![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/packages/flash/multimedia/ICONS/transparent.png)
Robert Guillaume as Benson DuBois, left, celebrating his election as lieutenant governor in an episode of "Benson" in 1984.
ABC Photo Archives/ABC, via Getty Images; thumbnail, Associated Press, 1985
Robert Guillaume
Died on October 24, 2017 at age 89
Mr. Guillaume dreamed of being the first black tenor to sing at the Metropolitan Opera, but he settled for acting onstage and on television — and won Emmy Awards for playing the same character, Benson DuBois, on two different ABC series.
Notable Deaths 2017
Remembering Mary Tyler Moore, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lewis, David Rockefeller, Trisha Brown, Glen Campbell, Dick Gregory, Edith Windsor, Sam Shepard, Tom Petty and many others who died this year.