Oscar winner Cliff Robertson dies in NY at 88

[rdmtimp]

Source: AP/Yahoo

NEW YORK (AP) — Cliff Robertson, the handsome movie actor who played John F. Kennedy in "PT-109," won an Oscar for "Charly" and was famously victimized in a 1977 Hollywood forgery scandal, died Saturday. He was 88.
His secretary of 53 years, Evelyn Christel, said he died in Stony Brook of natural causes a day after his 88th birthday.
Robertson never elevated into the top ranks of leading men, but he remained a popular actor from the mid-1950s into the following century. His later roles included kindly Uncle Ben in the "Spider-Man" movies.
He also gained attention for his second marriage to actress and heiress Dina Merrill, daughter of financier E.F. Hutton and Marjorie Merriweather Post, heiress to the Post cereal fortune and one of the world's richest women.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/oscar-winner-cliff-robertson-dies-ny-88-004551369.html;_ylt=AjW_6vB47C15Ozc_neGrqEus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNsM2d0MW50BG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBGUARwa2cDNDczMTEzN2EtMjU0Ny0zMmYzLWEyZGUtZDg5NDk2NzMyZTM1BHBvcwMyBHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnkEdmVyA2U3MzlmMD

---

RIP

[dflprincess]

1. Apparently he just turned 88 yesterday as the Star Tribune had him in its daily list of birthdays

I always enjoyed his performances - in fact I watched a little of "PT109" tonight before I read this.

[amerikat]

2. RIP. He was great as the character "Higgins" in 3 days of the condor.

Spy thriller with Robert Redford and Faye Dunniway. He played a CIA officer.

[defendandprotect]

16. Thought that was one of his best roles -- !! Great movie -- !!

Which we seem to have been living thru during last decades and since 9/11!!


:evilgrin:

[Hawaii Hiker]

3. He was good as Hugh Hefner in the 1983 film "Star 80"

which was about Playboy Playmate Dorthy Stratten, whose was murdered by her jealous husband...

[bikebloke]

4. Wasn't he blacklisted for something?

Unless I'm confusing him with someone else.

[Hissyspit]

6. The Hollywood forgery scandal. See the article.

He got screwed over real good.

He was great in "Obsession."

[ladywnch]

5. I'll never forget him in little talked about 1973 TV movie he did called,

'A Man Without A Country'. It was an great (and sad) movie and he was brilliant in it. It is about a sailor who during a court martial, in a fit of pique, renounces his country and ends up sentenced to ' never touch, see or hear ANYTHING about his country.'. He condemned to live and serve at sea till he dies. I could see this happening today......

The original story:
Edward Everett Hale (1822–1909). The Man without a Country.

The Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction. 1917

http://www.bartleby.com/310/6/1.html

[Hissyspit]

7. I remember watching that when it originally aired!

[ladywnch]

24. same here. I was in high school. it really hit me. n/t

[Gormy Cuss]

8. He was great in "Charly" but my favorite Robertson role was in "Three Days of the Condor" n/t

[Hawaii Hiker]

12. I think that was the movie where Redford says:

"I just read books", after his associates are killed at the CIA and he's trying to figure out why he's being targeted....

[Gormy Cuss]

13. Yes, that;s the one.

Robertson is the one who at the end of the movie casts doubt in the mind of Redford's character.

[Hawaii Hiker]

18. Why did they want to kill Redford's character again, was it

one of his theroies turned true, something like that?...

[grantcart]

21. he had picked up a pattern of odd translations of books that no

one had read into Arabic and other languages that were used in oil related countries.

He figured out it was a source code book for a military coup plan that would take effect in the event of major oil catastrophe.

[Tesha]

23. "Three Days of the Condor" was an amazingly-prescient movie! (NT)

[grantcart]

26. I'll say.

I always check my Postal Carrier to see if they are wearing tennis shoes. If they are I go for my Glock.

[MinM]

35. Richard Helms and Robert Redford

On the set of "Three Days of the Condor"

[catchnrelease]

9. RIP

to a wild and crazy guy who lived life to the fullest right up to the end. :toast:

[Ohio Joe]

10. RIP - nt

[MarianJack]

11. Good Guy & Good Actor.

RIP Cliff!

[solarman350]

14. Cliff Robertson as Charly---my favorite

"That which is not is nothing."
--Obviously, Cliff was ahead of his time, and was referring to dumbya and the rest of his militantly mediocre ilk.

[Joe Bacon]

15. Two TV shows he did scared me to death as a kid!

1) The Twilight Zone episode where he was the ventriloquist who switched places with his dummy

and

2) The opening episode of The Outer Limits where he accidentally brought a glowing being from another planet to Earth.

Both of those scared the crap out of me!

[PSPS]

17. I also liked Robertson in the movie "Brainstorm."

That Outer Limits you mentioned was the very first episode of the series and was called "The Galaxy Being." Cliff Robertson played the "nerdy brother" at the family-owned KXKVI radio station. It hooked me for every episode after that. (It was an anthology, so each week had different a different story line and cast -- something sorely lacking from TV for the past 20 years.)

[Omaha Steve]

19. Marta & I met Mr Robertson in 2002 at the TZCon

Marta and I met Mr Robertson at the 2002 TZCon. Wonderful man that signed everything we put in front of him.

I never cared for the way they changed the story of "Flowers for Algernon" when they made "Charley".

In this photo he is preparing to sign our photo from the first episode of "The Outer Limits".



Season 1, Episode 1: The Galaxy Being
Original Air Date—16 September 1963
Adventurous radio station operator contacts a fellow experimenter in another galaxy. The operator locks in 3D communication, but a DJ who wants to impress his girlfriend with the station's range, boosts the signal all the way up, unknowingly sucking the alien, who's composed of electricity, into the remote desert town.



The Outer Limits Full Episode (Galaxy Being): http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi2718827289/

[Iggo]

20. Cliff Robertson!

:applause:

[Vidar]

22. RIP.

[Aristus]

25. Her has been one of my favorite character actors since I was a kid.

RIP, Mr. Robertson... :-(

[barb162]

27. I thought he was a very good actor, I'm sorry to hear this, n/t

[librechik]

28. RIP, Kahuna

I had quite a crush on him as a twelve year old...

(Cliff played the heroic/disreputable surf bum Kahuna in the movie "Gidget")

[anamandujano]

30. Same here. I can't say how many times I saw that movie.

He is a very important part of my childhood. I was so sad to read this.

Rip handsome.

[Uncle Joe]

29. "With great power comes great responsibility" Uncle Ben

RIP Cliff.

Thanks for the thread, rdmtimp.

[lunatica]

31. Loved him and broke my heart in Charly (flowers for Algernon)

:cry:

[PlanetBev]

32. Another Twilight Zone episode I liked

Cliff Robertson was the leader of a wagon train in 1847 heading to California and his son got a fever. He went over the ridge to see if there was any water or game, and stumbled into the future, the year 1962.

I really him liked him and am sorry to see him leave us.

[tabasco]

33. Never elevated into the top ranks of leading men???

Like ass.

[delete_bush]

34. I attended a fund raiser

last year where Mr. Robertson gave the welcoming speech.

After he left the stage, on his way back to his chair, he walked by where I was seated. As he passed by, I gave him a thumbs up and he then proceeded to put his hand on my shoulder.

Now, if I read the above posted from anyone else I'd say 'so what', but for whatever reason this capped off my evening.

R.I.P. good sir. And a homey at that, although Romney owns the house next door to his former residence.