Charles Robinson, a prolific actor who played the clerk on Night Court for most of the NBC sitcom’s run and before that was a regular on its lauded series Buffalo Bill, died Sunday of cancer complications at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 75.
His manager, Lisa DiSanta, told Deadline that Robinson died of cardiac arrest with multisystem organ failures due to septic shock, and metastatic adenocarcinoma.
Robinson racked up more than 125 TV and film credits during a half-century career that stretched into 2021. He got his start guesting on such 1970s-80s series as Cannon, The White Shadow, Lou Grant. St. Elsewhere and Hill Street Blues and the sequel miniseries Roots: The Next Generation. His first recurring role was on the short-lived CBC primetime soap Flamingo Road.
In 1983, Robinson was cast in Bullafo Bill, the sitcom starring Dabney Coleman as a despicable host of local talk show in the titular New York city. Robinson played Newdell, a makeup man who took no guff from anyone, including the host. The series scored Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy noms for both of its seasons but failed to secure a wide audience and was canceled in 1984.
Turns out, that was just the career break Robinson needed.
That fall, he returned to the Peacock network as Mac Robinson, the new clerk on Night Court. He would stay with the series for the rest of its run
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