Actor Cliff Robertson, 88, Was An Oscar-Winner

One day after his 88th birthday, Oscar-winning actor, writer, director and aviator Cliff Robertson, who lived in Water Mill, died at Stony Brook University Medical Center on Saturday, September 10.

Mr. Robertson had a long and successful but challenging acting career. A key event in his Hollywood career was his stand against David Begelman, the president of Columbia Pictures, in 1977 after he discovered Mr. Begelman had forged his name to a $10,000 studio check. “Hollywoodgate” as it came to be known, seemed to put Mr. Robertson on a sort of blacklist: He didn’t find work for three and a half years.

“They were trying to send a message to other would-be Don Quixotes,” Mr. Robertson said in 2004. “The FBI told me that the unwritten covenant in Hollywood for 75 years has been, ‘Thou shalt never confront a major mogul on corruption, or thou shalt not work.’” Despite the trouble it caused him, he believed he did the right thing.

“He did it because he had to look at himself in the mirror when he brushed his teeth,” said a close friend of 41 years, Barbara Clarke of Bridgehampton. “He didn’t do it out of any mean-spiritedness. It’s something he felt that should not be allowed. He was very conscious of doing the right thing.”

Even through the misfortune he faced, Mr. Robertson is well-known for his roles in many films, such as “The Big Kahuna” in “Gidget,” the original teenage surfing movie, in 1959; “Sunday in New York,” alongside Jane Fonda, in 1963; “The Best Man,” with Henry Fonda, in 1964; “Three Days of the Condor,” directed by Sydney Pollack, in 1975; and numerous war movies, including the 1963 film “PT 109,” in which he starred as Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, and “Too Late the Hero,” with Michael Caine and Henry Fonda, in 1970.

Mr. Robertson is most noted for his lead role in “Charly,” a film adaptation of “Flowers for Algernon,” written by Daniel Keyes. In 1968, he earned an Academy Award for his performance.

Ms. Clarke said Mr. Robertson saw the part not as a stepping-stone to fame but as a way to educate others. “He was very proud of ‘Charly,’ not so much that he got the Oscar, but because it changed the attitudes of schoolchildren who watched the movie,” Ms. Clarke said, noting that each year he would receive letters from students telling him that after watching the film they realized respect should be given to all.

One of the most intriguing aspects of his career was his ability to influence young and old. “Now, in this new century, there’s a whole new fan base of young people who look up to him,” Ms. Clarke said. Along with his autograph, Mr. Robertson would often write his famous quote “with great power comes great responsibility,” from his role as Uncle Ben Parker in the 2002 blockbuster “Spider-Man.”

“He would treat you like his long-lost friend,” Ms. Clarke said. “When you worked for him, he adopted you.” Ms. Clarke taught horseback riding at Swan Creek Farm in Bridgehampton when she met Mr. Robertson. For years she worked with his youngest daughter, Stephanie, and became one of his close friends.

“He was a friend to everyone,” she said. When he bought and furnished his home in Water Mill in 1987, he threw a barbecue for all those who worked on his house: Painters, carpenters, plumbers and even the Water Mill Post Office workers were invited. “He wanted them to enjoy the home that they had created for him,” she said.

Born in 1923 in La Jolla, California, Clifford Parker Robertson III developed a love for aviation at the age of 5 when he saw a yellow airplane fly over his home. When he was 14, he cleaned airplanes and engines at a local airport in return for a quick 15-minute flight every three or four days.

His passion for flying never left him. Mr. Robertson owned a twin-engine Beechcraft Baron, a Messerschmitt BF 108, a French Stampe biplane, three DeHaviland Tiger Moths, and a Grobe Astir glider. For years, he owned a hangar at East Hampton Airport, and in his later years flew his Beechcraft Baron with an instructor from the airport.

Mr. Robertson was dedicated to helping others experience flight. According to the National Aviation Hall of Fame, in which he was enshrined in 2006, he gave more non-compensated speeches to groups on behalf of aviation than any other celebrity. In 1981, he received the L.P. Sharples Award from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association for his contributions and in 1987 he received the Experimental Aircraft Association’s highest honor, the “Freedom of Flight” award.

In 1993, he founded the Cliff Robertson Work Experience, giving youth the chance to work for flight and ground school instruction. Furthermore, he helped kick off the EAA’s campaign “Vision of Eagles,” which directs young people by providing an opportunity to participate in aviation-based activities.

It was his belief that “flying is freedom—the essence of the good life.”

Mr. Robertson is survived by his daughter, Stephanie Robertson Saunders, and her husband, Donald E. Saunders III, of South Carolina; granddaughter Cynthia Jackson Saunders of South Carolina; a stepson, Christopher Lemmon of Connecticut; and many friends and caregivers.

A memorial service was held on Friday, September 16, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in East Hampton. Interment followed at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in East Hampton. Additional memorial services were held in New York City and Los Angeles. Funeral arrangements were under the direction of O’Connell Funeral Home in Southampton.

Donations in memory of Mr. Robertson’s daughter, Heather Merriweather Robertson, may be made to the Lance Armstrong Foundation at livestrong.org, or Livestrong, National Mail Processing Center, P.O. Box 6003, Albert Lea, MN 56007.