The rugged leading man and 1968 Best Actor Oscar winner for Charly passed away today after a career that began as a handsome young thesp and continued well into his dotage. He was 88. But Cliff Robertson may well be remembered for bringing down one of the most powerful Hollywood moguls, David Begelman. In 1977, Robertson discovered that his name had been forged on a $10,000 check which he realized he had not earned. He soon discovered it was a forgery carried out of Begelman and triggered one of the biggest studio scandals of the 1970s. Begelman resigned, and Robertson couldn’t get acting work until the early 1980s. Robertson’s long movie career began with Picnic in 1955 and continued through Spider-Man and its first two sequels as Uncle Ben Parker. But he may be best remembered for playing John F Kennedy in the biopic PT 109 and was chosen personally by the president. He was also a familiar face in television dramas from the earliest days of the small screen.

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