Cliff Robertson; won an Oscar, played JFK

NEW YORK - Cliff Robertson, the handsome movie actor who played John F. Kennedy in PT-109, won an Oscar for Charly, and was famously victimized in a 1977 Hollywood forgery scandal, died Saturday, the day after his 88th birthday, in Stony Brook, N.Y.

Mr. Robertson never rose into the top ranks of leading men, but he remained a popular actor from the mid-1950s into the following century. His later roles included kindly Uncle Ben in the Spider-Man movies.

He also gained attention for his second marriage to actress and heiress Dina Merrill, daughter of financier E.F. Hutton and Marjorie Merriweather Post, heiress to the Post cereal fortune and one of the world's richest women.

His triumph came in 1968 with his Academy Award performance in Charly, as a mentally disabled man who undergoes medical treatment that makes him a genius - until a poignant regression to his former state.

Another memorable movie role, portraying future President John F. Kennedy in the World War II drama PT-109, presented other challenges.

Released in 1963, it was the first movie to be made about a sitting president, and dozens of actors were considered. Kennedy himself favored Mr. Robertson, but warned him he did not want someone trying to imitate his distinctive New England accent.

"That was fine with me," the actor commented in 1963. "I think it would have been a mistake for me to say 'Hahvahd' or try to reproduce gestures. Then the audience would have been constantly aware that an actor was impersonating the president."

Born in La Jolla, Calif., Mr. Robertson was 2 when he was adopted by wealthy parents who named him Clifford Parker Robertson III. After his parents divorced and his mother died, he was reared by his maternal grandmother, whom he adored.

Rejected by the services in World War II because of a weak eye, he served in the Merchant Marine.

Mr. Robertson had the most success in war movies. His strong presence made him ideal for such films as The Naked and the Dead, Battle of Coral Sea, 633 Squadron, Up From the Beach, The Devil's Brigade, Too Late the Hero, and Midway.

He had a passion for flying, and he poured his movie earnings into buying and restoring World War I and II planes.

In 1977, Mr. Robertson blew the whistle on a Hollywood financial scandal.

He had discovered that David Begelman, president of Columbia Pictures, had forged his signature on a $10,000 salary check, and he called the FBI and the Burbank and Beverly Hills Police Departments.

Hollywood insiders were not happy with the ugly publicity.

Begelman served time for embezzlement, but he returned to the film business. He committed suicide in 1995.

Mr. Robertson said neither the studios nor the networks would hire him for four years.