LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Cliff Robertson: Charly Gordon
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A mentally challenged bakery worker, Charly (Cliff Robertson), becomes a subject of an experiment to increase his mental capacity. After he reaches genius level, he becomes sophisticated and charming; ... he realizes that the treatment is temporary, and that he will soon revert to his previous mental ability. Laboratory tests showed that similar procedures performed on lab rats (Algernon) had only temporary benefits lasting a few weeks, with the rat reverting to the previous state. Charly senses his mental faculties slipping away.
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Synopsis: In 1961, Cliff Robertson starred in The Two Worlds of Charley Gordon, a TV adaptation of Daniel Keyes' story Flowers for Algernon. Determined not to lose out on the film version of this play as he'd done with Days of Wine and Roses, Robertson bought up the movie rights to Keyes' story so that heRead More
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Robertson's relatively unremarkable movie career received a serious jolt with his portrayal of Charly Gordon, a mentally retarded bakery worker who becomes a genius after undergoing experimental brain surgery. Robertson gives an intense performance, particularly in the moments when a desperate Charly learns his intelligence is regressing. Robertson took the role of Charly in 1961 for an hour-long television adaptation of Daniel Keyes's short story Flowers for Algernon. After losing several movie roles that he had originated on television (e.g., Robertson's part in the TV version of Days of Wine and Roses went to Jack Lemmon in the movie), Robertson secured the film rights to Keyes's story and worked for seven years to attain financing. But despite winning the Oscar and appearing in a few good follow-up movies, Robertson's career as a leading man never truly took off. In 1977 Robertson blew the whistle on Columbia Pictures executive David Begelman's embezzlement scam after the actor discovered that Begelman had forged his signature on a $10,000 check.
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Cliff Robertson then assigned a new writer to the project, Stirling Silliphant (In the Heat of the Night [1967]), and William Goldman's script was shelved. Keyes had no idea until years later that William Goldman had written the draft he had rejected. It wasn’t until he picked up a copy of Adventures in the Screen Trade, William Goldman’s popular book, and saw that Goldman had devoted an entire chapter to his experience with writing Charly, which he credited with getting him started in the film business.
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A polished leading man, Robertson began his career in film and TV in the 1950s. It is said that he was chosen by President John F. Kennedy himself to portray JFK in the film P.T.-109 (1963). He won an Emmy for his performance in Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theater: The Game (1965). He won an Oscar for his portrayal of a mentally retarded man in Charly (1968) and wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the film J. W. Coop (1972). He played Hugh Hefner in Star 80 (1983) and starred in the TV series Falcon Crest (1983–84). He ... appeared in Escape from L.A.
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Robertson won the Best Actor Oscar in 1968 for playing Charly, a retarded man whose intelligence is increased in a scientific experiment. He later wrote, produced, directed, and starred in J.W. Coop, a small 1971 gem about a rough-luck rodeo cowboy. He played a CIA middle-management type in Three Days of the Condor (1975), and a haunted husband in Brian De Palma's best film, Obsession (1976).
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Charly Gordon