Robert Guillaume was born Robert Peter Williams on November 30, 1927, in St. Louis, Missouri.  Later, he changed his name from “Williams” to “Guillaume,” which is the French translation of William. Guillaume studied at both St. Louis University and Washington University after he served a brief tour in the United States Army.http://www.realtvaddict.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=15985&action=edit

Guillaume joined the Karamu Players from Cleveland, Ohio shortly after college and was cast in Broadway’s Free and Easy in 1959. He continued to grace the stage for many years appearing in such shows as Kwamina, Guys and Dolls, The Phantom of the Opera and Purlie! and was nominated for a Tony award for his performance in Guys and Dolls. Guillaume created a controversy when he replaced Michael Crawford as The Phantom of The Opera because he was the first and only black actor, to date, to play the role on Broadway or a national tour.

When the revival of Porky and Bess came around in 1963, Robert Guillaume jumped at the role of Sportin’ Life.

During his time on stage, Guillaume also joined the Robert de Cormier Singers and The Pilgrims that release a folk album, Just Arrived.

He also had many guest appearances in TV sitcoms, including Sanford and Son, Good Times, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and the Jeffersons. Guillaume then started portraying the role we know him best for, Benson Du Bois, on Soap in 1977. Benson DuBois got his own spin off, in 1979, entitled Benson. There he stayed until 1989 when he moved on to star in The Robert Guillaume Show. He also appeared as a regular on Pacific Station and Sports Night.

On January 14, 1999, Guillaume had a mild stroke on the set of Sports Night. The writers set it up so that Guillaume’s character also had a stroke so he continued in the role for another year. During his career, Guillaume has also lent his voice to a variety of animated characters, including Rafiki from the Lion King.

Guillaume has won two Emmy Awards, one for Outstanding Supporting Actor – Comedy Series in 1979 for Soap, and the other for Outstanding Lead Comedy Actor in 1985 for Benson. He is to this day the only African American actor to win the Lead Comedy Actor Emmy Award and St Louis awarded him a star of the St. Louis Walk of Fame.