Early career

Robinson has been performing since the 1960s, is a member of the Actors Studio, and is considered by playwright Lyle Kessler to be "one of the great American Actors." In his early career, he was a singer; as a teenager with the group Archie Bell and the Drells, and later with a group called Southern Clouds of Joy. In the late 1960s, Charlie attended, and was enrolled in, Studio 7, an acting school operated by Chris Wilson at the Houston Music Theatre. He stayed with Chris when the school was moved to another location in Southwest Houston where mainly children's theatre was presented. Charlie was cast in a made for TV production and soon moved to the Hollywood area where his career took off.

Later career

Robinson's credits include appearances in Black Gestapo, The White Shadow, Flamingo Road, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, "The Game, "Touched by an Angel, and Antwone Fisher. Robinson was cast in the role on Newdell in the NBC comedy Buffalo Bill. Not the hit it was expected to be, Buffalo Bill was canceled after one season and replaced by Night Court. Robinson was cast as court clerk Mac Robinson, after the first season in 1984, when Karen Austin, who played the original court clerk, left the cast. Robinson played the role on Night Court from 1984 until its end in 1992.

He also directed three episodes of the series. From 1992 to 1995, Robinson co-starred on the sitcom Love & War, replacing John Hancock who died a few episodes into the series run. Robinson played recurrent character Bud Harper in Home Improvement, and has appeared in many other television shows including House, The Bernie Mac Show, My Wife and Kids, Soul Food, Charmed, How I Met Your Mother and My Name Is Earl.

He has done commercial work for NEXTEL. He was asking a worker if he's "agitating my dots" after he walks in on two other dispatchers staring at the dots, which represented delivery workers, on a computer screen.

2000-2010

In 2010, Robinson worked at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and co-starred in the film on Jackson (2008) which was directed by J.F. Lawton. Robinson appeared as "Troy" in August Wilson's Fences at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, California from January 22, 2010 until February 21, 2010.

Awards and nominations

Robinson received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series.

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	Drive, He Said	Jollop
1971	Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law	Cal Morgan
1971	Ironside	Bernie Simmons
1975	The Black Gestapo	Colonel Kojah
1975	Caribe	Kishara, the Assassin
1977	A Killing Affair	Buck Fryman
1977	The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald	Melvin Johnson
1978	Gray Lady Down	McAllister
1978	The White Shadow	Jackie Solomon
1979	Lou Grant	Don Vet	TV Series
1979	Roots: The Next Generations	Luke Bettiger	TV Mini-Series
1979	Buffalo Soldiers	Private Wright	TV Movie
1981	Flamingo Road	Phil	TV Series
1982	Hill Street Blues	Roy	TV Series (1 Episode)
1982	Rehearsal for Murder	The Second Officer
1982	St. Elsewhere	Bill Austin	TV Series (1 Episode)
1983-1984	Buffalo Bill	Newdell	TV Series
1984	The River	Truck
1986	Hotel	TV Series (1 Episode)
1988	Crash Course	Larry Pearle	TV Movie
1990	Murder C.O.D.	Lieutenant Silk	TV Movie
1984 - 1992	Night Court	Mac Robinson	TV Series (Seasons 2-9)
1993	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Sam Raynor	TV Series (1 Episode)
1995	The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air	Ernest	TV Series (1 Episode)
1992 - 1995	Love & War	Abe Johnson	TV Series
1996	Ink	Ernie Trainor	TV Series
1996	The John Larroquette Show	Norm	TV Series (1 Episode)
1996	Project: ALF	Dr. Stanley	TV Movie
1996	In the House	Major	TV Series (1 Episode)
1996	The Crew	Reverend Edwards	TV Series (1 Episode)
1997-1998	Malcolm & Eddie	Marcus McGee	TV Series (2 Episodes)
1998	Buddy Faro	El Jefe	TV Series
1998	Land of the Free	Matt McCaster (McCuster)
1999	Beowulf	Weaponsmaster	Movie
1995-1999	Home Improvement	Bud Harper	TV Series (9 Episodes)
2001	The Trouble with Normal	Mr. Lindquist	TV Series (1 Episode)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]