Robert Allan Clothier,
DFC (October 21, 1921 – February 10, 1999) was a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
stage and television actor most famous for his role as Relic on the
CBC television series, ''
The Beachcombers
''The Beachcombers'' is a Canadian comedy-drama television series that ran on CBC Television from October 1, 1972, to December 12, 1990. With over 350 episodes, it is one of the longest-running dramatic series ever made for English-language Canad ...
''.
Biography
Like many of his contemporaries, he joined the
Royal Canadian Air Force
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...
at an early age. He learned to fly at
No. 1 Elementary Flying School in Malton and
No. 4 Service Flying Training School in Saskatoon, and flew two tours operationally with
408 Squadron RCAF. He was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross on December 5, 1944, the citation reading,
This officer has completed numerous sorties in the role of pilot, involving attacks on most of the enemy's heavily defended targets. On all occasions he has pressed home his attacks with great determination and by his personal example of courage, coolness and confidence has set an example which has inspired all with whom he has flown.
On December 23, 1944, while serving as an instructor with
No. 5 Operational Training Unit in
Boundary Bay, British Columbia Named for, and located adjacent to the bay of the same name, Boundary Bay is a residential neighbourhood in the community of Tsawwassen (Delta, British Columbia, Canada). Directly south of the neighbourhood, and across the international border, is ...
,
F/L Clothier was the pilot of a
Mitchell bomber that crashed on takeoff. Three on board were killed and Clothier was the only survivor, but he was severely injured with a broken back. He was paralyzed from the waist down for two years. His brother, F/L John George Clothier, was also a pilot in Bomber Command and was killed March 5–6, 1945.
After the war, Clothier studied
Architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
at the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...
followed by a stay in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
studying theatre. Clothier returned to
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, eventually settling in the Capilano Highlands area of North Vancouver and became well known in the Vancouver area as a stage actor as well as an accomplished sculptor and painter.
Artist
From 1949 to 1954, while studying in England, Clothier did cover art and story art for British
science fiction magazine
A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard-copy periodical format or on the Internet.
Science fiction magazines traditionally featured speculative fiction in short story, novelette, nov ...
s ''
New Worlds
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartn ...
'', ''
Nebula Science Fiction
''Nebula Science Fiction'' was the first Scottish science fiction magazine. It was published from 1952 to 1959, and was edited by Peter Hamilton, a young Scot who was able to take advantage of spare capacity at his parents' printing company, ...
'' and ''
Science Fantasy
Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction that simultaneously draws upon or combines tropes and elements from both science fiction and fantasy. In a conventional science fiction story, the world is presented as being scientif ...
''.
Acting
The Beachcombers
In ''The Beachcombers'' he portrayed
Bruno Gerussi
Bruno Santos Gerussi (7 May 1928 – 21 November 1995) was a Canadian stage and television actor, best known for the lead role in the CBC Television series ''The Beachcombers''. He also performed onstage at the Stratford Festival, worked in radi ...
's rival beachcomber, Relic – a curmudgeonly, conniving man of Welsh descent who lived on a house boat and used his jetboat to outrun and challenge Nick's claims to logs.
After landing this memorable role, Clothier became a household face among viewers, as the show originally aired from 1972 to 1990, one of the longest running Canadian television dramas of all time. Despite Relic's role as Nick' Adonidas' antagonist, his character was well loved by viewers who enjoyed his antics and frequent comeuppance. Relic's actual character-name was Stafford Phillips. Relic was once referred to as "Taffy," a reference to an English nursery rhyme, "
Taffy was a Welshman
"Taffy was a Welshman" is an English language nursery rhyme which was popular between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19237.
Lyrics
Versions of this rhyme vary. Some common versions are:
Origins ...
."
Clothier had a dispute with CBC over
royalties
A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...
he believed were owed to him for
rerun
A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. There are two types of reruns – those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated.
Variations
In the United Kingdom, the word ...
s and overseas sales of ''The Beachcombers''.
Other roles
After ''The Beachcombers'' ended its lengthy run, Clothier continued to perform in TV and film productions made in Canada, including two episodes of the American series ''
The X-Files
''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...
'' (which was filmed in Vancouver for 7 of its 11 seasons) and a recurring role in ''
Jake and the Kid
''Jake and the Kid'' is a collection of short stories by W. O. Mitchell, originally published in 1961. Many stories in the series appeared in ''Maclean's'' prior to the book's publication. Mitchell also published a sequel volume, ''According to J ...
''.
Honours
In 1995, the North Shore Arts Commission, of
North Vancouver, British Columbia, honoured Clothier with its first FANS award for his contribution to the arts.
Personal life
In 1996, Clothier suffered a
stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
and was in poor health until his death in 1999. After his stroke, he taught himself to paint with his left hand. He and his wife, Shirley Broderick, had two children, a daughter, Jessica, and a son, John and grandchildren, Lucy and Sam. He was also a fan of
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
automobiles; he had a small collection of
Renault 17 Gordini
The Renault 15 and Renault 17 are two variations of the same coupé designed and built by French automaker Renault between July 1971 and August 1979. The R17 was sold as R177 in Italy, respecting the heptadecaphobia superstition.
They wer ...
cars at his property in North Vancouver through the 1970s and 1980s.
References
External links
*
*
Early photographs of Robert Clothier at ''UBC Historical Photographs''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clothier, Robert
1921 births
1999 deaths
Canadian male television actors
People from Prince Rupert, British Columbia
Male actors from British Columbia
Best Actor in a Drama Series Canadian Screen Award winners
Canadian World War II pilots
University of British Columbia Faculty of Applied Science alumni
20th-century Canadian male actors