Today as the world remembers what happened 10 years ago September 11, 2001. I wish to remember a film veteran who we lost only yesterday at the age of 88 Cliff Robertson.
Mr. Robertson to today’s generation would be known as Uncle Ben Parker from 2002’s Spider-Man movie.
Cliff Robertson was born September 9, 1923 in La Jolla, California and started acting in 1950 in a bit part in Mr. Roberts.
In 1957, Robertson married Jack Lemmon's ex-wife, Cynthia Stone, and they had a daughter, Stephanie, before splitting in 1960. In 1966, he married actress and Post Cereals heiress Dina Merrill, and they had a daughter, Heather, before divorcing in 1989. Heather, died from cancer in 2007 predeceasing both parents.
“The film, television, and theater veteran enjoyed a career that spanned more than five decades, making his big-screen debut in the 1955 romantic drama Picnic opposite William Holden and Kim Novak. He would appear in dozens of films, including The Girl Most Likely, Gidget, Sunday in New York, The Naked and The Dead, The Devil’s Brigade, Three Days of the Condor, and more recently, the Spider-Man movies as Uncle Ben Parker.” http://news-briefs.ew.com/2011/09/10/oscar-winning-actor-cliff-robertson-dies-at-age-88/
He made his directorial debut in 1972 with the rodeo drama “J.W. Coop,” in which he also starred, and played a memorable villain in “Three Days of the Condor” three years later, before top-lining Brian De Palma‘s “Vertigo” homage “Obsession” in 1976. Robertson won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the movie Charly. His last film role was "Uncle Ben Parker" in the Spider-Man film series.
In 1977, Robertson discovered that his name had been forged on a $10,000 check, although it was not money that was due him. He also learned that the forgery had been carried out by Columbia studio head David Begelman, and on reporting it he inadvertently triggered one of the biggest Hollywood scandals of the 1970s. Robertson was subsequently blacklisted for several years before he finally returned to film in Brainstorm (1983). The story of the scandal is told in David McClintick's 1982 bestseller "Indecent Exposure." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Robertson
So we say good bye to a great actor Cliff Robertson who died of natural causes the day after he turned 88 September 10, 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment