Robby Benson

Robin David Segal (born January 21, 1956), known by the stage name Robby Benson, is an American actor, singer, musician, director, producer, writer, composer and educator. He is known as the voice of Beast in the Disney animated film Beauty and the Beast and its numerous sequels and spin-offs, and directed six episodes of the sitcom Friends.

Early life
Benson was born in Dallas, Texas, the son of Freda Ann (née Benson), a singer, actor, and business promotions manager, and Jerry Segal, a writer. His family is Jewish. Benson was raised in New York City and took his mother's maiden name as his stage name when he was 10.

Career
Benson made his film debut with an uncredited role in Wait Until Dark (1967) as the Boy Tossing Ball and his Broadway debut in The Rothschilds (1970). He had an appearance in a 1971 commercial for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups alongside Donny Most who would later co-star in Happy Days. Benson had an early role on the daytime soap Search for Tomorrow (1971–72). As a film actor, Benson was well known for teenage roles in coming-of-age films, such as 1972's Jory, 1973's Jeremy, and as Billy Joe McAllister in 1976's Ode to Billy Joe.

In 1975, Benson appeared in Death Be Not Proud and Lucky Lady. That year, he also screen tested for the role of Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars", a role which eventually went to Mark Hamill. In 1977, Benson starred in One on One (which he co-wrote with his father) and the TV movie The Death of Richie. In 1978, he co-starred in The End and also Ice Castles, co-starring Lynn Holly Johnson, who was a U.S. national figure skating medalist. Benson, who had never ice skated before, learned to skate in order to film the movie, which had numerous skating scenes, including ice hockey. In 1980, Benson starred opposite Linda Grovenor in the Orion film, Die Laughing. The same year, Benson also starred in the movie Tribute opposite Jack Lemmon.

In 1981, he costarred in the film The Chosen, based on the book of the same name by Chaim Potok. The New York Times gave the film a mixed review, but noted that Benson's character was "full of a gentle inquisitiveness that cannot help but win the audience's sympathy." Benson played Olympic 10,000-meter gold medalist Billy Mills in the 1983 film Running Brave. In 1991, he starred as the voice of Beast in the acclaimed animated Disney film Beauty and the Beast. Later in the 1990s he voiced lead character J.T. Marsh on the acclaimed sci-fi cartoon series Exosquad.

His 2007 novel Who Stole the Funny?: A Novel of Hollywood landed Benson on the LA Times Bestseller list. Benson's medical memoir I'm Not Dead ... Yet! was released in June 2012.

Benson has been a professor at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, the University of Utah and the University of South Carolina. It was announced he would serve as a professor of Practice in the fall of 2013 at Indiana University. Benson left the university after the Spring 2016 semester when his three-year contract expired.

Personal life
Benson married singer and actress Karla DeVito on July 11, 1982. The pair met while both starred in The Pirates of Penzance. Together they have two children, daughter Lyric Benson (b. 1983) and son Zephyr Benson (b. 1992).

Doctors diagnosed Benson with a heart murmur when he was a teenager, and underwent the first of four open heart surgeries in 1984 to fix a previously diagnosed heart valve defect. He is an activist and fundraiser for heart research, which, in 2004, led him to write the book, lyrics and music for an original Off-Broadway play called Open Heart, in which he also starred. He practices Transcendental Meditation.

Director

 * White Hot (1989)
 * Modern Love (1990)
 * Family Album (TV Series) - 4 episodes
 * 1.3 "Guardian Angel" (1993)
 * 1.4 "Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall All You Gotta Do Is Call..." (1993)
 * 1.5 "Salon, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehn, Goodbye" (1993)
 * 1.6 "Will You Still Feed Me?" (1993)
 * Evening Shade (TV Series) - 8 episodes
 * 3.14 "Private School" (1993)
 * 3.22 "Teaching Is a Good Thing" (1993)
 * 3.24 "The Graduation" (1993)
 * 4.8 "Wood and Evan's Excellent Adventure" (1993)
 * 4.11 "Chain of Fools" (1993)
 * 4.12 "Sleepless in Arkansas" (1993)
 * 4.14 "The People's Choice" (1994)
 * Monty (TV Series) - 2 episodes
 * 1.3 "The Son Also Rises" (1994)
 * 1.6 "Baby Talk" (1994)
 * Muddling Through (TV Series) - 2 episodes
 * 1.2 "Let It Be Normal" (1994)
 * 1.5 "Second Time's the Charm" (1994)
 * Good Advice (TV Series) - 2 episodes
 * 2.3 "Divorce, Egyptian Style" (1994)
 * 2.12 "Lights, Camera, Friction!" (1994)
 * The George Wendt Show (TV Show) - 1 episode
 * 1.2 "A Need for See" (1995)
 * Bringing Up Jack (TV Series) - 1 episode
 * Thunder Alley (TV Series) - 21 episodes
 * 1.2 "The Love Triangle" (1994)
 * 1.4 "Girls' Night Out" (1994)
 * 1.5 "Bloodsuckers" (1994)
 * 1.6 "Happy Endings" (1994)
 * 2.1 "Never Say Die" (1994)
 * 2.2 "Speak No Evil" (1994)
 * 2.3 "Easy Money" (1994)
 * 2.4 "Get a Job" (1994)
 * 2.5 "First Date" (1994)
 * 2.6 "Give 'Em Hell, Bobbi" (1994)
 * 2.7 "Sex, Lies & Popcorn" (1994)
 * 2.8 "The Garage Sale" (1994)
 * 2.9 "Accidentally at First Sight" (1995)
 * 2.10 "Are We There Yet?" (1995)
 * 2.12 "The Trouble with Harry" (1995)
 * 2.13 "Workin' Man's Blues" (1995)
 * 2.14 "A Little Me Time" (1995)
 * 2.15 "I Am Spartacus" (1995)
 * 2.17 "Just a Vacation" (1995)
 * 2.18 "Buzz Off, Buzzard Boy" (1995)
 * 2.19 "No Swing Set" (1995)
 * Dream On (TV Series) - 1 episodes
 * 6.1 "Try Not to Remember" (1995)
 * Ellen (TV Series) - 25 episodes
 * 3.1 "Shake, Rattle and Rumble" (1995)
 * 3.2 "These Successful Friends of Mine" (1995)
 * 3.3 "The Shower Scene" (1995)
 * 3.4 "The Bridges of L.A. County" (1995)
 * 3.5 "Hello, I Must Be Going" (1995)
 * 3.6 "Trick or Treat - Who Cares?" (1995)
 * 3.7 "She Ain't Friendly, She's My Mother" (1995)
 * 3.8 "Salad Days" (1995)
 * 3.9 "The Movie Show" (1995)
 * 3.10 "What's Up, Ex-Doc?" (1995)
 * 3.11 "Ellen's Choice" (1995)
 * 3.12 "Do You Fear What I Fear?" (1995)
 * 3.13 "Horschak's Law" (1996)
 * 3.14 "Morgan, P.I." (1996)
 * 3.15 "Oh, Sweet Rapture" (1996)
 * 3.16 "Witness" (1996)
 * 3.17 "Ellen: With Child" (1996)
 * 3.18 "Lobster Diary" (1996)
 * 3.19 "Two Ring Circus" (1996)
 * 3.20 "A Penney Saved..." (1996)
 * 3.21 "Too Hip for the Room" (1996)
 * 3.22 "Two Mammograms and a Wedding" (1996)
 * 3.23 "Go Girlz" (1996)
 * 3.24 "When the Vow Breaks: Part 1" (1996)
 * 3.26 "When the Vow Breaks: Part 2" (1996)
 * Life with Roger (TV Series) - 1 episode
 * Pearl (TV Series) - 1 episodes
 * 1.2 "Teacher's Pet" (1996)
 * Common Law (TV Series) - 1 episodes
 * 1.1 "Pilot" (1996)
 * Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (TV Series) - 3 episodes
 * 1.1 "Pilot" (1996)
 * 1.10 "Sweet & Sour Victory (1996)
 * 1.17 "First Kiss" (1997)
 * Friends (TV Series) - 6 episodes
 * 1.22 "The One with the Ick Factor" (1995)
 * 3.12 "The One with All the Jealousy" (1997)
 * 3.13 "The One Where Monica and Richard Are Just Friends" (1997)
 * 3.14 "The One with Phoebe's Ex-Partner" (1997)
 * 3.18 "The One with the Hypnosis Tape" (1997)
 * 3.24 "The One with the Ultimate Fighting Champion" (1997)
 * House Rules (TV Series) - 1 episodes
 * 1.7 "Who Knew?" (1998)
 * The Naked Truth (TV Series) - 14 episodes
 * 2.8 "The Scoop" (1997)
 * 2.9 "The Birds" (1997)
 * 3.1 "Things Change" (1997)
 * 3.2 "Her Girl Friday" (1997)
 * 3.3 "Bully for Dave" (1997)
 * 3.4 "Liesl Weapon" (1997)
 * 3.5 "Bridesface Revisited" (1997)
 * 3.7 "Look at Me! Look at Me!" (1997)
 * 3.12 "Women on the Verge of a Rhytidectomy" (1998)
 * 3.13 "8 1/2" (1998)
 * 3.14 "The Neighbor of Bath" (1998)
 * 3.15 "Day of the Locos" (1998)
 * 3.17 "Born to Be Wilde" (1998)
 * 3.16 "Muddy for Nothing" (1998)
 * Reunited (TV Series) - 1 episodes
 * Brother's Keeper (TV Series) - 1 episode
 * 1.12 "The Date" (1999)
 * Jesse (TV Series) - 8 episodes
 * 1.2 "Goober Up the Nose" (1998)
 * 1.3 "Bees Do It, Birds Do It, But Not in a Car" (1998)
 * 1.4 "Live Nude Girls" (1998)
 * 1.5 "Boo! He's Back" (1998)
 * 1.6 "The Methadone Clinic" (1998)
 * 1.7 "The Kiss" (1998)
 * 1.8 "The Cheese Ship" (1998)
 * 1.13 "My Casual Friend's Wedding" (1999)
 * Dharma & Greg (TV Series) - 1 episode
 * 4.7 "Mad Secretaries and Englishmen" (2000)
 * Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place (TV Series) - 2 episodes
 * 4.10 "Rescue Me" (2000)
 * 4.19 "The Love Boat" (2001)
 * The Huntress (TV Series) - 4 episodes
 * 1.10 "Black Widow" (2001)
 * 1.15 "Generations" (2001)
 * 1.19 "Undercover" (2001)
 * 1.23 "Showdown" (2001)
 * Bob Patterson (TV Series) - 1 episodes
 * 1.5 "Bathroom Bob" (2001)
 * 8 Simple Rules (TV Series) - 2 episodes
 * 2.2 "Sex Ed" (2003)
 * 2.3 "Donny Goes AWOL" (2003)
 * I'm with Her (TV Series) - 2 episodes
 * 1.9 "Meet the Parent" (2003)
 * 1.10 "The Greatest Christmas Story Ever Told" (2003)
 * Baby Bob (TV Series) - 2 episodes
 * 2.6 "You Don't Know Jack" (2003)
 * 2.5 "Boys Will Be Girls" (2003)
 * Complete Savages (TV Series) - 1 episode
 * 1.5 "Car Jack" (2004)
 * 2008 Billy: The Early Years

Producer

 * Die Laughing (1980)
 * Modern Love (1990)
 * Caligo (2014)
 * Unwelcome (2014)
 * Calypso (2014)
 * Straight Outta Tompkins (2015)

Writer

 * One on One (1977)
 * Die Laughing (1980)
 * Modern Love (1990)
 * Betrayal of the Dove (1993)

Composer

 * Walk Proud (1979)
 * Unwelcome (2014)
 * Straight Outta Tompkins (2015)