George R. Robertson, ‘Police Academy’ Actor, Dead at 89

George R. Robertson, the Canadian actor who police-chief-turned-commissioner Henry Hurst in the first six Police Academy films, has died. Robertson passed away Sunday, Jan. 29 at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, his family confirmed in an obituary. He was 89. No further information, including the beloved actor’s cause of death, was disclosed.
 
Born in Brampton, Ontario in April 1933, Robertson began his acting career in theater before booking small roles in several TV series during the late 1960s, Deadline reported. Some of his early roles included appearances on The F.B.I., The Most Deadly Game, and Cool Million. His big break came in the ’80s when he landed the role as Chief Henry Hurst in Police Academy, the 1984 cop film starring Steve Guttenberg. The movie was a massive hit and went on to spawn a franchise, with Robertson reprising his role in five additional films through Police Academy 6: City Under Siege in 1989. He did not appear in the Moscow-set 1994 installment, though he starred in one episode of the 1997-98 Police Academy series at CTV.

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After the film franchise wrapped, Robertson continued with his acting career, notably appearing as vice president Dick Cheney in the 2006 ABC miniseries The Path to 9/11. He also starred as Adm. William Leahy in the 1995 Showtime telefilm Hiroshima and portrayed Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater in Showtime’s The Reagans, starring James Brolin and Judy Davis, as well as Arkansas Sen. William Fulbright in FX’s The Pentagon Papers. Robertson also starred in small roles in three films that were nominated for the best picture Oscar – Airport (1970), Norma Rae (1979), and JFK (1991).
 
The actor’s other credits include a series regular role on the CTV drama series E.N.G. from 1989 through 1994, a recurring role on the 2001 Showtime drama series Leap Years, and the films National Lampoon’s Senior Trip (1995), Murder at 1600 (1997) and Still Mine (2012). In 1993, the CBC presented him with its Margaret Collier Award for his outstanding body of work.
 
Outside of acting, Robertson was also well-known for his humanitarian work. He once walked the length of southwest France, a distance of 328 miles, to raise money for an orphanage in Chiang Mai, Thailand. In 1990, he received the Danny Kaye UNICEF Canada Award after he, as Chief Hurst, traveled across Canada speaking to high school kids as a UNICEF ambassador. He was also awarded a Gemini Award as Humanitarian of the Year in 2004.
 
Robertson is survived by his wife of 61 years, Adele; daughters Sarah and Ellen; grandchildren Julia and William; and step-grandchildren Ariel, Gabe, Maddie, and Josh. The family requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Youth Without Shelter or UNICEF Canada.