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.^[2] His family is Jewish.^[3][4] When Benson was five years old, his family relocated to New York City, where he was raised.^[2] He subsequently took his mother's name as his stage name when he was 10.^[4][5] Benson attended the Lincoln Square Academy in Manhattan, where he graduated at age fourteen as the class valedictorian.^[2]

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).^[6] Benson had an early role on the daytime soap Search for Tomorrow (1971–1972). 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.^[7] He had an appearance in a 1973 commercial for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups alongside Donny Most who would later co-star in Happy Days.

In 1975, Benson appeared in Death Be Not Proud and Lucky Lady.^[7] 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^[7] (which he co-wrote with his father and needed no double for the authentic looking college basketball scenes due to his prowess at the game) and the TV movie The Death of Richie. In 1978, he co-starred in The End and Ice Castles.^[7] Benson, who had never ice skated before, learned to skate in order to film the movie, which had numerous skating scenes, including ice hockey.^[8] In 1980, Benson starred in Die Laughing and Tribute.^[9]

In 1981, he costarred in The Chosen, based on the book of the same name by Chaim Potok.^[7][8] 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."^[10][11] Benson played Olympic 10,000-meter gold medalist Billy Mills in the 1983 film Running Brave. From the filming of this movie Benson implemented his training for the 1983 New York City Marathon, completing the race in 3:05:15.^[12] In 1991, he starred as the voice of Beast in the animated Disney film Beauty and the Beast. Later in the 1990s he voiced lead character J.T. Marsh on the sci-fi cartoon series Exosquad.^[13]

His 2007 novel Who Stole the Funny?: A Novel of Hollywood landed Benson on the Los Angeles Times Bestseller list.^[14] Benson's medical memoir I'm Not Dead ... Yet! was released in June 2012.^[15] Outside of acting, Benson is also a musician and composer.^[16] He has composed songs in several films and has also won a RIAA Gold Records award for the song "We Are Not Alone" in the John Hughes film The Breakfast Club.^[16]

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.^[17] It was announced he would serve as a professor of Practice in the fall of 2013 at Indiana University.^[18] Benson left the university after the Spring 2016 semester when his three-year contract expired.^[19]

Benson has been married to singer and actress Karla DeVito since July 11, 1982. The pair met while starring together in The Pirates of Penzance.^[20] Together they have two children, daughter Lyric (b. 1983) and son Zephyr (b. 1992).^[21] He practices Transcendental Meditation.^[8]

Health problems and activism edit

While a teenager, Benson was diagnosed with a heart murmur caused by a bicuspid aortic valve defect.^[22] He began experiencing symptoms such as dizziness and losing consciousness in his late twenties, and subsequently underwent open-heart surgery in October 1984 to repair the valve defect.^[23][24] He received a bovine valve transplant, which lasted fifteen years.^[25] After the bovine valve failed, Benson had a second surgery in 2000,^[26] during which he underwent the Ross procedure. For six years after his second surgery, Benson had consistent struggles breathing.^[25] He subsequently underwent a third open-heart surgery, during which it was discovered that his breathing problems were caused by the previous procedure causing his aortic valve to buckle and close.^[25] In 2010, Benson received a delicate fourth surgery known as the "reverse Ross procedure" to correct damage to his heart.^[27]

Benson 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.^[28] Benson also has spoken about his dealing with post-surgical cardiac depression, commenting after his fourth surgery:

They still saw your chest right down the middle, but they've done it [to me] enough that you no longer think about it as life-threatening. It's just a very tough surgery to go through. Doctors have also gotten better at helping you through the healing process. How we heal and how we deal with cardiac depression and how we can jump start our lives and get back on track. Doctors used to never talk about things like that and now they do.^[27]

Film edit

Television edit

Video games edit

Director edit

• 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)
• Billy: The Early Years (2008)

Producer edit

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

Writer edit

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

Composer edit

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

Singles edit

• "Blue Balloon (The Hourglass Song)" (1973)
• "Hey Everybody" (1974)
• "A Rock and Roll Song" (1975)
• "Adios Yesterday" (1979)
• "All I Want Is Love" (1980)

• Official website
• Robby Benson at IMDb
• Robby Benson at the Internet Broadway Database
• Robby Benson at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Robby Benson at the TCM Movie Database
• Robby Benson at Rotten Tomatoes
• Robby Benson at AllMovie