Robert Guillaume Ð'- The Rough Ride Of A Smooth Actor

Robert Guillaume Ð'- The Rough Ride of a Smooth Actor

Mark Miller

Actor Robert Guillaume is a man without regrets. Well, maybe one. "I always wanted to be able to play the piano & never succeeded. I was a total bust. I had an inability to practice, and when I did practice, no amount of practice made me play better or sound better. And I blame the Catholic Church for screwing up my sense of music." The Catholic Church? But isn't the Church known for its music? Guillaume elaborates.

"It wasn't just my ability they screw up Ð'- they screw up everybody's ability to be themselves. They're well known for it. In fact, I blame the Catholic Church for anything I can't do that tradition says I should be able to do. I blame them for egregiously screwing up my ability to relax and just let it happen. I was under the tutelage of the nuns and priests Ð'- and they made us feel that everything was our fault. Tremendous guilt complex, second only to that of the Jews. Being Jewish, you have a complex the size of Montana Ð'- and the Catholics have the same thing. It's almost as though, when I was growing up, Ð''If you hadn't done this thing, Red China would now be in the U.N.'"

While Woodland Hills resident Guillaume is perhaps best known and admired for his indelible, Emmy Award-winning roles on the TV sit-com hits "Benson" and "Soap," the actor has had a distinguished, nearly half-century long career spanning TV, feature films, theater, voice-over work, producing, and directing.

A performer of seemingly endless range, Guillaume has portrayed, in addition to his beloved comedic roles on TV, the Phantom in "The Phantom of the Opera," the voice of Rafiki in "The Lion King," Purlie in the musical "Purlie," for which he won a Tony Award, a Tony nomination for his portrayal of Nathan Detroit in a revival of "Guys and Dolls," nominations for various Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, and Image Awards, and has made memorable guest-starring appearances on both comedic and dramatic shows such as "L.A. Law," "Saturday Night Live," "The Jeffersons," "All in the Family," "Sanford and Son," "Marcus Welby, M.D.," "Touched By An Angel," "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," "The Outer Limits," and "8 Simple RulesÐ'...For Dating My Teenage Daughter" Ð'- not to mention numerous films such as "Big Fish," "First Kid," "Spy Hard," "The Meteor Man," "Lean On Me," and "Seems Like Old Times," plus a variety of awards shows and specials, and his own sit-com, "The Robert Guillaume Show," which he also executive-produced.

On a recent, rainy Friday afternoon, the 77 year-young, articulate and still-handsome Guillaume makes his way slowly down the hallway of the Motion Picture & Television Fund assisted-living facility in Woodland Hills, where he lives and receives physical therapy due to a mild stroke he suffered in 1999 on the set of the show "Sports Night." As with Norm on "Cheers," everybody knows his name and calls out "Hey, Robert," as they encounter him in the hallways. He stops to chat warmly with a few of them, smiling and asking after them, and then enters the cozy library for an interview. His body may have slowed down a bit, but his mind and talent are as sharp as ever and he has not stopped working. His latest feature project, an independent dramatic film called "Jack Satin," is scheduled for release later this year.

Guillaume believes that the cause of the stroke was partially genetic, but also blames himself. "I thought I was pretty healthy, but where I fell down was in exercise." Still, he has a positive view of his condition. "I'm able to demonstrate that there's a life after having had a stroke." Though his stroke was mild, he feels even that term is misleading. "All strokes are severe no matter what someone may think of them. Mine could have been much worse." He's also very grateful for what the Motion Picture & Television Fund has done for him and for his fellow performers. "Thank God for the Motion Picture Fund. It fills a very large void. Sometimes we take it for granted, and while it's difficult for me to wax poetic about anything or praise something (though I don't know why that is), it's almost miraculous what the Fund does." Guillaume gives back in his own way by serving as a spokesperson for American Heart Association, and confides that he was courted by by another heart association, stroke association, and a couple of pharmaceutical companies.

Despite all his success and his remarkable career, life has not by any means been a smooth ride for Guillaume, who was born Robert Williams and raised in St. Louis. "I never knew my father and had a very dicey relationship with my mother. My grandmother raised me. It was almost overwhelming at the time. I came along when a bastard was a bastard. Which meant that you didn't know your father Ð'- and that weighed heavily upon me. It was a big deal in 1927. When I found out that I couldn't enter the priesthood because I was a bastard, it just further fueled my lack of self-esteem."

At first, a career