Robert Guillaume

Infobox actor


imagesize = 180px
caption = Robert Guillaume in 1980
birthname = Robert Peter Williams
birthplace = St. Louis, Missouri, USA
birthdate = birth date and age|1927|11|30
spouse = Marlene Williams (div. 1983)
Donna Brown Guillaume (1984–present)
emmyawards = Outstanding Lead Actor - Comedy Series
1985 "Benson"
Outstanding Supporting Actor - Comedy Series
1979 "Soap"
grammyawards = Best Spoken Word Album for Children
1995 "The Lion King Read-Along"

Robert Guillaume (born November 30, 1927) is an American stage and television actor, perhaps best known for his role as Benson Du Bois on the TV series "Soap" and the spin-off "Benson", voicing the mandrill Rafiki in "The Lion King", and as Isaac Jaffe on "SportsNight".

Biography

Early life

Guillaume was born as Robert Peter Williams (Guillaume is the French form of William) in St. Louis, Missouri. He studied at St. Louis University and Washington University and served in the United States Army before pursuing an acting career. He made his Broadway debut in "Kwamina" in 1961. Other stage appearances included "Golden Boy", "Tambourines to Glory", "Guys and Dolls", for which he was nominated for a Tony Award, "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris", the Los Angeles production of "The Phantom of the Opera" (succeeding Michael Crawford in the lead role), and "Purlie!".

Career

"Soap" and "Benson"

Guillaume made several guest appearances on sitcoms, including "Good Times" and "The Jeffersons". His series-regular debut began on the ABC series "Soap", playing Benson Du Bois, a butler, from 1977 to 1979. Guillaume continued the role in a spinoff series, "Benson", from 1979 until 1986. Guillaume won an Outstanding Supporting Actor - Comedy Series primetime Emmy Award in 1979 for the series "Soap", and an Outstanding Lead Comedy Actor primetime Emmy Award in 1985 for the series "Benson".

Television commercials

In the 1980s Guillaume was a commercial pitchman for Ocean Spray, promoting its line of grapefruit juice. He also was the spokesman for "Milk of Magnesia".

"Sports Night"

He also appeared as marriage counselor Edward Sawyer on "The Robert Guillaume Show" (1989), Detective Bob Ballard on "Pacific Station" (1991), and television executive Isaac Jaffe on Aaron Sorkin's short-lived but critically acclaimed "Sports Night" (1998–2000). Guillaume suffered a mild stroke on January 14, 1999, while filming an episode of the latter series. He recovered and his character was later also depicted as having had a stroke. He also made a guest appearance on "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter"

Film

Guillaume has also appeared in a number of films, including "Seems Like Old Times" (1980), "The Kid with the Broken Halo" (co-starring Gary Coleman), "Lean on Me" (1989), "First Kid" (1996), and "Big Fish" (2003). His voice has also been used for characters in television series "Captain Planet and the Planeteers", "Fish Police", and "Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child" and for the voice of Rafiki in the movie "The Lion King" and its sequels and spin-offs. He voiced Mr. Thicknose in "". He also supplied the voice for Eli Vance in the 2004 video game "Half-Life 2" and its subsequent sequels.

Trivia

Guillaume is known as an accomplished singer and several episodes of "Benson" provided Guillaume a storyline to vocally perform.

Guillaume stirred some controversy when he replaced Michael Crawford as The Phantom in the National tour of "Phantom of the Opera", some tickets being returned before the actor even made his show debut. He is further known to have the distinction as the first, and to date only, African American to assume the role of the Phantom.

Guillaume has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

External links

*imdb|347039
*tv.com person|5790
*ibdb|43281
*ymovies name|1800065330
* [http://www.stlouiswalkoffame.org/inductees/robert-guillaume.html St. Louis Walk of Fame]
* [http://www.visionaryproject.com/guillaumerobert Robert Guillaume's oral history video excerpts] at The National Visionary Leadership Project
*youtube|LaK18AlBCtY|Robert Guillaume video interview excerpt by the Archive of American Television