Peter Robbins (born Louis G. Nanasi;
August 10, 1956 – January 18, 2022) was an American actor. He gained national fame in the 1960s as being the first actor to voice
Charlie Brown in the
''Peanuts'' animated specials. He was one of the most famous child actors of the 60s.
Early life
Peter Robbins was born Louis G. Nanasi in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, on August 10, 1956.
Robbins was of
Hungarian descent.
[ He graduated from the ]University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...
in 1979. His sister was the actress Ahna Capri (Anna Marie Nanasi).
Career
Robbins first began acting in various films and television shows at the age of seven. As a child, he made a guest appearance as Elmer in the popular series '' The Munsters''.[ Most distinctly, at the age of nine, Robbins provided the voice of Charlie Brown, whom he considered to be his childhood hero,] in one television documentary, six ''Peanuts'' television specials and one movie from 1963 to 1969, including the film ''A Boy Named Charlie Brown
''A Boy Named Charlie Brown'' is a 1969 American Animation, animated musical film, musical comedy film, produced by Cinema Center Films, distributed by National General Pictures, and directed by Bill Melendez. It is the first feature film base ...
'' and the television specials ''A Charlie Brown Christmas
''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' is a 1965 animated television special. It is the first TV special based on the comic strip ''Peanuts'', by Charles M. Schulz. Produced by Lee Mendelson and directed by Bill Melendez, the program made its debut on C ...
'' and '' It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown''. At the age of fourteen, Robbins was replaced by younger child actors in the ''Peanuts'' specials produced after the 1960s, but his trademark scream of "AAUGH!", first used in ''A Boy Named Charlie Brown
''A Boy Named Charlie Brown'' is a 1969 American Animation, animated musical film, musical comedy film, produced by Cinema Center Films, distributed by National General Pictures, and directed by Bill Melendez. It is the first feature film base ...
'' (1969), continued to be used in later specials for Charlie Brown and other ''Peanuts'' characters.
Robbins appeared in an episode of '' F Troop'' in 1966 entitled "The Sergeant and the Kid" and appeared in an episode of '' Get Smart'' as the mysterious Dr. T. He also appeared in the Sonny & Cher film, ''Good Times
''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was television's first African ...
''. Robbins retired from the entertainment industry in 1972, and later pursued his career in real estate, with brief stints in radio. In 1996, he hosted a talk radio show in Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...
at KPSL 1010 Talk Radio. By 2006, according to a broadcast by National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
, he was managing real estate in Van Nuys
Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.
History
In 1909, t ...
. By 2020, after finally receiving the correct medication for his lifetime bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...
, Robbins was back, signing autographs of the Charlie Brown Christmas book in public appearances at Comic-Con conventions across the United States. Robbins explained the path which led to his recovery in an October 2019 television interview with Fox 5 San Diego reporter Phil Bauer. At the time of his death, Robbins was working on his autobiography, ''Confessions of a Blockhead'', detailing his life, his jail experiences, and his future.
Personal life
Robbins had a lifelong battle with mental illness
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
. Despite his personal struggles, he remained attached to Charlie Brown and even had a tattoo of Charlie Brown and Snoopy
Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. He can also be found in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of the most recog ...
on his arm.
Legal issues
On January 20, 2013, Robbins was arrested by San Diego County Sheriff's Department deputies at Homeland Security's Port of Entry in San Ysidro, California, while re-entering the United States, and charged with "four felony counts of making a threat to cause death or great bodily injury and one felony count of stalking." The four counts involved four victims, including a San Diego Police sergeant, whom Robbins reportedly threatened with bodily harm on January 13, 2013. He was held on $550,000 bond. On May 8, 2013, he was sentenced to a year in jail for threatening his former girlfriend and stalking her plastic surgeon, but he was allowed to log time in treatment instead. After release, he was sent to a residential drug treatment center.
In 2015, Robbins was arrested for multiple probation violations, including drinking alcohol and failing to complete mandatory domestic violence
Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...
classes. On June 5, 2015, he was ordered to undergo a mental health exam after an outburst during a court proceeding in San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
.
On December 7, 2015, Robbins was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison as part of a plea agreement for sending threatening letters to the manager (and the manager's wife) of the mobile home park in which he lived in Oceanside. Robbins had stated at previous hearings that he had bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...
and paranoid schizophrenia.[ Robbins was incarcerated at the California Institution for Men in Chino and was transferred to a psychiatric hospital because of his mental state. He was released on parole in October 2019 after serving 80 percent of his sentence, on the conditions that he did not drink alcohol or take any illegal drugs.]
Death
Robbins died by suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
on January 18, 2022 at the age of 65. His death was announced the following week on January 25.[
]
Filmography
Film
Television
Awards
References
External links
*
*
*
Portrait of Peter Robbins, 1971
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library
The Charles E. Young Research Library is one of the largest libraries on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. It initially opened in 1964, and a second phase of construction was completed ...
, University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robbins, Peter
1956 births
2022 deaths
2022 suicides
20th-century American male actors
American male child actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American people of Hungarian descent
American real estate businesspeople
Businesspeople from Los Angeles
Male actors from Los Angeles
People from Oceanside, California
People with bipolar disorder
People with schizophrenia
Prisoners and detainees of California
Suicides in California
University of California, San Diego alumni