Cliff Robertson Biography

Cliff Robertson was an Academy Award winning American actor with a career spanning five decades. Best known for his role in the movie ‘Charly’, as a mentally disabled floor sweeper, he was among the most respected and versatile character actors of his generation. Even though born into a wealthy family, the actor’s early years were fraught with difficulties. His parents divorced when he was still a baby and his mother died of an illness a year later. Raised by his grandmother, he graduated from La Jolla High School and proceeded to serve in the U.S. Merchant Marine in World War II. After the war, he attended college for a short while before embarking on a career as a journalist. But destiny had other plans for him and soon he found himself performing on the Broadway. Well-built with rugged good-looks, he easily gained attention as an actor and soon forayed into films as well. His intense onscreen performances gained him a reputation as a character actor and he enjoyed success on the big screen as well. In the 1970s he was briefly blacklisted in Hollywood following a scandal involving David Begelman, the president of Columbia Pictures. However, after a few years he returned to Hollywood and resumed his successful career.