Solid-looking, intense and earnest leading man who enjoyed success onstage in "Mister Roberts" and Tennessee Williams's "Orpheus Descending", performed on TV in the title role of the science-fiction series, "Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers" (1953-54) and moved to film in support of William Holden in the small-town melodrama, "Picnic" (1955). Brunet-haired and medium in height, with a grim, serious expression and a cultured, sandpapery voice to go with it, Robertson never achieved top star status in Hollywood, but did find a niche portraying angst-ridden but intelligent and reliable Everymen, roles which often went to Holden, Gregory Peck or the older Fredric March.
Most typically a quietly sturdy, workmanlike performer, Robertson occasionally unleashed a flashier acting style when his character's mental makeup seemed to demand it, as with his first leading role, as Joan Crawford's schizophrenic husband in Robert Aldrich's "Autumn Leaves" (1956), or his vengeful safecracker in Samuel Fuller's typically punchy film noir, "Underworld U.S.A." (1961). In 1968, in fact, Robertson won a Best Actor Oscar for a very showy performance, as a mentally retarded man briefly given increased intellectual capacities in the sci-fi weepy misfire "Charly".
More typically, though, Robertson conveyed a gritty integrity and reliability; from "The Naked and the Dead" (1958) through "Up from the Beach" (1965), "Too Late the Hero" (1970) and "The Battle of Midway" (1976), he made many war films, seeming at once average enough to identify with and commanding enough to make a heroic officer. In the early 60s then-President John F. Kennedy evidently recognized these qualities when he selected Robertson (whom he admittedly did resemble) to play his younger self in the wartime memoir, "PT 109" (1963). Robertson, ever eager to tackle a new type of role, inverted this persona with considerable success in his chilling performance as an evil politician in "The Best Man" (1964).
As Robertson aged, the edginess in his acting style which suggested the possibility of rebellion evolved into a certain gruffness suited for both drifters in Westerns and authority figures in melodramas and thrillers. He was a police chief in "Man on a Swing" (1974), a tense husband in Brian De Palma's "Obsession" (1976), Hugh Hefner in Bob Fosse's "Star 80" (1983) and a CIA executive in "Three Days of the Condor" (1975), one of the first films in which Robertson's role was smaller than another male star's (here Robert Redford's). He took a shot at writing, producing and directing and did remarkably well with "J.W. Coop" (1971), a well-observed study of a down-and-out rodeo cowboy. Robertson also made TV-movies regularly, playing the drunken father in a remake of "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" (1974) and astronaut "Buzz" Aldrin in "Return to Earth" (1976).
1977 would prove to be a landmark year for Robertson, but not for the most pleasant of reasons, for it was he who exposed what became known as the "Hollywoodgate" scandal. Robertson alleged that Columbia Studios president David Begelman had forged his name on a check for $10,000. Although he was eventually exonerated and his "New York Times" article about corruption in the film industry was published in the records of Congress, Robertson was for a time unofficially blacklisted in much of the industry. His most notable effort during this time was a second directorial outing, the sincere if routine "The Pilot" (1979). Since then Robertson has kept busy on TV on "Falcon Crest", in the title role of the miniseries "Ford: The Man and His Machine" (1987) and in documentary TV specials honoring war heroes. Feature work for the seasoned veteran, meanwhile, has included his wealthy yachtsman in "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken" (1991), his army officer in "Renaissance Man" (1994) and a despotic president of the USA in "John Carpenter's Escape From L.A." (1996).
His second wife was actress Dina Merrill, whom he appeared opposite as guest on the campy 60s TV series "Batman".