Robert Guillaume (born November 30, 1927) is an American stage and television actor, perhaps best known for his role as Benson Du Bois on the TV series Soap and the spin-off Benson, and voicing the mandrill Rafiki in The Lion King and also voicing Dr. Eli Vance in the Half-Life 2 series.
The Robert Guillaume Show was a sitcom vehicle for Robert Guillaume, the former star of the ABC hit series Benson and of the popular Soap. It aired during mid-1989 on the ABC television network.
There was some controversy when he replaced the original Phantom (Michael Crawford) in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "The Phantom of the Opera". Some tickets were returned to protest his selection as lead actor even before his first performance. His run was none the less popular with audiences and critics.
Guillaume's stroke was paralleled in his TV series where his character, boss "Isaac Jaffe" also was shown to have suffered a stroke, and where he was also shown to be missed and idolized by his TV-staff colleagues.
(14 January 1999) Suffered a mild stroke on the set of his TV series "Sports Night" (1998).
One son died of AIDS in 1990 at age 32.
Daughter, Rachel, born 1990
Was once engaged to actress Fay Hauser.
Father of Kevin Guillaume
Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 198. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387
Was nominated for Broadway's 1977 Tony Award a Best Actor (Musical) for a revival of "Guys and Dolls.
Guillaume was born as Robert P. Williams (Guillaume is the French translation of William).
He was the producers first choice for the role of Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager. The role eventually went to Tim Russ.
