Robin David Segal, popularly known by his stage name, “Robby Benson,” is an American actor, singer, musician, director, producer, author, composer, and educator. He started his acting career with ‘Broadway.’ He is probably best known as the voice of ‘the Beast’ in the Disney animated film ‘Beauty and the Beast’ (1991). He also directed several episodes of the popular American sitcom ‘Friends’ (1995–1997). He held academic positions in US universities and served as a professor at ‘New York University’s ‘Tisch School of the Arts,’ the ‘University of Utah,’ and the ‘University of South Carolina.’ From 2013 to 2016, he taught telecommunications at ‘Indiana University’ in Bloomington. In 1984, Benson underwent four open heart surgeries for a heart valve defect that was diagnosed when he was a teenager. Based on this experience, Benson wrote and starred in an ‘off-Broadway’ musical called ‘Open Heart’ in 2004. Benson also published a bestselling novel named ‘Who Stole the Funny?’ (2007) and a medical memoir titled ‘I’m Not Dead…Yet’ (2012). Benson is also a photographer.
