Manny The Movie Guy /

Robertson, a native of La Jolla, California, had already won an Emmy when he had his moment of big-screen recognition in 1968 -- 13 years after his feature debut in "Picnic." Though he played JFK as a young naval officer in "PT 109 " - released five months before Dealey Plaza -- and gave an icy turn (opposite Henry Fonda) as an unscrupulous presidential candidate in the 1964 film of Gore Vidal's play "The Best Man," Robertson won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance as a mentally retarded man whose journey to genius is hauntingly short in "Charly."

Adapted from "Flowers for Algernon," a short story and novel by Daniel Keyes that mixes humanism and science fantasy, the film would have allowed a showcase for flourishes, a choice Robertson admirably declined. The maudlin pre-genius sections of "Charly" may feel left over from the days of live television, but Robertson let the audience see a wounded pride that doesn't seem to register by the man experiencing it. After a medical procedure elevates Charly's I.Q. before stripping it away, Robertson goes from arrogance to humility to acceptance in a solitary, contemplative way.

At the Academy Awards in early 1969 -- the first time the ceremony was held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion -- Robertson beat out Alan Arkin for "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter," Peter O' Toole (nominated for a third time) for "The Lion in Winter," Alan Bates for "The Fixer," and Ron Moody, up for that year's Best Picture winner, "Oliver!."

He was on location in the Philippines shooting the war drama "Too Late the Hero," and chose not to fly back to Los Angeles as he thought he had no chance of winning for "Charly." As Robertson recounted years later, his co-star Michael Caine, listening to the event on the radio, burst into Robertson's trailer after his name was announced, proclaiming, "You son of a bitch, you won the damn award!"

In the '70s and '80s, he gave well-pitched paranoic performances in Sydney Pollack's "Three Days of the Condor" (1975) and Brian De Palma's romantic thriller "Obsession" (1976), and was perfectly cast as Hugh Hefner in "Star 80," Bob Fosse's 1983 drama about slain Playboy playmate Dorothy Stratton.

But his supporting role in "Spider-Man" utilized a career's worth of accumulated decency, warmth and resolve. Though Uncle Ben is murdered in the first film - a comic-book touchstone and the impetus for Ben's nephew Peter to become a champion of justice - the character was seen in flashbacks and visions in director Sam Raimi's two sequels.

Ben will be played by Robertson's fellow liberal firebrand, Martin Sheen, in next year's "Amazing Spider-Man" reboot. Yet Robertson, tapping into 40 years of benevolence and finesse, made lines about power and responsibility ring true.