Robert Allan Clothier (October 21, 1921 – February 10, 1999) was a prominent Canadian stage and television actor most famous for his role on the long running CBC television show, The Beachcombers. He portrayed Bruno Gerussi's rival beachcomber, Relic – a clumsy man of Welsh descent who lived on a house boat and used his speedboat to outrun and challenge Nick's claims to logs.
At the age of 18, and at the start of World War II, Clothier enlisted in the Canadian Army and was seriously injured in a plane crash south of Vancouver, British Columbia just as the war was ending in 1945. Clothier then studied Architecture at the University of British Columbia followed by a stay in England studying theatre. Clothier returned to British Columbia, eventually settling in the Capilano Highlands area of North Vancouver, and became well-known in the Vancouver area as a stage actor and an accomplished sculptor and painter. He landed the memorable role of Relic, the curmudgeonly, unscrupulous rival of Nick Adonidas in The Beachcombers and became a household face as it originally aired from 1972 to 1990, the longest running Canadian television drama of all time. Despite Relic's role as Nick's antagonist, his character was well-loved by viewers who enjoyed his antics and his eventual comeuppance.
After The Beachcombers ended its lengthy run, Clothier continued to perform in TV and film productions made in Canada, including two episode of the American series The X-Files (which initially was filmed in Vancouver).
In 1995, the North Shore Arts Commission, of North Vancouver, British Columbia, honoured Clothier with its first FANS award for his contribution to the arts.
In 1996, Clothier suffered a stroke and was in poor health until his death in 1999 though he taught himself to paint with his left hand and spent some of his last years in a dispute with CBC over royalties he believed were owed to him for reruns and overseas sales of The Beachcombers.
He and his wife, Shirley Broderick, had two children, a daughter, Jessica, and a son, John and a granddaughter, Lucy.
See also
The Beachcombers
External links
Robert Clothier at IMDb
Northern Stars: Robert Clothier
North Shore News obituary
CBC Radio obituary
Early photographs of Robert Clothier at UBC Historical Photographs
Beachcombers at the Museum of Broadcast Communications
CBC's New Beachcombers site
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Clothier"
Categories: 1921 births | 1999 deaths | Canadian television actors | People from Skeena-Queen Charlotte Regional District
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