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”They gave me an incredible amount of freedom. I didn’t want Beast to be a cartoon character. I played it as though I were doing a Broadway show. As if this was a living person,” Robby told Movieweb.
Robby was already a very experienced voice actor when he landed the job as the Beast in 1991. He had started working with voice acting when he was 14 – but starring as the Beast in the Disney classic made Robby an icon, and it has immortalized him in a way. The film is still very popular, and Beauty and the Beast remains one of Broadway’s biggest successes of the current era.
Whenever video games or other projects involving the Beast are to be released, it’s 67-year-old Robby who usually does the voice.
”I’m always honored. They always come to me. They are very loyal. But I am sure, one day, they will find a sound alike. And pay them cheaper, and kick me out of the loop (laughs). Until that happens, I want to be the guy,” he explained.
The role became crucial for Robby, who had felt hexed by his looks. He wanted to be appreciated for his artistry – but Disney initially delayed the announcement of his name in the cast. Producers apparently feared that people wouldn’t like their choice.
Unfortunately, Robby has experienced some highs and lows in his career. The hardships have often been health-related, beginning in his teenage years.
As a young boy, Robby was diagnosed with a heart murmur – the actor first began experiencing symptoms in his late twenties. He started feeling dizzy at times, and once, he even lost consciousness.
”I remember passing out and was thinking, ’Wow, this is serious. But I better not tell anyone,” he said.
One of my greatest honors as an actor was playing Billy Mills in the movie Running Brave. Karla and I love Billy and his wife Pat, they are incredible people.Here is a pic from the film. xoxo- R
Afraid of losing his job as an actor, he told many of his colleagues that he suffered from indigestion and fatigue. But while shooting The Chosen, Robby opened up and talked with his co-star, Rod Steiger, about his heart condition.
”He said that if anything were to happen to my heart, to never let anyone know,” Robby recalled. “It’s career suicide.”
On the set of Die Laughing, the actor fell very ill, and soon understood that he had to seek medical attention. Robby was just about to make the leap from teen idol to established star in Hollywood – so he didn’t want to tell anyone about what the doctors had found on his heart years before.
But after almost collapsing on location during the filming of Die Laughing, he was forced to act. All this led to him undergoing open-heart surgery in 1984. The surgeons repaired a valve defect and according to reports, the procedure went ‘extremely well.’