Andrew Robinson (actor)

For other people with the same name, see Andrew Robinson.

Andrew Robinson
Robinson at GalaxyCon Raleigh in 2022
Born	Andrew Jordt Robinson (1942-02-14) February 14, 1942 New York City, U.S.
Other names	Andy Robinson
Alma mater	University of New Hampshire The New School for Social Research (BA) London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
Occupations	Actor Former Director of the Master of Fine Arts Acting program at the University of Southern California
Years active	1969–present
Spouse	Irene Robinson ​ (m. 1970)​
Children	1

Andrew Jordt Robinson (born February 14, 1942) is an American actor and the former director of the Master of Fine Arts acting program at the University of Southern California. Originally a stage actor, he works predominantly in supporting roles on television and in low-budget films. He is known for his portrayals of the psychopathic serial killer Scorpio in Dirty Harry (1971), Larry Cotton in the horror film Hellraiser (1987), and Elim Garak in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999). He and his wife Irene have a daughter, actress Rachel Robinson, who appeared in Deep Space Nine episode "The Visitor".

Early life

Robinson was born in New York City. His middle name, Jordt, was given to honor his grandfather, though he did not begin using it in his professional credits until the 1996 Deep Space Nine episode, "Body Parts". His father was a soldier in World War II and was killed when Robinson was three years old. After his death, he and his mother moved to Hartford, Connecticut, where he was raised with her family. In his later childhood, Robinson became a juvenile delinquent and was eventually sent to St. Andrew's School, a boarding school in Rhode Island.

After graduating from high school, Robinson attended the University of New Hampshire. After he picketed the school's Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program his degree was withheld by the university, so he transferred to The New School for Social Research in New York City and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English. He originally intended to become a journalist but went into acting after earning a Fulbright Scholarship. After graduating, he went to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art on the scholarship.

Robinson began acting in high school and college theatre. While attending the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), he studied Shakespeare and voice training.

Career

Robinson's first professional roles were as a stage actor and playwright in New York. His first role in New York was in the play MacBird! He went on to appear in productions in North America and Europe, including Woyzeck, Futz, Werner Liepolt's "The Young Master Dante" and The Cannibals. In 1969, he had his first television role with a guest part on N.Y.P.D. at the age of 26. In 1971, he began acting in feature films.

Dirty Harry and typecasting

Robinson's first feature film role was in 1971's Dirty Harry. Don Siegel, the film's director, and Clint Eastwood picked Robinson for the role after seeing him in a production of Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Idiot. Robinson was cast as the Scorpio Killer, the film's antagonist. The Scorpio Killer was largely based on the contemporary real life Zodiac Killer, and Robinson integrated many known aspects of that serial killer's personality into his acting, such as a disturbed sense of humour and a sadistic inclination to taunt his pursuers. In the film, his character murders a young woman, a 10-year old boy, a teenage girl and a police officer and takes a school bus full of young children hostage. His portrayal was so convincing that he received death threats after the film's release. Director Don Siegel noted that he cast Robinson because he had the face of "a choir boy."

Critical reactions to Robinson were generally positive. Box Office Magazine wrote: "Andy Robinson is the maniacal Scorpio ... a good blending of cunning and savagery." His role as Scorpio gave him widespread exposure, but Robinson also found himself typecast as "psycho" characters. He claimed the role severely limited his casting options, as film producers were reluctant to cast him in any "good guy" roles. Some of his notable "psycho" roles include a demented and ill-fated military barber in Child's Play 3 (1991) and the character Frank Cotton (in the skin of Larry Cotton, Robinson's actual character) in the horror film Hellraiser (1987), in which Robinson had his first lead role in a feature film.

Film and television, 1971–1992

Robinson starred in Charley Varrick, a 1973 film that starred Walter Matthau and was directed by Don Siegel. Robinson played Frank Ryan on the soap opera Ryan's Hope from 1976–78, for which he received a Daytime Emmy nomination. Robinson has had many one-time and recurring roles on a wide variety of television shows, in including the miniseries Once an Eagle. His filmography includes guest roles on Bonanza, Marcus Welby, M.D., Kung Fu, Ironside, The Rookies, S.W.A.T., The Streets of San Francisco, Kojak, The Incredible Hulk, CHiPs, Mrs. Columbo, Barnaby Jones, Vega$, Falcon Crest, The Greatest American Hero, The Dukes of Hazzard, Hart to Hart, The A-Team, Matt Houston, Moonlighting, L.A. Law, Matlock, Law & Order, Walker, Texas Ranger, Murder, She Wrote, The X-Files, The Practice, and Without a Trace.

He met his wife Irene after wrapping a production of Springvoices and the two married in 1970. He has two stepsons from his wife's previous marriage and one daughter named Rachel, who became an actress as well.

In 1975 he co-starred as the sleazy, ill-fated chauffeur in the detective drama The Drowning Pool, starring Paul Newman.

In 1978 Robinson left full-time acting for five years and concentrated on raising his family in the small mountain community of Idyllwild, California, located about 150 miles (240 km) from Los Angeles. During that time he taught community theatre for middle and high school students and also worked as a carpenter to bring in a regular salary. He returned to acting full-time in the mid-1980s.

In 1986, he played President John F. Kennedy in an episode of the 1980s revival of The Twilight Zone, "Profile in Silver". In 1988 he portrayed Liberace in a television biopic. Robinson had described it as one of his favorite roles and that "The most fun was wearing his furs and jewelry and singing 'I'll be Seeing You.'" The New York Times reviewer noted that "Robinson does rather well in the leading role." He returned to the stage in 1993 with a Broadway production of Frank Gilroy's Any Given Day, but the play closed after only six weeks.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

In 1993, Robinson was cast in his first regular television role since Ryan's Hope in 1978. He played Elim Garak on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a Cardassian tailor, and a former operative of the Obsidian Order. The character was intended to be an enigmatic darkly comedic foil for the character of Julian Bashir (played by Alexander Siddig), and the two were often paired together onscreen. Prior to being cast in the role, Robinson knew little of the Star Trek franchise and had never seen an episode of any of the television series.

Robinson was offered the role of Garak after he originally auditioned for the role of Odo, which eventually went to René Auberjonois. He almost did not accept the role but was pressured into accepting for financial reasons.

Other works

After working on Deep Space Nine for several years, Robinson began a career in television directing after directing the 1996 episode "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places". He went on to direct two episodes of Star Trek: Voyager and seven episodes of the courtroom drama Judging Amy, in which his real-life daughter, Rachel Robinson, was appearing.

In 2000, he wrote the novel A Stitch in Time, based on his character on Deep Space Nine. Robinson has stated that one of the reasons he wrote the novel was to get "total closure" of the character. He starred opposite DS9 costar Michael Dorn on an episode of Martial Law.

In 1993, Robinson was a founding member of The Matrix Theatre Company in Los Angeles.

In 2024, Robinson returned to his role as Elim Garak in Star Trek Lower Decks.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1971	Dirty Harry	The Scorpio Killer	(as Andy Robinson)
1973	Charley Varrick	Harman Sullivan
1975	The Drowning Pool	Pat Reavis
	A Woman for All Men	Steve McCoy
	Mackintosh and T.J.	Coley
1985	Mask	Dr. Vinton
1986	Cobra	Detective Monte
1987	Hellraiser	Larry Cotton / Frank Cotton
	The Verne Miller Story	Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd
1988	Shoot to Kill	Harvey
1990	Fatal Charm	Sheriff Harry Childs
1991	Child's Play 3	Sergeant Botnick
	Prime Target	Commissioner
1992	Trancers III	Colonel Daddy Muthuh
1994	Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings	Sheriff Sean Braddock
	There Goes My Baby	Frank
	The Puppet Masters	Hawthorne
1998	Running Woman	Captain Don Gibbs
	Archibald the Rainbow Painter	The Super Super
2003	The Making of Daniel Boone	Timothy Flint
2004	Homeland Security	Senator
2005	A Question of Loyalty	Dr. Albert Krentz	Short

Television

Year	Show	Role	Notes
1972	Bonanza	John Harper	Episode: "Forever" (as Andy Robinson)
	The Rookies	Lee Borden	Episode: "To Taste of Terror" (as Andy Robinson)
	The Catcher	Andy Hendricks	TV film: NBC World Premiere Movie
1974	Marcus Welby, M.D.	Chris Bakewell	Episode: "Each Day a Miracle"
	Ironside	David Cutter	Episode: "Come Eleven, Come Twelve"
	Kung Fu	Johnny Walker	Episode: "Crossties"
	The Family Kovack	Butch Kovack	TV film
1975	Kojak	Leon	Episode: "I Want To Report a Dream"
1975, 1977	The Streets of San Francisco	Archie Kimbro	Episode: "Spooks for Sale" & "The Cannibals"
		Ron Maguire	Episode: "The Cannibals"
1976	S.W.A.T.	Edward Stillman	Episode: "Any Second Now"
	Once an Eagle	Reb Rayburne	TV miniseries
1976-1978	Ryan's Hope	Frank Ryan #2	Daytime Emmy Award nomination
1976-1980	Barnaby Jones	Various characters	Recurring
1978	The Incredible Hulk	Dr. Stan Rhodes	Episode: "Life and Death"
	The Eddie Capra Mysteries	Greg Chandler	Episode: "Murder on the Flip Side"
1979	From Here to Eternity	Sergeant Maylon Stark	TV miniseries
	Chips	Bill Clayton	Episode: "Hot Wheels"
1980	Vega$	Derek Razzio	Recurring
	The Dukes of Hazzard	Billy Joe Billings
1980-1983	Hart to Hart	Mike	Season 2 Episode 3 & Season 4 Episode 12
1983	The A-Team	Jackson	Episode: "The Beast from the Belly of a Boeing"
		Deputy Rance	Episode: "The White Ballot"
1985	Not My Kid	Dr. Royce	TV film
	The Atlanta Child Murders	Jack Mallard	Television miniseries
	Cagney & Lacey	Frank Kelly	Episode: "Filial Duty"
1986-1987	The Twilight Zone	John F. Kennedy	Episode: "Profile in Silver"
		Mr. Williams	Episode: "Private Channel"
1988	Liberace	Liberace	TV film
1989	Moonlighting	Leslie Hunziger	Episode: "Plastic Fantastic Lovers"
1990-1991	Matlock	Stanley Hayden	Episode: "The Broker"
		Frank Hayes	Episode: "The Defense"
1991	Rock Hudson	Henry Willson	TV film
1992	Law & Order	Phillip Mariietta	Episode: "Consultation"
1993	Walker, Texas Ranger	Congressman Leo Cabe	Episode: "A Shadow in the Night"
1993-1994	Murder, She Wrote	Ambrosse	Episode:"A Killing in Cork"
		James Harris	Episode: "An Egg to Die For"
1993-1999	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	Garak	37 episodes
1994	M.A.N.T.I.S.	Solomon Box	Recurring
	Wings	Michael Foster	Episode: "The Person Formerly Known as Lowell Mather"
1996	Days of Our Lives	Yuri
1997–1998	Star Trek: Voyager	–	Directed two episodes
1999	The X-Files	Dr. Ian Detweiler	Episode: "Alpha"
1999-2004	JAG	Admiral Thomas Kly	Recurring
1999-2005	Judging Amy	Daniel McGill	Directed seven episodes
2002	Presidio Med	Jesse	Recurring
2004	Without a Trace	Carl Monroe	Episode: "Upstairs Downstairs"
	The Practice	Edmond Solomon	Episode: "The Firm"
2016	The Metropolitan Opera HD Live	Three Masks	Episode: "Puccini: Turandot"
2021	Dota: Dragon's Blood	Indrak	Episode: "The Fire Sermon"
2024	Star Trek: Lower Decks	Alternate Garak	Episode: "Fissure Quest"

Further reading

• Lou Anders."Andrew J. Robinson interview". Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved February 9, 2006. . Star Trek Monthly. January 2000. Retrieved February 8, 2006.
• J. Neil Schulman. Profile in Silver. Commentary on the episode of The Twilight Zone. Retrieved February 8, 2006.
• "Wrestling Scorpio: An Interview With Andrew Robinson". Psychotronic Video. 1996.

External links

• Andrew J. Robinson, USC faculty page
• Andrew Robinson at IMDb