Robert Guillaume (born Robert Peter Williams; November 30, 1927 – October 24, 2017) was an American stage and television actor, known for his role as Benson on the TV-series Soap and the spin-off Benson, voicing the mandrillRafiki in The Lion King and as Isaac Jaffe on Sports Night.

In a career that spanned more than 50 years he worked extensively on stage (including a Tony Award nomination), television (including winning two Emmy Awards), and film.

Spouses

Marlene Williams
(m. 1955; div. 1984)
Donna Brown-Guillaume (m. 1986)

Early life

Guillaume was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He studied at St. Louis Universityand Washington University and served in the United States Army before pursuing an acting career.

Career

Stage

After leaving the 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 debut in Kwamina in 1961. Other stage appearances included Golden Boy, Tambourines to Glory, Guys and Dolls, for which he received a Tony Award nomination, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, and Purlie!. Added roles were in Katherine Dunham's Bambouche and in Fly The Blackbird.

In 1964 he portrayed Sportin' Life in a revival of Porgy and Bess at New York's City Center. Guillaume was a member of the Robert de Cormier Singers, performing in concerts and on television. He recorded a LP record, Columbia CS9033, titled Just Arrived as a member of The Pilgrims, a folk trio, with Angeline Butler and Millard Williams. In the sixties he was in Vienna, Austria, Europe at the Vienna Volksoper. Marcel Prawy engaged Robert Guillaume for the role of Sporting 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 replacing Michael Crawford.

Television

Guillaume made several guest appearances on sitcoms, including Good Times, The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, Saved By The Bell: The College Years and in the 1990s sitcoms The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and A Different World. His series-regular debut was on the ABC series Soap, playing Benson, a butler, from 1977 to 1979. Guillaume continued the role in a spin-off series, Benson, from 1979 until 1986. Guillaume also played Dr. Franklin in season 6, episode 8 ("Chain Letter") of the series All in the Family, which he coyly referenced Marcus Welby, M.D., a TV series in which he had guest-starred in 1970.

In 1985, Guillaume appeared in the television mini-series North and South as abolitionist leader Fredrick Douglass, who escaped from slavery and became a leader of the anti-slavery movement prior to the American Civil War.

He also appeared as marriage counselor Edward Sawyer on The Robert Guillaume Show (1989), Detective Bob Ballard on Pacific Station (1991–1992), 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.

Voice

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. He was known for the voice of Rafiki in the movie The Lion King and its sequels and spin-offs. He voiced Mr. Thicknose in The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze. He also supplied the voice for Eli Vance in the 2004 video game Half-Life 2 and its subsequent sequels.

Personal life

Guillaume was married twice; first to Marlene Williams from 1955 to 1984, the couple had two sons together. He married secondly to Donna Brown in 1986; the couple had a daughter. His son Jacques died on December 23, 1990 at the age of 33 due to a long battle with AIDS.

In 1999, Guillaume suffered a stroke while working on Sports Talk at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. A local hospital was directly across the street from the studio where he was treated. 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 sessions in the gym.

Guillaume died on October 24, 2017 at his home in Los Angeles, California from prostate cancer at the age of 89.

Honors

Guillaume has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. On November 28, 1984, Guillaume received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in the television industry.

Filmography

• Super Fly T.N.T. (1973)
• The Kid from Left Field (co-starring Gary Coleman) (1979)
• Seems Like Old Times (1980)
• The Kid with the Broken Halo (co-starring Gary Coleman) (1982)
• The Kid with the 200 I.Q. (also co-starring Gary Coleman) (1983)
• Prince Jack (1985) - Martin Luther King Jr.
• North and South (1985) - Fredrick Douglass
• Wanted: Dead or Alive (1987)
• Lean on Me (1989) - Dr. Frank Napier
• Death Warrant (1990)
• The Meteor Man (1993) - Ted Reed
• The Lion King (1994) - Rafiki (voice)
• First Kid (1996)
• Spy Hard (1996) - Agent Steve Bishop
• The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998)
• The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze (2001) - Mr. Thicknose
• The 13th Child: Legend of the Jersey Devil (2002)
• Unchained Memories (2003)
• Big Fish (2003)
• The Lion King 1½ (2004)
• The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry (2009)
• Satin (2011)
• Columbus Circle (2012)