CHARLY

(Drama)

Cliff Robertson received his Oscar for playing the mentally retarded adult who, with an experimental operation, is temporarily turned into a genius.

ABOUT CLIFF ROBERTSON (1923 - September 10, 2011)

Cliff Robertson was born and raised in LA.  American leading man who had extensive stage experience before starting in films.  Cliff Robertson was married to actress Dina Merrill with whom he had a daughter.

In 1963, Robertson won an Emmy for his Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Drama for BOB HOPE PRESENTS THE CHRYSLER THEATRE, Sydney Pollack, Director. In the same year, he played John F. Kennedy as a young naval lieutenant in the movie, PT 109.

After playing the part in a TV production, Cliff Robertson fought for seven years to bring CHARLY to the screen. He succeeded in getting the film produced in 1968.  For his portrayal of Charley Gordon, a retarded man who becomes the subject of a scientific experiment in which he progresses to a man of genius intelligence, falls in love with the scientist who is experimenting on him and ultimately regresses back to his original state.  Robertson won an Oscar for his performance.

Cliff Robertson worked again with Sydney Pollack in the 1975 movie, THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR, starring Robert Redford, as a CIA employee, out in the cold after his fellow researchers are murdered while he is out getting sandwiches, and Faye Dunaway, as the love interest.  Robertson plays Redford's dirty CIA section chief, who protests his innocence of knowledge of the murders, when kidnapped by Redford and Dunaway.

In 1983, Cliff Robertson played the character Hugh Hefner in the STAR 80, the sad story of the murder of an abused porn magazine centerfold. 

Starting in 2003, Robertson played Ben Parker, in the first of three Sam Rami  SPIDERMAN movies, portraying Peter Parker/Spiderman's surrogate father as the spouse of May Parker, whose murder spurs Spiderman on to fulfilling his destiny as a superhero.

Cliff Robertson's directing credits include:

J.W. COOP (1971)
THE PILOT (1980) 

Cliff Robertson's other credits include:

PICNIC (1955)
AUTUMN LEAVES (1956)
THE NAKED AND THE DEAD (1958)
GIDGET (1959)
BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA (1959)
ALL IN A NIGHT'S WORK (1961)
THE INTERNS (1962)
PT 109 (as JFK) (1963)
THE BEST MAN (1964)
UP FROM THE BEACH (1965)
THE HONEY POT (1967)
THE DEVIL'S BRIGADE (1968)
TOO LATE THE HERO (1970)
THE GREAT NORTHFIELD MINNESOTA RAID (1972)
OUT OF SEASON (1975)
THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975)
MIDWAY (1976)
SHOOT (1976)
OBESSION (1976) 
BRAINSTORM (1983)
STAR 80 (1983) 
CLASS (1983) 
SHAKER RUN (1986)
MALONE (1987) 
WILD HEARTS CAN'T BE BROKEN (1991) 
WIND (1992) 
RENAISSANCE MAN (1994) 
ESCAPE FROM L.A. (1996) 
MELTING POT
ASSIGNMENT BERLIN (1998) 
FAMILY TREE (1999) 
MACH 2 (2001) 
FALCON DOWN (2001) 
THE 13th CHILD, LEGEND OF THE JERSEY DEVIL (
SPIDER-MAN (2002) 
SPIDER-MAN II (2004)
SPIDER-MAN III (2007)
RIDING THE BULLET (2004)
ACCIDENTAL ICON: THE REAL GIDGET STORY (2010)

Cliff Robertson's television credits include:

MY FATHER'S HOUSE (1975) 
WASHINGTON: BEHIND CLOSED DOORS (1977)
THE KEYS TO REBECCA (TV Movie)  (1985) 
DREAMS OF GOLD: THE MEL FISHER STORY (1986) 
FORD: THE MAN AND THE MACHINE (TV Movie) (1987)
DAZZLE  (1995) 

Cliff Robertson in SPIDER-MAN 2 (2004)

Cliff Robertson in THE GALAXY BEING (The Outer Limits)

Cliff Robertson in CHARLY (1968)

Robertson in THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975)

Cliff Robertson in ESCAPE FROM L.A. (1996)

Cliff Robertson in SPIDER-MAN 2 (2004)