Emmy-award winning actor Robert Guillaume has passed on after complications from prostate cancer. The veteran actor, who is known in the gaming community for his role of Eli Vance inHalf-Life 2, was 89.
A prominent character throughout theHalf-Lifeseries, Eli Vance was a researcher for Black Mesa who goes on to become a key member of the resistance. He becomes a father-like figure to protagonist Gordon Freeman, and has a memorable - and emotional - sendoff in the sequel’s second episode.
Robert Guillaume was well-known for his role as Benson DuBois from bothSoapandBenson, two separate television shows which spanned 11 seasons in all. Robert would go on to earn two Emmys for his role in both shows, becoming the first African-American performer to claim the Best Actor in a Comedy Series award. Guillaume, who was born in Missouri, also played the role of Rafiki inThe Lion King, which he reprised in videogame form forKingdom Hearts 2.
After the release ofHalf-Life 2: Episode 2in 2007, anticipation for the third episode hit an all-time high. Unfortunately for gamers everywhere, Valve went dark on the progress of the third episode, a project that has evidently never come to fruition. A former Valve writer released a supposedscript forHalf-LifeEpisode 3this year, which is as much closure as fans can hope for regarding the franchise.
AfterEli Vance’s chapter closedin theHalf-Lifestoryline, Robert Guillaume continued to take acting roles well into his 80s. His last role was in 2013, in a short film calledOff The Beach. The actor had an astounding 98 credits to his name, several of which were multi-episode arcs across a variety of television shows. It goes without saying that the film industry has lost a well-known and respected veteran actor this week, and gamers have lost both a father-figure in Eli Vance and a memorable friend in Rafiki.
