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Cliff Robertson

Actor

"Willy Loman's wife had that line in that wonderful Arthur Miller play, 'Death of a Salesman': 'Attention must be paid.' I think our attention span in this business is so short. We're worried about some little starlet temporarily on all the covers of all the magazines. That's kind of shallow. Attention must be paid to those talents that are real, that are viable, that are lasting." 

About This Interview

Cliff Robertson was interviewed for two-and-a-half hours in Los Angeles, CA.  Robertson talked about his training at the Actors Studio and his early career on the New York stage. He talked about working in anthology series during the "live" television era of the 1950s.  He discussed his role as mentally disabled "Charlie Gordon" in both television (The U.S. Steel Hour's "The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon") and film (Charly, which earned him an Oscar for Best Actor).  He spoke in great detail about his work with director John Frankenheimer on the Playhouse 90 show "The Days of Wine and Roses." Robertson talked about being personally selected by President John F. Kennedy to play him in the feature film PT109.  He described his two appearances on the classic anthology series The Twilight Zone and spoke about series creator Rod Serling. Robertson discussed his blacklisting by the industry following "Hollywoodgate," in which he accused Columbia Pictures head David Begelman of forging a check.  Robertson spoke about several of his television movie appearances as well as such television series as Rod Brown and the Rocket Rangers and Batman.  The interview was conducted by Stephen J. Abramson on March 1, 2005.

Related To This Video

  • Shows
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Shows

  • Playhouse 90
  • Playhouse 90: "The Days of Wine and Roses"
  • Robert Montgomery Presents
  • Twilight Zone, The
  • U.S. Steel Hour, The

People

  • John Frankenheimer
  • Rod Serling

Topics

  • Drama

Professions

  • Performers
YouTube video player - HTML5 compatible.
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Interview

  • Part 1
  • On his early years and influences; on his interest in aviation; on his start in acting in New York; on being cast to star in the feature film PT109; on his first television work in dramatic anthologies
    Clip begins at: 0:0
  • Part 2
  • On working on Robert Montgomery Presents; on live television; on starring in the Playhouse 90 production of "Days of Wine and Roses"; on U.S. Steel Hour's "The Secret World of Charly Gordon" and Charly
    Clip begins at: 0:0
  • Part 3
  • Full Chapter Four
    Clip begins at: 0:0
  • Part 4
  • On his two appearances on The Twilight Zone and on series creator Rod Serling; on appearances on shows including The Outer Limits, Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers, The Untouchables, and Ben Casey; on his blacklisting by the industry following "Hollywoodgate," in which he accused Columbia Pictures head David Begelman of forging a check.
    Clip begins at: 0:0
  • Part 5
  • Full Chapter Five
    Clip begins at: 0:0

Shows


    • Clip begins at: 00:00
  • Playhouse 90
    • Cliff Robertson on starring in the Playhouse 90 production of "Days of Wine and Roses" 
      Clip begins at: 03:37, Duration: 12m 34s
  • Playhouse 90: "The Days of Wine and Roses"
    • Cliff Robertson on starring in the Playhouse 90 production of "Days of Wine and Roses" 
      Clip begins at: 03:37, Duration: 12m 34s
  • Robert Montgomery Presents
    • Cliff Robertson on acting in live Robert Montgomery Presents productions
      Clip begins at: 00:05, Duration: 03m 32s
  • Twilight Zone, The
    • SPOILERS!: Cliff Robertson on the classic "Twilight Zone" episode "The Dummy"
      Clip begins at: 04:19, Duration: 01m 00s
  • U.S. Steel Hour, The
    • Cliff Robertson on The U.S. Steel Hour's   "The Two Worlds of Charly Gordon" and the feature film Charly
      Clip begins at: 20:42, Duration: 09m 11s

People


    • Clip begins at: 00:00
  • Dominick Dunne
    • Cliff Robertson on acting in live Robert Montgomery Presents productions
      Clip begins at: 00:05, Duration: 03m 32s
  • John Frankenheimer
    • Cliff Robertson on starring in the Playhouse 90 production of "Days of Wine and Roses" 
      Clip begins at: 03:37, Duration: 12m 34s
  • Rod Serling
    • Actor Cliff Robertson on Rod Serling
      Clip begins at: 21:22, Duration: 01m 19s

Topics

  • Pop Culture > Classic TV series episodes > Drama
    • SPOILERS!: Cliff Robertson on the classic "Twilight Zone" episode "The Dummy"
      Clip begins at: 04:19, Duration: 01m 00s
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Submitted by jarry on Fri, 2012-02-10 07:20.

Besides an active big screen career robertson was a regular fixture status for facebook on television.

Submitted by rayalvarado2010 on Wed, 2011-06-15 07:49.

Watch his episode of 'The Twilight Zone.' Not only was that show genius, many of the episodes were beautiful and could make you kinda choke up at the end if you truly saw the beauty in them.

Submitted by bloodhoun138 on Sun, 2011-05-15 07:14.

He did a great job playing as Charlie.

Submitted by MsNiceone911 on Wed, 2011-05-11 21:58.

i LOVE THIS GUY for being CHarlie!!! great actor!!!right now its 2011 he said he was born in 1923 that me at this current moment he is 88 years old WOW!!!! soooo the charlie movie was out in 1968nsooo at 43 is when he was really ingaging in acting soooo ya prettty amazing!!!

Submitted by YourFaceWillDie468 on Wed, 2011-04-20 17:07.

@toothbrush55 Robertson's or the interviewer's?

Submitted by JellyiceProductions on Tue, 2011-03-22 22:39.

haha, i love him as uncle ben :P

Submitted by willstevegold on Wed, 2011-01-26 19:24.

I hope to see him again at EAA AirVenture 2011 in Oshkosh this coming July. He always reads his poetry there. He's cool.

Submitted by jacqueshauer on Wed, 2011-01-26 06:17.

@macflyfilm Voight more

Submitted by Bridgie217 on Wed, 2010-12-01 03:45.

I loved him as Charlie Gordon, he is very talented

Submitted by Karen41872 on Sun, 2010-08-08 23:47.

He's a fantastic actor ... He's my favorite. I've seen every one of his films.

Submitted by mrnaughtycat on Thu, 2010-07-22 16:45.

they made him look so youthfull in the 13th child movie amazing

Submitted by toothbrush55 on Tue, 2010-07-20 08:59.

His voice is infuriatingly slow and soft!

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