Robert Guillaume is an actor famous for providing the voice for Rafiki for the 1990s classic animated film The Lion King. However, Guillaume is probably best known for his role as Isaac Jaffe on Sports Night and as Benson on the ABC sitcom Soap and the spin-off Benson. He’s received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
On Monday, October 24, 2017, Guillaume passed away at the age of 89 after battling prostate cancer. He’s spent over 50 years on stage and television, and in film. He’s also appeared in a video game, as he lent his voice to the character Eli Vance in the 2004 video game Half Life 2. After a long and rich career, let’s take a look at his words of wisdom…
Robert Guillaume Quotes: Best Quotes & Most-Famous Sayings
“I’m never a person who likes anything I’ve done. It’s just the way it is. Twenty years later, I can look at something I did, and I’m still thinking, ‘You know, that could have been better if you had done it this way or that way.”
“I’m not trying to say that it never hurt or that I never felt its sting, but I can honestly say that I never blamed anybody for racism. I have considered it more of a manifestation of humanity’s problem rather than my personal problem.”
“Racism may be as systemic as it always was. It is the great problem of America. It’s the one stumbling block that I don’t believe was ever smoothed over.”
“My acting ability would have sent me back to the post office. It was my singing that got me jobs. Ironically, now, people think of me as an actor and don’t know me much as a singer.”
“I’ve certainly experienced racism, but it has not made a great impact on me. I have always thought, as I got older and older, I was more in charge of who I was. What someone thought about me or said about me made less of an impression on me at very vulnerable times.”
