Charlie Robinson, a veteran actor best known for playing court clerk Mac Robinson on the NBC sitcom “Night Court” and makeup artist Newdell on NBC’s “Buffalo Bill,” died Sunday at age 75.
Robinson died in Los Angeles at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center of cardiac arrest with multisystem organ failures due to septic shock and metastatic adenocarcinoma, Robinson’s manager Lisa DiSante confirmed in a statement to USA TODAY.
“Once referred to by Martin Landau as ‘the greatest, underestimated actor in Hollywood,’ Charles Robinson was the love of my life, husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather,” his wife, Dolorita Noonan-Robinson, said in the statement. “He was truly the working actor’s actor, and of all his passions, his craft took center stage, with his family being the wind beneath his wings, so he could soar to unbelievable heights! On behalf of my husband and family, I thank you for being part of the audience.”
Over a career that spanned five decades, Robinson appeared in more than 125 films and TV shows, according to his IMDb page. His career included appearances on “Love & War,” “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Home Improvement,” “The Bernie Mac Show,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “30 Rock,” “Hart of Dixie” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”
Robinson also performed on stage, notably in the lead role for “The Whipping Man,” and he won an Ovation Award for L.A. theater excellence in 2006 for a production of “Fences” at the Odyssey Theatre, portraying Troy Maxson, the lead role played by Denzel Washington in the 2016 film.
More recently, Robinson made guest appearances on NBC drama “This is Us,” Disney Channel reboot “Raven’s Home” and Freeform COVID mini-series “Love in the Time of Corona.”
Robinson’s “Night Court” co-star, John Larroquette, paid tribute to the actor in a tweet Monday.
“Often words are puny useless things,” he wrote. “Maybe they will make sense in time but for now our deepest condolences to his loved ones.”
