Robby Benson (born Robin David Segal; January 21, 1956) is an American actor, director, and musician. He rose to prominence as a teen idol in the late 1970s, appearing in the films Ode to Billy Joe (1976), One on One (1977) and Ice Castles (1978). He subsequently voiced the Beast in the Disney animated film Beauty and the Beast (1991) and its numerous sequels, spin-offs and most Disney media. Benson has directed in television, including six episodes of the sitcom Friends. He recently appeared in a recurring role as Dr. Mauer in Apple TV+'s Severance.
In addition to acting and directing, Benson is an activist in the field of heart research, having undergone four open-heart surgeries since age 28 to correct congenital aortic valve defects and related damage. In 2012, he published a memoir recounting his medical journey and numerous surgeries.
Early life and education 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. His family is Jewish. When Benson was five years old, his family relocated to New York City, where he was raised. He subsequently took his mother's name as his stage name when he was 10. Benson attended the Lincoln Square Academy in Manhattan, where he graduated at age fourteen as the class valedictorian.
Career 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 play Zelda followed by the musical The Rothschilds (1970). 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. 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. 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 which he co-wrote with his father Jerry Segal, and the TV movie The Death of Richie. In 1978, he co-starred in The End and Ice Castles. Benson, who had never ice skated before, learned to skate in order to film the movie, which had numerous skating scenes, including ice hockey. In 1980, Benson starred in Die Laughing and Tribute.
In 1981, he costarred in The Chosen, based on the book of the same name by Chaim Potok. The New York Times gave the film a mixed review, but noted that Benson's character Danny Saunders was "full of a gentle inquisitiveness that cannot help but win the audience's sympathy." 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. In 1991, he starred as the voice of Beast in the animated Disney film Beauty and the Beast, directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, and starring alongside Paige O'Hara as Belle. Later in the 1990s he voiced lead character J.T. Marsh on the sci-fi cartoon series Exosquad.
His 2007 novel Who Stole the Funny?: A Novel of Hollywood landed Benson on the Los Angeles Times Bestseller list. Benson's medical memoir I'm Not Dead ... Yet! was released in June 2012. Outside of acting, Benson is also a musician and composer. He has composed songs in several films and has also won an RIAA Gold Records Award for writing the song "We Are Not Alone" performed by Karla DeVito on the soundtrack of the 1985 John Hughes film The Breakfast Club.
Benson has been a professor at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, the University of Utah, the University of South Carolina and Indiana University.
Personal life 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. Together they have two children, daughter Lyric (b. 1983) and son Zephyr (b. 1992). He practices Transcendental Meditation.
Health problems and activism While a teenager, Benson was diagnosed with a heart murmur caused by a bicuspid aortic valve defect. 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. He received a bovine valve transplant, which lasted fifteen years. After the bovine valve failed, Benson had a second surgery in 2000, during which he underwent the Ross procedure. For six years after his second surgery, Benson had consistent struggles breathing. 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. In 2010, Benson received a delicate fourth surgery known as the "reverse Ross procedure" to correct damage to his heart.
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. Benson also has spoken about his dealing with post-surgical cardiac depression, commenting after his fourth surgery:
Filmography
Film + List of Robby Benson film credits Year Title Role Notes 1967Wait Until Dark Boy Tossing Ball Uncredited 1973Jory Jory Walden Jeremy Jeremy Jones 1975 Lucky Lady Billy Weber 1976 Ode to Billy Joe Billy Joe McAllister 1977 One on One Henry Steele 1978 The End Father Dave Benson Ice Castles Nick Peterson 1979 Walk Proud Emilio Mendez 1980 Die Laughing Pinsky 1980 Tribute Jud Templeton 1981 The Chosen Danny Saunders 1982 Movie Madness Brent Falcone 1983 Running Brave Billy Mills 1984 Harry & Son Howard Keach 1985 City Limits Carver 1987 Rent-a-Cop Andrew Pitts 1989 White Hot Scott Also director 1990 Modern Love Greg Also writer, director and producer 1991 Beauty and the Beast The Beast/Prince Adam (voice) A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. 1992 Invasion of Privacy Alex Pruitt 1993 Deadly Exposure Max Pierce 1997 Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted ChristmasThe Beast/Prince Adam (voice) Direct-to-video 1998 Belle's Magical World 1999 Belle's Tales of Friendship 2000 Dragonheart: A New Beginning Drake (voice) The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus Young Santa Claus (voice) 2001 Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse The Beast/Prince Adam (voice) Direct-to-video 2002 Just a Dream Dr. Sturbuck 2004 MXP: Most Xtreme Primate Edward 2011 Brave New World Damon Heller 2019 Apple Seed Sirom2023Once Upon a StudioThe Beast/Prince Adam (voice)Short film
Television + List of Robby Benson television credits Year Title Role Notes 1971–1972 Search for Tomorrow Bruce Carson 2 episodes 1974 Remember When Frankie Hodges Television film All the Kind Strangers John Virginia Hill Leroy Small 1975 Death Be Not Proud Johnny Gunther 1976 One Day at a Time Ken Anderson Episode: "The College Man" The Last of Mrs. Lincoln Tad Lincoln Television film 1977 The Death of Richie Richie Werner Our Town George Gibbs 1982 Two of a Kind Noel 'Nolie' Minor 1985 California Girls Nathan Bowzer Television film Alfred Hitchcock Presents Ed Episode: "Method Actor" The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible David (voice) Episode: "David and Goliath" 1986 Tough Cookies Det. Cliff Brady 6 episodes David and Goliath David (voice) Video short 1989 For Jenny with Love Bud TV series 1990 The Hitchhiker Bart Allen Episode: "Tourist Trap" 1991–1993 The Legend of Prince Valiant Prince Valiant (voice) 65 episodes1991Evening ShadeSkeeter HatfieldEpisode: "Winning Isn't Everything" 1992 P.J. Sparkles Blaze (voice) Television film Batman: The Animated Series Wilkes (voice) Episode: "P.O.V." Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa Additional voices 3 episodes Homewrecker David Whitson Television film Lincoln William Stoddard (voice) 1993 Road to Avonlea Jonathan Ravenhurst Blackwell Episode: "The Disappearance" At Home with the Webbers Roger Swade Television film Precious Victims Robert Sims 1993–1994 Exosquad Lt./Lt. Cmdr J.T. Marsh (voice) 52 episodes 1994 The Magic School Bus Archibald Seedplot (voice) Episode: "Goes to Seed" 1996 O. Henry's Christmas Jim Dillingham Young Television film 1996 Caroline in the City Robby Benson Episode: "Caroline and the Movie" 1996–1997 Sabrina the Teenage Witch Edward Spellman 2 episodes 1997 Seinfeld Vincent (voice) Episode: "The Comeback" 2000 The Christmas Lamb Asah (voice) Animated television film 2001 The Huntress Dana Weatherly Episode: "Who Are You?" 2001–2002 House of Mouse The Beast/Prince Adam (voice) 7 episodes 2002–2003 American Dreams Professor Witt 8 episodes 2019 A Feeling of Home Wes Porter Hallmark Channel Television Film 2025 Severance Dr. Mauer 4 episodes
Video games + List of Robby Benson video game creditsVideo games Year Title Role Notes 1992 King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow Prince Alexander (voice) 2000 Disney's Beauty and the Beast Magical Ballroom The Beast/Prince (voice) 2002 Kingdom Hearts 2006 Kingdom Hearts II 2011 Kinect Disneyland Adventures 2022 Cookie Run Kingdom Beast Cookie (voice) 2023 Disney Speedstorm The Beast/Prince (voice)Disney Dreamlight Valley
Theatre + List of Robby Benson theatre credits Year Title Role Notes1969ZeldaDavid HartmanBroadway 1970 The Rothschilds Young Solomon Rothschild 1981 The Pirates of Penzance Frederic 2004 Open Heart Jimmy Off-Broadway
Production credits
Director 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)