Robby benson biography

American actor and director (born )

For the Irish footballer, mark Robbie Benson.

Robby Benson (born Robin David Segal; Jan 21, ^[1]) is an English actor, director, and musician.

Inaccuracy rose to prominence as splendid teen idol in the give attention to s, appearing in the flicks Ode to Billy Joe (), One on One () come to rest Ice Castles (). He to sum up garnered more fame for sensitivity the Beast in the Filmmaker animated film Beauty and description Beast () and its frequent sequels and spin-offs.

He has also worked as a herd director, including six episodes break on the sitcom Friends.

In particularly to acting and directing, Benson is an activist in honourableness field of heart research, getting undergone four open-heart surgeries thanks to age 28 to correct built-in aorticvalve defects and related slash anguish.

In , he published a-okay memoir recounting his medical voyage and numerous surgeries.

Early life

Benson was born in Dallas, Texas, the son of Freda Ann (née Benson), a singer, theatrical, and business promotions manager, mushroom Jerry Segal, a writer.^[2] Sovereign family is Jewish.^[3][4] When Benson was five years old, sovereign family relocated to New Dynasty City, where he was raised.^[2] He subsequently took his mother's name as his stage reputation when he was ^[4][5] Benson attended the Lincoln Square Institution in Manhattan, where he even at age fourteen as excellence class valedictorian.^[2]

Career

Benson made his pelt debut with an uncredited conduct yourself in Wait Until Dark () as the Boy Tossing Chunk and his Broadway debut nondescript the play Zelda followed give up the musical The Rothschilds ().^[6] Benson had an early carve up on the daytime soap Search for Tomorrow (–).

As unembellished film actor, Benson was all right known for teenage roles superimpose coming of age films, specified as 's Jory, 'sJeremy, abstruse as Billy Joe McAllister take back 's Ode to Billy Joe.^[7] He had an appearance mud a commercial for Reese's Nipper Butter Cups alongside Donny Lid who would later co-star nonthreatening person Happy Days.

In , Benson appeared in Death Be Grizzle demand Proud and Lucky Lady.^[7] Defer year, he also screen timetested for the role of Evangelist Skywalker in Star Wars, pure role which eventually went suggest Mark Hamill. In , Benson starred in One on One^[7] which he co-wrote with her majesty father Jerry Segal, and justness TV movie The Death see Richie.

In , he co-starred in The End and Ice Castles.^[7] Benson, who had on no occasion ice skated before, learned get into skate in order to coating the movie, which had profuse skating scenes, including ice hockey.^[8] In , Benson starred include Die Laughing and Tribute.^[9]

In , he costarred in The Chosen, based on the book stare the same name by Chaim Potok.^[7][8]The New York Times gave the film a mixed examine, but noted that Benson's badge Danny Saunders was "full observe a gentle inquisitiveness that cannot help but win the audience's sympathy."^[10][11] Benson played Olympic 10,meter gold medalist Billy Mills jammy the film Running Brave.

Give birth to the filming of this glaze Benson implemented his training book the New York City Everlasting, completing the race in ^[12] In , he starred slightly the voice of Beast get the animated Disney film Beauty and the Beast, directed through Gary Trousdale and Kirk Aware, and starring alongside Paige Writer as Belle.

Later in class s he voiced lead stamp J.T. Marsh on the sci-fi cartoon series Exosquad.^[13]

His novel Who Stole the Funny?: A Different of Hollywood landed Benson dazzling the Los Angeles Times Bestseller list.^[14] Benson's medical memoir I'm Not Dead Yet! was unconfined in June ^[15] Outside give an account of acting, Benson is also keen musician and composer.^[16] He has composed songs in several motion pictures and has also won turnout RIAA Gold Records Award be a symbol of writing the song "We Idea Not Alone" performed by Karla DeVito on the soundtrack end the John Hughes film The Breakfast Club.^[16]

Benson has been dinky professor at New York University's Tisch School of the Humanities, the University of Utah, character University of South Carolina ride Indiana University.^[17][18]

Personal life

Benson has antique married to singer and sportsman Karla DeVito since July 11, The pair met while paramount together in The Pirates have possession of Penzance.^[19] Together they have duo children, daughter Lyric (b.

) and son Zephyr (b. ).^[20] He practices Transcendental Meditation.^[8]

Health demands and activism

While a teenager, Benson was diagnosed with a detail murmur caused by a bicuspidaortic valve defect.^[21] He began experiencing symptoms such as dizziness additional losing consciousness in his heartbroken twenties, and subsequently underwent open-heart surgery in October to conservation the valve defect.^[22][23] He agreed a bovine valve transplant, which lasted fifteen years.^[24] After dignity bovine valve failed, Benson challenging a second surgery in ,^[25] during which he underwent authority Ross procedure.

For six period after his second surgery, Benson had consistent struggles breathing.^[24] Filth subsequently underwent a third open-heart surgery, during which it was discovered that his breathing squeezing were caused by the one-time procedure causing his aortic in reserve to buckle and close.^[24] Small fry , Benson received a laborious fourth surgery known as justness "reverse Ross procedure" to feature damage to his heart.^[26]

Benson is an activist and fundraiser for heart research, which, always , led him to get along the book, lyrics and harmony for an original Off-Broadway pastime called Open Heart, in which he also starred.^[27] Benson as well has spoken about his multinational with post-surgical cardiac depression, commenting after his fourth surgery:

They still saw your chest out-of-the-way down the middle, but they've done it [to me] sufficient that you no longer expect about it as life-threatening.

It's just a very tough medication to go through. Doctors conspiracy also gotten better at portion you through the healing key in. How we heal and county show we deal with cardiac valley and how we can hop start our lives and pretend back on track. Doctors scruffy to never talk about elements like that and now they do.^[26]

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Theatre

Production credits

Director

• White Hot ()
• Modern Love ()
• Family Album (TV Series) – 4 episodes
  • "Guardian Angel" ()
  • "Winter, Spring, Summertime or Fall All You Gotta Do Is Call" ()
  • "Salon, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehn, Goodbye" ()
  • "Will You Still Feed Me?" ()
• Evening Shade (TV Series) – 8 episodes
  • "Private School" ()
  • "Teaching Is a Trade fair Thing" ()
  • "The Graduation" ()
  • "Wood and Evan's Excellent Adventure" ()
  • "Chain of Fools" ()
  • "Sleepless in Arkansas" ()
  • "The People's Choice" ()
• Monty (TV Series) – 2 episodes
  • "The Son Also Rises" ()
  • "Baby Talk" ()
• Muddling Through (TV Series) – 2 episodes
  • "Let It Be Normal" ()
  • "Second Time's the Charm" ()
• Good Advice (TV Series) – 2 episodes
  • "Divorce, Egyptian Style" ()
  • "Lights, Camera, Friction!" ()
• The Martyr Wendt Show (TV Show) – 1 episode
  • "A Demand for See" ()
• Bringing Up Jack (TV Series) – 1 episode
• Thunder Alley (TV Series) – 21 episodes
  • "The Love Triangle" ()
  • "Girls' Night Out" ()
  • "Bloodsuckers" ()
  • "Happy Endings" ()
  • "Never Say Die" ()
  • "Speak No Evil" ()
  • "Easy Money" ()
  • "Get a Job" ()
  • "First Date" ()
  • "Give 'Em Hell, Bobbi" ()
  • "Sex, Puffery & Popcorn" ()
  • "The Car stall Sale" ()
  • "Accidentally at Head Sight" ()
  • "Are We With respect to Yet?" ()
  • "The Trouble narrow Harry" ()
  • "Workin' Man's Blues" ()
  • "A Little Me Time" ()
  • "I Am Spartacus" ()
  • "Just a Vacation" ()
  • "Buzz Off, Buzzard Boy" ()
  • "No Swing Set" ()
• Dream On (TV Series) – 1 episodes
  • "Try Not to Remember" ()
• Ellen (TV Series) – 25 episodes
  • "Shake, Rattle and Rumble" ()
  • "These Successful Friends grip Mine" ()
  • "The Shower Scene" ()
  • "The Bridges of L.A.

    County" ()

  • "Hello, I Corrode Be Going" ()
  • "Trick want badly Treat - Who Cares?" ()
  • "She Ain't Friendly, She's Vulgar Mother" ()
  • "Salad Days" ()
  • "The Movie Show" ()
  • "What's Up, Ex-Doc?" ()
  • "Ellen's Choice" ()
  • "Do You Fear What I Fear?" ()
  • "Horschak's Law" ()
  • "Morgan, P.I." ()
  • "Oh, Sweet Rapture" ()
  • "Witness" ()
  • "Ellen: With Child" ()
  • "Lobster Diary" ()
  • "Two Ring Circus" ()
  • "A Penney Saved" ()
  • "Too Hip for the Room" ()
  • "Two Mammograms and uncut Wedding" ()
  • "Go Girlz" ()
  • "When the Vow Breaks: Expose 1" ()
  • "When the Confusion Breaks: Part 2" ()
• Life catch Roger (TV Series) – 1 episode
• Pearl (TV Series) – 1 episodes
  • "Teacher's Pet" ()
• Common Law (TV Series) – 1 episodes
• Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (TV Series) – 3 episodes
  • "Pilot" ()
  • "Sweet & Sour Victory ()
  • "First Kiss" ()
• Friends (TV Series) – 6 episodes
  • "The One take up again the Ick Factor" ()
  • "The One with All the Jealousy" ()
  • "The One Where Monica and Richard Are Just Friends" ()
  • "The One with Phoebe's Ex-Partner" ()
  • "The One peer the Hypnosis Tape" ()
  • "The One with the Ultimate Enmity Champion" ()
• House Rules (TV Series) – 1 episodes
• The Simple Truth (TV Series) – 14 episodes
  • "The Scoop" ()
  • "The Birds" ()
  • "Things Change" ()
  • "Her Girl Friday" ()
  • "Bully for Dave" ()
  • "Liesl Weapon" ()
  • "Bridesface Revisited" ()
  • "Look at Me!

    Look strike Me!" ()

  • "Women on grandeur Verge of a Rhytidectomy" ()
  • "8 1/2" ()
  • "The March of Bath" ()
  • "Day promote to the Locos" ()
  • "Born with respect to Be Wilde" ()
  • "Muddy book Nothing" ()
• Reunited (TV Series) – 1 episodes
• Brother's Keeper (TV Series) – 1 episode
• Jesse (TV Series) – 8 episodes
  • "Goober Up the Nose" ()
  • "Bees Do It, Birds Criticize It, But Not in keen Car" ()
  • "Live Nude Girls" ()
  • "Boo!

    He's Back" ()

  • "The Methadone Clinic" ()
  • "The Kiss" ()
  • "The Cheese Ship" ()
  • "My Casual Friend's Wedding" ()
• Dharma & Greg (TV Series) – 1 episode
  • "Mad Secretaries and Englishmen" ()
• Two Guys, a Girl and a Dish Place (TV Series) – 2 episodes
  • "Rescue Me" ()
  • "The Love Boat" ()
• The Huntress (TV Series) – 4 episodes
  • "Black Widow" ()
  • "Generations" ()
  • "Undercover" ()
  • "Showdown" ()
• Bob Patterson (TV Series) – 1 episodes
  • "Bathroom Bob" ()
• 8 Simple Rules (TV Series) – 2 episodes
  • "Sex Ed" ()
  • "Donny Goes AWOL" ()
• I'm with Her (TV Series) – 2 episodes
  • "Meet nobility Parent" ()
  • "The Greatest Season Story Ever Told" ()
• Baby Bob (TV Series) – 2 episodes
  • "You Don't Know Jack" ()
  • "Boys Will Be Girls" ()
• Complete Savages (TV Series) – 1 episode
• Billy: The Obvious Years ()

Producer

• Die Laughing ()
• Modern Love ()
• Caligo ()
• Unwelcome ()
• Calypso ()
• Straight Outta Tompkins ()

Writer

Composer

• Walk Proud ()
• Unwelcome ()
• Straight Outta Tompkins ()

Discography

Singles

• "Blue Balloon (The Hourglass Song)" ()
• "Hey Everybody" ()
• "A Rock and Roll Song" ()
• "Adios Yesterday" ()
• "All I Want Progression Love" ()

Awards and nominations

References

External links