Robert Guillaume, the beloved actor who received two Emmy Awards for portraying the acidic butler Benson on ABC sitcoms Soap and Benson, died Tuesday. He was 89. Guillaume died at his home in Los Angeles, his wife, Donna Brown Guillaume, told the Associated Press. He had been battling prostate cancer.
Guillaume's polished portrayal of the imperious family retainer Benson DuBois endured for nine years, first in three seasons on serialized primetime comedy Soap (1977-80) and then on the spinoff Benson, which ran until April 1986. Both shows were created by Susan Harris.
Benson's personal arc went from butler/cook to state budget director and finally to lieutenant governor. He even ran for governor against his former boss, Eugene X. Gatling (John Noble), but that race — a season-ending cliff-hanger — went undecided because the show went off the air.
"When I got the role of Benson, I was not the happiest camper," Guillaume said on an installment of Oprah: Where Are They Now? that aired in January 2016. "I had reservations, because you're serving food, you're serving the family and all that sort of thing. … It's like nothing has changed since the 1800s.
