“Forgotten Hollywood”- An Oscar Winning Actor has Died…
Manny P. here..
Cliff Robertson, who was an Academy Award winner in 1968 for the movie Charly, died yesterday. He was an actor comfortable starring in films, and in character parts, throughout his career. He also enjoyed performing on the big screen and on television.
He appeared in iconic cinema including Picnic, Autumn Leaves, Gidget, The Best Man, The Devil’s Brigade, Three Days of the Condor, Midway, and the Spiderman series of films. He’s best remembered for playing Lt. John F. Kennedy in the World War II drama PT-109. In fact, JFK personally suggested he be cast in the picture.
Charly was based on a short story Flowers For Algernon that was later developed into a novel. A screenplay was written directly for television called The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon. Robertson was chosen as the lead in the small-screen adaptation. After its critical success, he decided to campaign for his selection to play Charly in the cinematic version.
He helped champion live television during the 1950’s, when he was given acting opportunities in segments written for the Hallmark Hall of Fame, Playhouse 90 and Alcoa Theatre. He guest-starred in episodic programs on The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, and Batman. Robertson also had a recurring role on Falcon Crest.
In addition to an Oscar, he would garner an Emmy (in 1965), and various Lifetime Achievement awards at a number of film festivals. And for many years, he was a spokesperson in commercials for AT&T.
Cliff Robertson died on Saturday, the day after his 88th birthday. His funeral is set for September 16 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Long Island, New York. Memorial services are also planned in New York City and Los Angeles.
Until next time> “never forget 9/11/2001″
This entry was posted on Sunday, September 11th, 2011 at 3:03 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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