His work on that show won Guillaume won the Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series in 1979.
Born Robert Peter Williams on 30 November, 1927, he changed his name to Robert Guillaume to make it more distinctive (Guillaume is French for William).
After the end of Benson he starred in the short-lived sitcom The Robert Guillaume Show in 1989, as well as the series Pacific Station (1991-1992) and Sports Night (1998-2000).
Guillaume won the Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series in 1985 for Benson the last of six times that he was nominated for an Emmy playing the character.