"and, of course, when it was turned into a movie a few years later, Robertson reprised the title role"
Not so "of course"! It was hardly a given; after all, Robertson had previously starred in the TV version of "Days of Wine and Roses" but the feature film recast his role with Jack Lemmon, who went on to get an Oscar nod. That's why Robertson optioned the rights to the teleplay that became "Charly" himself and held on to them for years.
Interestingly, his first wife (Cynthia Stone) had previously been married to Jack Lemmon. I think she might be the only woman who was married to two Best Actor Oscar winners?
His second wife was of course Dina Merrill, who appeared with him on the '60s Batman series as "Calamity Jan" to his "Shame." She was the daughter of Marjorie Merriweather Post, making Robertson a key plank of the MMP Expanded Universe(tm).
"and, of course, when it was turned into a movie a few years later, Robertson reprised the title role"
Not so "of course"! It was hardly a given; after all, Robertson had previously starred in the TV version of "Days of Wine and Roses" but the feature film recast his role with Jack Lemmon, who went on to get an Oscar nod. That's why Robertson optioned the rights to the teleplay that became "Charly" himself and held on to them for years.
Interestingly, his first wife (Cynthia Stone) had previously been married to Jack Lemmon. I think she might be the only woman who was married to two Best Actor Oscar winners?
His second wife was of course Dina Merrill, who appeared with him on the '60s Batman series as "Calamity Jan" to his "Shame." She was the daughter of Marjorie Merriweather Post, making Robertson a key plank of the MMP Expanded Universe(tm).