Peter Robbins (actor)
{{Short description|American actor (1956–2022)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Peter Robbins
| image = Peter Robbins, 1971.jpg
| caption = Robbins in 1971
| birth_name = Louis G. Nanasi
| birth_date = {{Birth date|mf=yes|1956|8|10}}
| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|mf=yes|2022|01|18|1956|8|10}}
| death_place = Oceanside, California, U.S.
| alma_mater = University of California, San Diego
| occupation = {{hlist|Actor|real estate broker}}
| years_active = 1963–1972
| relatives = Ahna Capri (sister)
| known_for = Voice of Charlie Brown
}}
Peter Robbins (born Louis G. Nanasi;{{cite news |last1=Warth |first1=Gary |title=COMIC-CON: Good grief: Local resident became voice of Charlie Brown 45 years ago. |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-comic-con-good-grief-local-resident-became-voice-2010jul25-story.html |access-date=December 9, 2014 |newspaper=The San Diego Union-Tribune |date=July 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720165709/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-comic-con-good-grief-local-resident-became-voice-2010jul25-story.html |archive-date=July 20, 2018 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |last=Andreeva |first=Nellie |date=January 26, 2022 |title=Peter Robbins Dies: Former Child Actor Who Voiced Charlie Brown Was 65 |url=https://deadline.com/2022/01/peter-robbins-dead-charlie-brown-1234919962/ |access-date=January 30, 2022 |website=Deadline Hollywood}} August 10, 1956 – January 18, 2022) was an American actor and real estate broker. Robbins gained national fame in the 1960s for being the first actor to voice Charlie Brown in the Peanuts animated specials.
Early life
Peter Robbins was born Louis G. Nanasi in Los Angeles, California, on August 10, 1956. He had Hungarian ancestry. Robbins graduated from the University of California, San Diego in 1979.{{cite news |last1=Clark|first1=Christine |title=Good Grief: Charlie Brown meets Iron Man at Comic-Con |url=http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/archive/newsrel/alumni/07-19Comic-Con.asp |access-date=December 9, 2014 |website=University of California, San Diego |date=July 19, 2010}} His sister was the actress Ahna Capri (Anna Marie Nanasi).{{cite web |url=http://for-your-eyes-only.com/Site/ACapri_obit.html |title=Anna Capri d. August 19, 2010 |website=Obituaries for Your Eyes Only}}
Career
Robbins first began acting in various films and television shows at the age of seven. As a child, he made a guest appearance as Elmer in the popular series The Munsters. At the age of nine, Robbins provided the voice of the eponymous character Charlie Brown, whom he considered to be his childhood hero,{{cite news |url=https://fox5sandiego.com/entertainment/charlie-brown-voice-actor-dies-at-65/ |title='Charlie Brown' voice actor dies at 65 |first=Phil |last=Blauer |website=Fox 5 San Diego |date=January 25, 2022 |accessdate=January 25, 2022}} in one television documentary, six Peanuts television specials and one movie from 1963 to 1969, including the film A Boy Named Charlie Brown and the television specials A Charlie Brown Christmas and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
At the age of fourteen, Robbins was replaced by younger child actors in the Peanuts specials produced after the 1960s, but his trademark scream of "AAUGH!", first used in A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969), continued to be used in later specials for Charlie Brown and other Peanuts characters.{{cite news |last1=Potempa |first1=Phillip |title=Hollywood's Hardy Boy, Nurse Ratched and Charlie Brown here for autographs |url=http://www.nwitimes.com/entertainment/columnists/offbeat/offbeat-with-phil-potempa-hollywood-s-hardy-boy-nurse-ratched/article_1891a684-d64d-57e6-8fe9-4d8de93bb887.html |access-date=December 9, 2014 |newspaper=The Times of Northwest Indiana |location=Munster |date=August 12, 2014}}
Robbins appeared in an episode of F Troop in 1966 entitled "The Sergeant and the Kid" and appeared in an episode of Get Smart as the mysterious Dr. T.{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/23/showbiz/charlie-brown-actor-arrested/?hpt=hp_bn9 |title=Good grief! Charlie Brown voice actor charged |work=CNN |date=January 24, 2013 |first=Alan |last=Duke |access-date=December 8, 2022}} He also appeared in the Sonny & Cher film, Good Times.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}
Robbins retired from the entertainment industry in 1972, and later pursued a career in real estate, with brief stints in radio.{{cite news |title='Great Pumpkin' Marks 40 Years on TV |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6388497 |access-date=March 22, 2025 |website=Morning Edition |date=October 27, 2006}} In 1996, he hosted a talk radio show in Palm Springs, California, at KPSL 1010 Talk Radio.{{cite news |last=Ortigas |first=Janet Grace|title=Charlie Brown goes to jail |url=http://guardianlv.com/2013/05/charlie-brown-goes-to-jail |access-date=December 9, 2014 |work=Guardian Liberty Voice |date=May 8, 2013}} By 2006, according to a broadcast by National Public Radio, he was managing real estate in Van Nuys.
Legal and health issues
On January 20, 2013, Robbins was arrested by San Diego County Sheriff's Department deputies at Homeland Security's Port of Entry in San Ysidro, California, while re-entering the United States, and charged with "four felony counts of making a threat to cause death or great bodily injury and one felony count of stalking." The four counts involved four victims, including a San Diego Police sergeant, whom Robbins reportedly threatened with bodily harm on January 13, 2013.{{cite news |title=Original voice of Charlie Brown arrested for threatening ex-girlfriend and her breast surgeon |first=Lisa |last=Brenner |url=http://www.scpr.org/blogs/news/2013/01/23/12163/charlie-brown-voice-actor-pleads-not-guilty-12-fel |work=KPCC News |date=January 23, 2013 |access-date=January 26, 2013}}{{cite news |title=Voice of 'Charlie Brown' arrested in San Diego |first=Susan |last=Shroder |url=http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jan/22/Voice-of-Charlie-Brown-arrested-in-San-Diego |newspaper=The San Diego Union Tribune |date=January 22, 2013 |access-date=January 26, 2013}}{{cite news |title=Voice actor for Charlie Brown arrested in Calif. |first=Julie |last=Watson |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/voice-actor-for-charlie-brown-arrested-in-calif/ |newspaper=Seattle Times |agency=Associated Press |date=January 23, 2013 |access-date=March 22, 2025}} He was held on $550,000 bond.{{cite news |url=http://www.3news.co.nz/Charlie-Brown-star-Peter-Robbins-arrested-for-alleged-stalking/tabid/418/articleID/284254/Default.aspx |work=3 News NZ |title=Charlie Brown star arrested for stalking |date=January 24, 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130222180613/http://www.3news.co.nz/Charlie-Brown-star-Peter-Robbins-arrested-for-alleged-stalking/tabid/418/articleID/284254/Default.aspx |archive-date=February 22, 2013}} On May 8, 2013, Robbins was sentenced to a year in jail for threatening his former girlfriend and stalking her plastic surgeon, but was allowed to log time in treatment instead. After release, he was sent to a residential drug treatment center.{{cite news |title="Charlie Brown" voice actor to serve sentence in rehab |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/charlie-brown-voice-actor-to-serve-sentence-in-rehab/ |work=CBS News |access-date=May 9, 2013 |first=Lisa |last=Rose |date=May 8, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509211701/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-207_162-57583606/charlie-brown-voice-actor-to-serve-sentence-in-rehab/ |archive-date=May 9, 2013}}
In 2015, Robbins was arrested for multiple probation violations, including drinking alcohol and failing to complete mandatory domestic violence classes. On June 5, 2015, he was ordered to undergo a mental health exam after an outburst during a court proceeding in San Diego.{{cite news |title=Former Charlie Brown actor lashes out at sentencing |url=https://www.cbs8.com/video/news/full-version-former-charlie-brown-actor-lashes-out-at-sentencing/509-501a7c64-83d0-4fa1-9b8b-0bc62879a7d2 |access-date=June 6, 2015 |publisher=KFMB News |date=June 5, 2015}}
On December 7, 2015, Robbins was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison as part of a plea agreement for sending threatening letters to the manager (and the manager's wife) of the mobile home park in which he lived in Oceanside.
Robbins had a lifelong battle with mental illness; having stated at previous hearings that he had bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia.{{cite news |title=Former 'Charlie Brown' voice sentenced to prison |first=Dana |last=Littlefield |url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/dec/07/peter-robbins-charlie-brown-sentenced/ |newspaper=The San Diego Union-Tribune |date=December 7, 2015 |access-date=March 22, 2025}} Robbins was incarcerated at the California Institution for Men in Chino and was transferred to a psychiatric hospital because of his mental state. He was released on parole in October 2019 after serving 80 percent of his sentence, on the conditions that he did not drink alcohol or take any illegal drugs.{{cite news |first=Phil |last=Blauer |title='Charlie Brown' actor speaks after release from prison |url=https://fox5sandiego.com/2019/10/17/charlie-brown-actor-speaks-after-release-from-prison/ |work=KSWB News |date=October 17, 2019 |access-date=October 18, 2019}}
Despite his personal struggles, he remained attached to Charlie Brown and even had a tattoo of Charlie Brown and Snoopy on his arm. By 2020, after finally receiving the correct medication for his lifetime bipolar disorder, Robbins was back, signing autographs of the Charlie Brown Christmas book in public appearances at Comic-Con conventions across the United States.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeJUS58ofYI |title=CHARLIE BROWN voice, Peter Robbins talks prison, bipolar, GalaxyCon and new book |via=YouTube |date=November 19, 2019 |first=Jon |last=Foss}}
He explained the path which led to his recovery in an October 2019 television interview with Fox 5 San Diego reporter Phil Blauer. Robbins also discussed his plans to write an autobiography titled Confessions of a Blockhead, detailing his life, his jail experiences, and his future.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nhkW_0ATEI |title=Voice of 'Charlie Brown' Speaks After Release from Prison |via=YouTube |date=October 18, 2019 |website=FOX 5 San Diego}} He was unable to finish the book before his death.{{cite web |url=https://www.torontomike.com/2022/02/peter-robbins-was-charlie-brown/ |title=Confessions of a Blockhead, Dog Meets Dog or Good Grief |website=Toronto Mike |date=February 20, 2022 |access-date=December 1, 2024}}
=Death=
Robbins committed suicide on January 18, 2022, at the age of 65.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/28/arts/television/peter-robbins-dead.html |title=Peter Robbins, Original Voice of Charlie Brown, Dies at 65 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 28, 2022 |access-date=January 28, 2022 |first=Neil |last=Vigdor |url-access=subscription}} His death was announced the following week on January 25, 2022.
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | A Ticklish Affair | Grover Martin | |
| rowspan="2"| 1966 | And Now Miguel | Pedro | |
| Moment to Moment | Timmy Stanton | ||
| 1967 | Good Times | Brandon | |
| 1969 | A Boy Named Charlie Brown | Charlie Brown | Voice |
| 1970 | The Boatniks | Boy on Boat | Uncredited |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | A Boy Named Charlie Brown | Charlie Brown (voice) | Television Documentary |
| rowspan="6"| 1964 | Rawhide | Mike | Episode: "Incident of the Pied Piper" |
| The Donna Reed Show | Peewee | Episode: "Teamwork" | |
| Vacation Playhouse | Richard | Episode: "Hey Teacher" | |
| The Munsters | Elmer | Episode: "Rock-a-Bye Munster" | |
| The Farmer's Daughter | Josh | Episode: "Sorak for Yourself John Katy" | |
| The Joey Bishop Show | Other Child, Peter | 2 episodes | |
| 1965 | A Charlie Brown Christmas | Charlie Brown (voice) | Television special |
| rowspan="4"| 1966 | Charlie Brown's All Stars! | Charlie Brown (voice) | Television special |
| Love on a Rooftop | Ronnie | Episode: "The Chocolate Hen" | |
| It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown | Charlie Brown (voice) | Television film | |
| ABC Stage 67 | Herbert | Episode: "Noon Wine" | |
| rowspan="4"| 1967 | The F.B.I. | Jobie | Episode: "The Raid" |
| F Troop | Joey Walker | Episode: "The Sergeant and the Kid" | |
| You're in Love, Charlie Brown | Charlie Brown (voice) | Television special | |
| Get Smart | Dr. Tattledove | Episode: "The Mysterious Dr. T" | |
| 1968 | He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown | Charlie Brown (voice) | Television special |
| 1968–1969 | Blondie | Alexander Bumstead | 16 episodes |
| 1969 | It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown | Charlie Brown (voice) | Television special |
| 1970 | Bracken's World | David | Episode: "Nude Scene" |
| 1971 | Dinah's Place | Himself | |
| 1972 | My Three Sons | Jeffrey Fredericks
| Episode: "The Birth of Arfie" | |
| 1985 | It's Your 20th Television Anniversary, Charlie Brown | rowspan="6"| Himself
|rowspan="3"| Documentary | |
| 1990 | You Don't Look 40, Charlie Brown | ||
| 2001 | The Making of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" | ||
| rowspan="2"| 2005 | The Tonight Show with Jay Leno | 1 episode | |
| TV Land's Top Ten | 1 episode | ||
| 2021 | Abq Comic-Con! Documentary | Documentary |
Awards
{{more citations needed|section|date=January 2022}}
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Awards and nominations ! Year ! Award ! Category ! Title ! Result |
| 1971
| rowspan="4" | Grammy Awards | {{nom}} |
| 1978
| Best Recording for Children | {{nom}} |
| 1979
| Best Recording for Children | {{nom}} |
| 1980
| Best Recording for Children | You're in Love, Charlie Brown | {{nom}} |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|id=0730435|name=Peter Robbins}}
- {{tcmdb name|id=162637|name=Peter Robbins}}
- {{Discogs artist|Peter Robbins (2)}}
- [http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz0002w5tn Portrait of Peter Robbins, 1971]. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
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Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:American male child actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:American male voice actors
Category:American people of Hungarian descent
Category:American businesspeople in real estate
Category:Businesspeople from Los Angeles
Category:Male actors from Los Angeles
Category:People from Oceanside, California
Category:People with bipolar disorder
Category:People with schizophrenia
Category:Prisoners and detainees of California
Category:Suicides in California