Robert Guillaume was born on November 30, 1927 in St. Louis, Missouri. He is an acclaimed Tony Award-nominated and two-time Emmy Award-winning American stage and television actor.

After military service and college, Guillaume held down short-term jobs ranging from cook to streetcar conductor, all the while training his voice for potential musical comedy work training that paid off with his first Broadway show, 1961's Kwamina.

Among his many stage credits were the musical versions of Golden Boy and Purlie Victorious, and the long-running review Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. When New York stage work was scarce, Guillaume created his own opportunities by giving one-man concerts. After guesting in several of the black-oriented TV sitcoms of the 1970s, Guillaume was cast in 1977 as the imperious, outspoken family retainer Benson in the daytime-drama parody Soap. The role won Guillaume a 1978 Emmy as "Outstanding Supporting Actor."

In 1979, Guillaume carried over his Soap role into his own starring series, Benson, which ran until 1986 and which won Guillaume another Emmy, this time as "Outstanding Lead Actor." Robert Guillaume also headlined the appropriately titled 1989 series The Robert Guillaume Show, wherein for approximately five months he starred as divorced marriage counselor Edward Sawyer.

He also appeared in 13th Child (2002) and Big Fish (2003).

Credits by Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmography

• The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry (2008)
• Half-Life 2: Episode Two (2007) (VG) (voice)
• Half-Life 2: Episode One (2006) (VG) (voice)
• Kingdom Hearts II (2005) (VG)
• Jack Satin (2005)
• Half-Life 2 (2004) (VG) (voice)
• "Century City" (1 episode, 2004)
• The Lion King 1½ (2004) (V) (voice)
• Big Fish (2003)
• Extreme Skate Adventure (2003) (VG) (voice)
• "8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter" (1 episode, 2003)
• 13th Child (2002)
• The Adventures of Tom Thumb & Thumbelina (2002) (V) (voice)
• The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze (2001) (V) (voice)
• "Moesha" (1 episode, 2000)
• "Sports Night" (45 episodes, 1998-2000)
• "Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child" (10 episodes, 1997-2000)
• Silicon Towers (1999)
• The Happy Prince (1999)
• The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998)
• His Bodyguard (1998)
• "The Outer Limits" (1 episode, 1998)
• The Easter Story Keepers (1998)
• Merry Christmas, George Bailey (1997)
• "Touched by an Angel" (1 episode, 1997)
• "Goode Behavior" (1 episode, 1997)
• "Promised Land" (1 episode, 1996)
• "Sparks" (1 episode, 1996)
• Pandora's Clock (1996)
• Panic in the Skies! (1996)
• First Kid (1996)
• Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story (1996)
• Spy Hard (1996)
• Shari's Passover Surprise (1996)
• Snow White (1996)
• Crystal Cave (1996)
• Alchemy (1996)
• "Timon and Pumbaa" (1995)
• Children of the Dust (1995)
• Greyhounds (1994)
• The Lion King (1994)
• "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (1 episode, 1994)
• "Burke's Law" (1 episode, 1994)
• The Lion King (1994) (VG) (voice)
• Cosmic Slop (1994)
• "Saved by the Bell: The College Years" (1 episode, 1993)
• "Diagnosis Murder" (1 episode, 1993)
• The Meteor Man (1993)
• Mastergate (1992)
• "A Different World" (3 episodes, 1991-1992)
• Driving Miss Daisy (1992)
• "Jack's Place" (1 episode, 1992)
• "Fish Police" (1992)
• "L.A. Law" (1 episode, 1992)
• Murder Without Motive: The Edmund Perry Story (1992)
• You Must Remember This (1992)
• "Pacific Station" (1991)
• Death Warrant (1990)
• "Captain Planet and the Planeteers" (1990)
• Fire and Rain (1989)
• "The Robert Guillaume Show" (1989)
• The Penthouse (1989)
• Lean on Me (1989)
• Christmas (1988)
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Scandalous Scoundrel (1987)
• They Still Call Me Bruce (1987)
• Wanted: Dead or Alive (1987)
• "Hotel" (1 episode, 1986)
• "Benson" (158 episodes, 1979-1986)
• Prince Jack (1985)
• "North and South" (1985)
• "Saturday Night Live" (1 episode, 1983)
• The Kid with the 200 I.Q. (1983)
• The Kid with the Broken Halo (1982)
• "The Love Boat" (3 episodes, 1980-1981)
• Purlie (1981)
• Seems Like Old Times (1980)
• "Soap" (49 episodes, 1977-1980)
• The Donna Summer Special (1980)
• The Kid from Left Field (1979)
• "Good Times" (1 episode, 1977)
• "The Jeffersons" (1 episode, 1975)
• "All in the Family" (1 episode, 1975)
• "Sanford and Son" (1 episode, 1975)
• Super Fly T.N.T. (1973)
• "Marcus Welby, M.D." (1 episode, 1970)
• "Julia" (1 episode, 1969)
• Porgy in Wien (1966)

Awards

• Emmy Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series "Benson" 1984 - 85
• Emmy Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Comedy Variety Series or Music Series "Soap" 1978 - 79