedy to portray a World War II US Navy Lieutenant Kennedy in 'PT 109' (1963).

His first wife was Jack Lemmon's ex.

Alfred Hitchcock considered him for the Sam Loomis part in Psycho (1960), but the part went to John Gavin. Robert Wise considered him for the lead role in The Sand Pebbles (1966), but that part went to Steve McQueen.

Owns a number of vintage aircraft, including an original German Messerschmitt ME-108, which is currently on diplay at the Parker/O'Malley Air Museum in upstate New York.

Special guest at Roger Ebert's 4th annual Overlooked Film Festival in Champaign, Illinois in March 2002.

Member of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival 1989

Stephanie, his daughter with Cynthia Stone, was born circa 1958.

Was responsible for unravelling a major studio fraud in the seventies which led to the downfall of a powerful Hollywood figure. The morality of Hollywood was such that it did some harm to his career for a period of time.

A political liberal, he personally campaigned for Congressman Mo Udall in the New Hampshire Democratic Presidential primary in 1976.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, sixteen year-old Cliff - then serving on a merchant ship in the Pacific - was reported dead to his family in California.

Personal Quotes

"As long as I get phone calls from the Museum of Modern Art, that all the film buffs love it, that's a residual. It isn't a financial residual and it isn't an artistic residual, but it's an ego residual."

"This isn't exactly a stable business. It's like trying to stand up in a canoe with your pants down."

"The year you win an Oscar is the fastest year in a Hollywood actor's life. Twelve months later they ask, 'Who won the Oscar last year?'"

[on director Frank Perry] I've been in so many bad movies and worked with so many bad directors that I go into a film expecting nothing. That's why I respect and admire Frank Perry so much. He's a rare man and I've worked with enough stiffs to know the difference pal, but he knows the problems of actors and I know the problems of a director. Frank is as far away from Otto Preminger as you can get.

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