Robert Guillaume (born Robert Peter Williams; November 30, 1927 – October 24, 2017) was an American actor and singer, known for his role as Benson DuBois in the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

television series ''

Soap Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...

'' and its spin-off, ''

Benson Benson may refer to: Animals *Benson (fish), largest common carp caught in Britain Places Geography Canada *Rural Municipality of Benson No. 35, Saskatchewan; rural municipality *Benson, Saskatchewan; hamlet United Kingdom * Benson, Oxfordshire ...

'', as well as for voicing the

mandrill The mandrill (''Mandrillus sphinx'') is a large Old World monkey native to west central Africa. It is one of the most colorful mammals in the world, with red and blue skin on its face and posterior. The species is sexually dimorphic, as males ...

Rafiki is a 2018 Kenyan drama film directed by Wanuri Kahiu. ''Rafiki'' is the story of romance that grows between two young women, Kena and Ziki, amidst family and political pressures around LGBT rights in Kenya. The film had its international prem ...

in ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance, it ...

'' and related media thereof. In a career that spanned more than 50 years he worked extensively on stage, television and film. For his efforts he was nominated for a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

for his portrayal of Nathan Detroit in ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...

'', and twice won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for his portrayal of the character Benson DuBois, once in 1979 on ''Soap'' and in 1985 on ''Benson''. He also won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

in 1995 for his spoken word performance of an

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

version of ''

''. He is also known for his role as playing

Eli Vance This is a list of characters in the ''Half-Life'' video game series, which comprises ''Half-Life'', ''Half-Life 2'', ''Half-Life: Alyx'', and their respective expansion packs and episodes. Introduced in ''Half-Life'' and expansion packs This sec ...

in the video game

Half-Life 2 ''Half-Life 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed by Valve. It was published by Valve through its distribution service Steam. Like the original ''Half-Life'' (1998), ''Half-Life 2'' combines shooting, puzzles, and storytelling, and ...

Early life

Guillaume was born Robert Peter Williams in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

to an alcoholic mother. After she abandoned him and several siblings, they were raised by their grandmother, Jeannette Williams. He studied at

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...

and

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

and served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

before pursuing an acting career. He adopted the surname Guillaume (French for William) as his stage name.

Career

Stage

After leaving university, Guillaume joined the Karamu Players in Cleveland and performed in musical comedies and opera. He toured the world in 1959 as a cast member of the Broadway musical ''Free and Easy''. He made his

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

debut in ''

Kwamina ''Kwamina'' is a musical with the libretto by Robert Alan Aurthur and music and lyrics by Richard Adler. Production The musical opened in out of town tryouts in Toronto, where, as noted by Ken Mandelbaum "The reviews were promising",Mandelbaum, ...

'' in 1961. His other stage appearances included '' Golden Boy'' (with

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

), ''

Tambourines to Glory ''Tambourines to Glory'' is a gospel play with music by Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One ...

'', ''

'', for which he received a

nomination, ''

Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris ''Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris'' is a musical revue of the songs of Jacques Brel. Brel's songs were translated into English by Eric Blau and Mort Shuman, who also provided the story. The original 1968 Off-Broadway prod ...

'', and ''

Purlie ''Purlie'' is a musical with a book by Ossie Davis, Philip Rose, and Peter Udell, lyrics by Udell and music by Gary Geld. It is based on Davis's 1961 play ''Purlie Victorious'', which was later made into the 1963 film ''Gone Are the Days!'' and w ...

!'' His additional roles included

Katherine Dunham Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 – May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century, and directed her own dance company for ma ...

's ''Bambouche'' and in ''Fly The Blackbird''. In 1964, he portrayed Sportin' Life in a revival of ''

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' () is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play '' Porgy'', itse ...

'' at

New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama,. The name "City Center for Music and Drama Inc." is the organizational parent of the New York City Ballet and, until 2011, the New York City Opera. and th ...

. Guillaume was a member of the

Robert de Cormier Robert Romeo De Cormier Jr. (January 7, 1922 – November 7, 2017), sometimes known as Robert Corman, was an American musical conductor, arranger, and director. He arranged music for many singers and groups, including Harry Belafonte and Peter, P ...

Singers, performing in concerts and on television. He recorded an LP album, Columbia CS9033, titled ''Just Arrived'' as a member of The Pilgrims, a folk trio, with Angeline Butler and Millard Williams. Columbia records producer, Tom Wilson, had set out to create the Pilgrims as an answer to the popular folk trio,

Peter, Paul and Mary Peter, Paul and Mary was an American folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival phenomenon. The trio consisted of tenor Peter Yarrow, baritone Paul Stookey, and contralto Mary Travers. The group's repertoir ...

. By early 1964, the Pilgrims had recorded a handful of songs and Wilson was looking for the right song for the group's debut single when then unknown singer/songwriter named

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

arrived for a meeting with Wilson and eventually pitched his new composition, " The Sound of Silence". Wilson liked the song, had Simon record a demo for the group, but when Simon and his friend,

Art Garfunkel Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, poet, and actor. He is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Highlights of Garfunkel's solo music career include one top-10 ...

, sang the song for Wilson in person, he signed them to a record contract instead of using it for The Pilgrims. (In the sixties Guillaume was working in Vienna, Austria at the

Vienna Volksoper The Vienna Volksoper (''Volksoper'' or ''Vienna People's Opera'') is an opera house in Vienna, Austria. It produces three hundred performances of twenty-five German language productions of opera, operetta, musicals, and ballet, during an annual s ...

, Marcel Prawy engaged him for the role of Sportin' Life in ''Porgy and Bess''.) Later in his stage career, he was cast in the lead role in the Los Angeles production of ''

The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pierr ...

'', replacing

Michael Crawford Michael Patrick Smith, (born 19 January 1942), known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English tenor, actor and comedian. Crawford is best known for playing both the hapless Frank Spencer in the sitcom ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' an ...

Television

Robert Mandan Robert Guillaume SOAP 1977

Guillaume made several guest appearances on sitcoms, including ''

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 ...

'', ''

The Jeffersons ''The Jeffersons'' is an American sitcom television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of List of The Jeffersons episodes, 253 episodes. ''The Jeffersons'' is one of the longe ...

'', ''

Sanford and Son ''Sanford and Son'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977. It was based on the British sitcom ''Steptoe and Son'', which initially aired on BBC One in the United ...

'', '' Saved By The Bell: The College Years'' and in the 1990s sitcoms ''

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' is an American television sitcom created by Andy and Susan Borowitz for NBC. It aired from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The series stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart t ...

'' and ''

A Different World ''A Different World'' is an American sitcom (and a spin-off of ''The Cosby Show'') television series that aired for six seasons on NBC from September 24, 1987 to July 9, 1993. The series originally centered on Denise Huxtable ( Lisa Bonet) an ...

''. Guillaume also played Dr. Franklin in season 6, episode 6 ("Chain Letter") of the series ''

All in the Family ''All in the Family'' is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS for nine seasons, from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. Afterwards, it was continued with the spin-off series '' Archie Bunker's Place'', which picked up where ''All in ...

'', in which he coyly referenced ''

Marcus Welby, M.D. Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to: * Marcus (name), a masculine given name * Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name Places * Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44 * Mărcuş, a village in Dobârl ...

'', a TV series in which he had guest-starred in 1970. His series-regular debut was on the ABC series ''

'', playing Benson, a butler, from 1977 to 1979. Guillaume continued the role in a spin-off series, ''

'', which ran for 158 episodes from 1979 until 1986. In 1985, Guillaume appeared in the television mini-series ''

North and South North and South may refer to: Literature * ''North and South'' (Gaskell novel), an 1854 novel by Elizabeth Gaskell * ''North and South'' (trilogy), a series of novels by John Jakes (1982–1987) ** ''North and South'' (Jakes novel), first novel ...

'' as

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

leader

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

, who escaped from slavery and became a leader of the anti-slavery movement prior to the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. He also appeared as marriage counselor Edward Sawyer on '' The Robert Guillaume Show'' (1989), Detective Bob Ballard on ''

Pacific Station The Pacific Station was created in 1837 as one of the geographical military formations into which the Royal Navy divided its worldwide responsibilities. The South America Station was split into the Pacific Station and the South East Coast of A ...

'' (1991–1992), and television executive Isaac Jaffe on

Aaron Sorkin Aaron Benjamin Sorkin (born June 9, 1961) is an American playwright, screenwriter and film director. Born in New York City, he developed a passion for writing at an early age. Sorkin has earned an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, five Primetime E ...

's short-lived but critically acclaimed '' Sports Night'' (1998–2000). Guillaume suffered a mild

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 ...

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 ''8 Simple Rules'' (originally ''8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter'') is an American sitcom television series originally starring John Ritter and Katey Sagal as middle-class parents Paul and Cate Hennessy, raising their three chi ...

''. He made one of his final TV appearances during season 5 on '' Oprah: Where Are They Now?'' His voice was employed for characters in television series ''

Captain Planet and the Planeteers ''Captain Planet and the Planeteers'' is an American animated environmentalist superhero television series created by Barbara Pyle and Ted Turner and developed by Pyle, Nicholas Boxer, Thom Beers, Andy Heyward, Robby London, Bob Forward and Cas ...

'', ''

Fish Police ''Fish Police'' is a comic book series by American cartoonist Steve Moncuse. The plot centers on law and crime in a fictional underwater metropolis with the protagonist, Inspector Gill, trying to solve various crimes, often Mafia-related, while a ...

'', and '' Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child''. He was known for the voice of

in the movie ''

'' and its sequels and spin-offs. He lent his deep tenor voice as Mr. Thicknose in '' The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze''. He also supplied the voice for

in the 2004

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

'' and its immediate episodic sequels.

Personal life

Guillaume was married twice; first to Marlene Williams in 1955, with whom he had two sons, Kevin and Jacques. Despite Guillaume choosing to follow his career early in the marriage, they did not divorce until 1984. He had a daughter in 1980, Melissa, whom he raised with her mother, Patricia. He then married Donna Brown in 1986; the couple had a daughter, Rachel. He fathered but did not raise another daughter, Patricia, by a different mother; she was born in 1950 and was raised by her grandparents. His son Jacques died on December 23, 1990, at the age of 32, of complications of

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

. In 1999, Guillaume suffered a

while working on ''Sports Night'' at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank,

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 ...

. The stroke was minor, causing relatively slight damage and little effect on his speech. After six weeks in the hospital, he underwent a therapy of walks and gym sessions.

Death

Guillaume died of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

on October 24, 2017, at his home in

Los Angeles, California 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' ...

Honors

Guillaume has a star on the

St. Louis Walk of Fame The St. Louis Walk of Fame honors notable people from St. Louis, Missouri, who made contributions to the culture of the United States. All inductees were either born in the Greater St. Louis area or spent their formative or creative years ther ...

. On November 28, 1984, Guillaume received a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...

for his work in the television industry.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theater

Music Videos

Video Games

:Sources:

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * *
St. Louis Walk of Fame

Robert Guillaume's oral history video excerpts
at The National Visionary Leadership Project *
Robert Guillaume
Aveleyman) {{DEFAULTSORT:Guillaume, Robert 1927 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors African-American male actors American male film actors American male musical theatre actors American male television actors American male video game actors American male voice actors Audiobook narrators Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from prostate cancer Grammy Award winners Interactive Achievement Award winners Male actors from St. Louis Military personnel from Missouri Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy Award winners Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy Award winners Washington University in St. Louis alumni African-American male singers