Actor Cliff Robertson, known by the majority of our readers as the Uncle Ben Parker to Tobey Maguire‘s Peter Parker in director Sam Raimi‘s trilogy of Spider-Man movies, died of natural causes this past Saturday, just one day after his 88th birthday. Robertson starred in over 70 films during his career spanning almost seven decades.

Robertson previously stated on his own website,

“Since Spiderman 1 and 2, I seem to have a whole new generation of fans. That in itself is a fine residual.”

Robertson was personally chosen by John F. Kennedy to portray the president in the 1963 movie P.T. 109, which was the story of then Lt. John F. Kennedy’s heroic World War II exploits as the Captain of a P.T. Boat. He also won an Academy Award for his starring role in the 1968 film Charly, which was an adaptation of the Daniel Keyes novel Flowers for Algernon.

In one of his likely lesser-known roles, Robertson portrayed the villainous gunfighter named Shame on four episodes of the 1966 Batman television series with Adam West. Shame was known as the conniving cowboy of crime with his trademark white stetson and trusty six shooters, who was quite clever despite his dimwitted look.

Robertson is survived by his daughter, Stephanie Saunders, his half-brother; and his granddaughter.

Farewell Uncle Ben, and thank you for teaching a whole new generation that “With great power comes great responsibility“. You will be missed.