CLIFF ROBERTSON : "MR INTEGRITY"
June 2004
Cliff Robertson has a distinguished acting career spanning more than 60 years. Debuting as an (uncredited) screen actor in 1943, he delivered outstanding performances in many of his roles, most notably The Best Man (1964), The Honey Pot (1967), and as an intellectually disabled person in Charly (1968), for which he won an Oscar.
Cliff's acting career continued steadily during the latter decades of the 20th Century and into the new millennium. In 2004, he is appearing with David Arquette and Barbara Hershey in the movie adaption of Stephen King's novella, Riding the Bullet.
Cliff Robertson's first credited screen appearance was in Picnic (1956). The same year he played opposite Joan Crawford in Autumn Leaves before going on to make, amongst others, The Naked and the Dead in 1958 and Gidget in 1959.
But a year before riding the waves as The Big Kahuna in Gidget, Cliff Robertson was featured in 'TEEN magazine to promote his latest movie, The Girl Most Likely. The article appears below.
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Cliff Robertson is the tall, dark, handsome guy who stars with Jane Powell in the musical comedy hit. The Girl Most Likely. We first met him last December at a rehearsal of a play he did in a small, out-of-the-way Hollywood theater. He sat on the edge of a bed on stage, and talked about Acting. He spells it with a capital A.
That stage is the best place to talk to Cliff, because it's a place he loves, and where he feels at home. No other star in Hollywood would risk his reputation, or "waste his time- appearing" in a low-budget production of an unheard-of play in a tiny theater, as Cliff was doing. Many Hollywood friends tried to talk him out of it, saying it was foolish and dangerous. When he went ahead and did it anyway - and made the play a hit in a city that doesn't patronize stage plays - he was regarded as a sort of courageous Mr. Integrity.
Cliff characteristically shrugs this off with: "I just believe in the part ... I'd play it in a broom closet in the Waldorf-Astoria if I had to."
This is the best illustration of the guy, called Cliff Robertson, who is something of a Mr. Integrity when it comes to acting. He doesn't reject parts for any reason except that he doesn't believe in them. He is willing to play any role if it is interesting, and challenging. His three films to date reflect this unusual attitude. He played a rich man's son in Picnic, switched character completely for Autumn Leaves with Joan Crawford, and now tackles a happy, song-and-dance part with pert Jane Powell in RKO's The Girl Most Likely. In between, he has played on Broadway, in several successful plays - which he believed in.
Asked to define acting, Cliff was puzzled: "It can be an interpretation or a reproduction of life ... it can be a sham, an art form, or a highly successful commercial vehicle ... I guess it's just what pays my rent," he said, and laughed.
The road to his current stardom was a hard one, for Robertson. Born in La Jolla, California, his ambitions were discouraged by his friends and family. "Then, one day," he says, "I decided 'this is it.' I'm not going to listen to anyone else; it's what I want to do, so I'm going to do it ... then I went to New York and starved," he adds.
During that period, trying desperately to get a job as an actor, and still eat, young Cliff worked as a longshoreman, private detective, newspaper writer, bus boy, and radio announcer. He appeared in small stock companies all over New York and New England, finally getting his first break in Mr. Roberts. From then on he was a "working actor," who appeared in more than 100 television dramas, and several Broadway plays. While in Wisteria Trees, with Helen Haves, he was seen and cast in the film version of Picnic.
As serious as he is about his profession, Cliff is quick to criticize his own work. When he thinks he has done a poor job with a certain line, he is the first to admit it. At the same time. he claims he doesn't like false modesty. As an actor, he says. you have to believe in yourself. "I'm not one of these 'Aw-shucks-I'm-just-one-of-the-folks,' types," he says.
Married just last summer to former actress Cynthia Stone, Cliff and Cynthia have just moved into a new house in Beverly Hills, California. Cynthia picked out the furnishings. because Cliff wanted her to have what she wanted. Describing the house, he was genuinely embarrassed to admit that it had a swimming pool: "It seems so Hollywoodish ..."
He is fond of baseball and fishing, and is especially good at sailing and tennis. He would like to sail across the Pacific alone. He played right halfback, and competed in the mile run and the pole vault while at La Jolla High, the school that also produced national record-holder Bob Gutowski.
Cliff's wife has left show business since her marriage, but not because he wanted it that way. He left the choice to her, but says wryly, that one actor is enough: "an actor's ego demands a non-professional in the family. " Now she manages their new home, and enjoys the same activities he does, such as tennis and fishing. Cliff believes that a husband and wife should not agree on everything, that that makes for an unsuccessful marriage. He is a Democrat. Cynthia is a Republican.
They share the house with a dachshund named Felix and piles and piles of scripts which Cliff devours, looking for the parts that he loves. When he finds one, he's the guy most likely to stay up all night reading and re-reading it, and waking the neighbors with the loud scenes.
Source: 'TEEN magazine, February 1958
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CLIFF ROBERTSON : FILMOGRAPHY
1. Riding the Bullet (2004) (post-production) .... Farmer
2. 13th Child (2002) .... Mr. Shroud
... aka 13th Child, The Legend of the Jersey Devil (2002) (USA: closing credits title)
3. Spider-Man (2002) .... Uncle Ben
4. Mach 2 (2001) .... Vice President Pike
5. Falcon Down (2000) .... Buzz Thomas
6. Family Tree (1999) .... Larry
7. Assignment Berlin (1998) .... Cliff Garret
... aka Babyhandel Berlin - Jenseits aller Skrupel (1998) (Germany: TV title)
8. Melting Pot (1997) .... Jack Durman
... aka Race (1997/II)
9. Escape from L.A. (1996) .... President
... aka John Carpenter's Escape from L.A. (1996) (USA: complete title)
10. Dazzle (1995) (TV) .... Mike Kilkullen
... aka Judith Krantz's 'Dazzle' (1995) (TV) (USA: complete title)
11. P.T. Barnum: America's Greatest Showman (1995) (TV) .... Narrator
12. Pakten (1995) .... Ted Roth
... aka The Sunset Boys (1995)
... aka Waiting for Sunset (1995) (USA)
13. Renaissance Man (1994) .... Colonel James
... aka Army Intelligence (1994)
... aka By the Book (1994)
14. Wind (1992) .... Morgan Weld
15. Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken (1991) .... Doctor Carver
16. Dead Reckoning (1990) (TV) .... Daniel Barnard
17. Ford: The Man and the Machine (1987) (TV) .... Henry Ford
18. Malone (1987) .... Charles Delaney
19. Dreams of Gold: The Mel Fisher Story (1986) (TV) .... Mel Fisher
20. Key to Rebecca, The (1985) (TV) .... Maj. William Vandam
... aka Ken Follett's 'The Key to Rebecca' (1985) (TV) (International: English title: complete title)
21. Shaker Run (1985) .... Judd Pierson
22. "Falcon Crest" (1981) TV Series .... Dr. Michael Ranson (1983-1984)
23. Star 80 (1983) .... Hugh Hefner
24. Brainstorm (1983) .... Alex Terson
25. Class (1983) .... Mr. Burroughs
26. Two of a Kind (1982) (TV) .... Frank Minor
... aka GE Theater: Two of a Kind (1982) (TV) (USA: series title)
27. Pilot, The (1979) .... Mike Hagan
... aka Danger in the Skies (1979) (USA: video title)
28. Dominique (1978) .... David Ballard
... aka Avenging Spirit (1978)
... aka Dominique Is Dead (1978) (USA: reissue title)
29. Overboard (1978) (TV) .... Mitch Garrison
30. Fraternity Row (1977) .... The Narrator
31. "Washington: Behind Closed Doors" (1977) (mini) TV Series .... William Martin
32. Obsession (1976) .... Michael Courtland
33. Midway (1976) .... Cmdr. Carl Jessop
... aka Battle of Midway, The (1976) (USA: video title)
34. Shoot (1976) .... Rex
35. Return to Earth (1976) (TV) .... Col. Edwin A. 'Buzz' Aldrin Jr.
36. Three Days of the Condor (1975) .... Higgins
37. Out of Season (1975) .... Joe Tanner
... aka Winter Rates (1975)
38. My Father's House (1975) (TV) .... Tom Lindholm Jr.
39. Man on a Swing (1974) .... Lee Tucker
40. Tree Grows in Brooklyn, A (1974) (TV) .... Johnny Nolan
41. Man Without a Country, The (1973) (TV) .... Philip Nolan
42. Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies (1973) .... Eli
43. Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid, The (1972) .... Cole Younger
44. J.W. Coop (1972) .... J.W. Coop
45. Too Late the Hero (1970) .... Lt. (j.g.) Sam Lawson
... aka Suicide Run (1970) (USA: TV title)
46. Sunshine Patriot, The (1968) (TV) .... Christopher Ross/Arthur Selby
47. Charly (1968) .... Charly Gordon
48. Devil's Brigade, The (1968) .... Maj. Alan Crown
49. Honey Pot, The (1967) .... William McFly
... aka Honeypot, The (1967) (USA)
... aka It Comes Up Murder (1967)
... aka Mr. Fox of Venice (1967)
50. Up from the Beach (1965) .... Sgt. Edward Baxter
51. Masquerade (1965) .... David Frazer
... aka Operation Masquerade (1965)
... aka Shabby Tiger, A (1965)
52. Love Has Many Faces (1965/I) .... Pete Jordon
53. 633 Squadron (1964) .... Wing Cmdr. Roy Grant
... aka Squadron 633 (1964)
54. Best Man, The (1964) .... Joe Cantwell
... aka Gore Vidal's The Best Man (1964) (USA: complete title)
55. Sunday in New York (1963) .... Adam Tyler
56. PT 109 (1963) .... Lieutenant John F. Kennedy
57. My Six Loves (1963) .... Reverend Jim Larkin
58. Interns, The (1962) .... Dr. John Paul Otis
59. Underworld U.S.A. (1961) .... Tolly Devlin
60. Big Show, The (1961) .... Josef
61. All in a Night's Work (1961) .... Warren Kingsley, Jr.
62. As the Sea Rages (1960) .... Clements
... aka Raubfischer in Hellas (1960) (West Germany)
63. Battle of the Coral Sea (1959) .... Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Conway
64. Gidget (1959) .... The Big Kahuna
65. Naked and the Dead, The (1958) .... Lieutenant Robert Hearn
66. Girl Most Likely, The (1957) .... Pete
67. Autumn Leaves (1956) .... Burt Hanson
68. Picnic (1955) .... Alan Benson
69. "Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers" (1953) TV Series .... Rod Brown (1953-54)
70. Corvette K-225 (1943) (uncredited) .... Lookout
... aka Nelson Touch, The (1943) (UK)
71. We've Never Been Licked (1943) (uncredited) .... Adams
... aka Fighting Command (1943) (USA: reissue title)
... aka Texas to Tokyo (1943) (UK)
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