Police Academy actor George R. Robertson, who played Chief Hurst in a whopping six films in the franchise, has died at the age of 89.
His family informed the hollywood reporter who died in a Toronto hospital last Sunday and a memorial is underway for the latter part of March.
The Police Academy franchise began in 1984 and spawned seven films over the next decade, with Robertson in the first six.
Set in an unspecified American city, the movies revolve around a police academy that has been told it must accept all recruits who want to join, even the craziest ones.
Robertson turned in a memorable performance as a member of the old guard who longed for the days when the police “everyone had Johnsons.”
Dear Departed: Police Academy actor George R. Robertson, who played Chief Hurst in a whopping six films in the franchise, has died at the age of 89; photographed in 2012
Unforgettable: Robertson delivered a memorable performance on Police Academy as a member of the old guard who longs for the days when the police ‘everyone had Johnsons’
Born in Brampton, Ontario in 1933, he was a prize-winning athlete in his school days before crossing the border and attending Columbia University’s business school.
While there, he met his future wife, Adele, to whom he was married for 61 years until her death last month.
Despite having a master’s degree in business, he felt drawn to the stage and became a stage actor before working in films.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, she landed small roles in such legendary films as Rosemary’s Baby, Airport, and Norma Rae.
In the mid-1980s, he landed his most beloved role as Chief Hurst, who is initially resistant to changes in his department, but later warms to the rookies.
Over the course of the film franchise, his character Chief Hurst manages to rise through the ranks to the position of Commissioner.
Steve Guttenberg directed the first films as the handsome criminal Carey Mahoney, who enters the police academy as an alternative to jail.
The cast included former football player Bubba Smith, prolific character actor George Gaynes, and a young Kim Cattrall long before her Sex And The City days.
Iconic: Robertson appears in the original 1984 Police Academy image between prolific actor George Gaynes (left) and leading man Steve Guttenberg (right)
Throwback: Robertson (right) appears in his sixth and final Police Academy film with co-stars (from left) David Graf, Michael Winslow and Leslie Easterbrook
‘Everybody Had Johnsons’: Robertson, whose character is initially resistant to change, appears in the first film with GW Bailey (left) and George Gaynes (centre)
Pilar: Robertson stayed with the franchise through its first six films, appearing in the fourth with Bobcat Goldthwait (left) and Gaynes (center)
Robertson left the franchise after the sixth film, refusing to stick around for the seventh and final film, 1994’s Police Academy: Mission To Moscow.
However, his acting career progressed apace, including with a role as Barry Goldwater in the 2003 film The Reagans, starring James Brolin and Judy Davis.
He returned to a political role as Dick Cheney in ABC’s controversial two-part series The Path To 9/11, broadcast in 2006 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the jihad attacks.
Robertson’s landmark papers included Admiral Leahy in 1995’s Hiroshima and Senator Fulbright in 2003’s The Pentagon Papers.
He even played a fictional president in the 1995 film National Lampoon’s Senior Trip, the feature film debut of future Marvel heartthrob Jeremy Renner.
In addition to his acting career, he devoted himself to humanitarian work, including as a UNICEF ambassador, in which capacity he spoke to schools dressed as Chief Hurst.
In 1990, a year after he starred in his last Police Academy film, he received UNICEF Canada’s Danny Kaye Award.
Robertson also raised money for an orphanage in Thailand by walking a staggering 328-mile route through southwestern France.
His native Canada congratulated him on his work, with the CBC awarding him the Margaret Collier Lifetime Achievement Award and the Canadian Academy of Film and Television Arts awarding him the Gemini Award for humanitarian work.
He continued acting well into the 2010s, playing his final role in the 2017 National Geographic film Cradle To Grave about the life-long aging process.
Trouper: He continued acting well into the 2010s, playing his final role in the 2017 National Geographic film Cradle To Grave about the life-long aging process (pictured)
Giving back: Robertson, pictured in 2001, also dedicated himself to humanitarian work for which he received honours, including UNICEF Canada’s Danny Kaye Award in his native country.