Celebrity Biographies
robert guillaume
Robert Guillaume, winner of two Emmy Awards for his composition as Butler Benson on the ABC television sitcom of the same title, which ran for nine years, has died at the age of 89 due to cancer.Robert Guillaume was born in St. Louis, in the South of the United States, in 1927, where he was raised by his maternal grandmother. He had a good education, because after going through the institute and serving in the army, he attended the University of San Luis, and graduated in business administration.
This did not prevent him from dreaming of triumph on stage, as he had a fantastic baritone voice, with which he imagined himself singing at the Metropolitan in New York. For this reason, he also insisted on obtaining a scholarship from the Aspen Music Festival, which allowed him to go through Cleveland’s Karamu Theater and appear in operas and musical comedies. So on stage he would get to perform hits like “Finian’s Rainbow”. His voice would enable him to sing as Rifiki the baboon in Disney’s animated hit The Lion King (1994).
His greatest success was in his country of origin with Benson , a fun television series in which he gave life to a butler who, over several seasons, progressed through the ranks of the world of service. The sitcom was broadcast on ABC between 1979 and 1986. On the small screen, he had his own show, and did other series such as the Pacific Police Station and A Different World .
He also made movies, although always supporting roles, in titles such as School for Rebels (1989), Spy as You Can (1996) and Big Fish (2003).