Charles "Charlie" Robinson is an American theater, film and television actor. He is best known for his role on the NBC sitcom Night Court as Macintosh "Mac" Robinson, the clerk of the court and a Vietnam War veteran. Although his most frequent on-screen billing has been Charlie Robinson, Night Court had credited him as Charles Robinson throughout his 1984–1992 stint as Mac. In two of his earliest film appearances, 1974's Sugar Hill and 1975's The Black Gestapo, he was credited as Charles P. Robinson. Some of his credits have been occasionally commingled with those of Charles Knox Robinson who, billed as Charles Robinson, was featured in numerous films and TV episodes between 1958 and 1971.
Early career
A native of Houston, Robinson has been performing since the 1960s, is a member of the Actors Studio, and is considered by playwright Lyle Kessler to be "one of the great American Actors". In his early career, he was a singer; as a teenager with the group Archie Bell and the Drells, and later with a group called Southern Clouds of Joy. In the late 1960s, Charlie attended, and was enrolled in, Studio 7, an acting school operated by Chris Wilson at the Houston Music Theatre. He stayed with Chris when the school was moved to another location in Southwest Houston where mainly children's theatre was presented. Charlie was cast in a made for TV production and soon moved to the Hollywood area where his career took off.
Later career
Robinson's acting credits include appearances in Black Gestapo, Emergency!, The White Shadow, Flamingo Road, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, The Game, Touched by an Angel, and Antwone Fisher. Robinson was cast in the role of Newdell in the NBC comedy Buffalo Bill. Not the show it was expected to be, Buffalo Bill was canceled after one season and replaced by Night Court. Robinson was cast as court clerk Mac Robinson, after the first season in 1984, when Karen Austin, who played the original court clerk, left the cast. Robinson played the role on Night Court from 1984 until the show ended in 1992. He also directed three episodes of the series. From 1992 to 1995, Robinson co-starred on the sitcom Love & War, replacing John Hancock who died a few episodes into the series run. Robinson played character Bud Harper in Home Improvement, and has appeared in many other television shows including House, The Bernie Mac Show, My Wife and Kids, Soul Food, Charmed, Hart of Dixie, How I Met Your Mother and My Name Is Earl. He has done commercial work for NEXTEL in which he is asking a worker if he's "agitating my dots" after he walks in on two other dispatchers staring at the dots, which represented delivery workers, on a computer screen. He also has done commercials for Old Spice, where he plays the head coach of the NFL'sDenver Broncos, where he appears with perennial All-Pro Bronco linebackerVon Miller.
20002016
In 2010, Robinson worked at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and co-starred in the film Jackson which was directed by J.F. Lawton. Robinson appeared as "Troy" in August Wilson's Fences at Southern California'sSouth Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa from January 22, 2010 until February 21, 2010. In September 2013, he returned to the theater to portray Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman. In 2015, he played Mr. Munson, the blind tenant on Mom whom Bonnie avoids helping out with apartment issues.
