LOS ANGELES, April 10 (UPI) -- Gil Robbins, a musician and actor who was a member of the 1960s folk group the Highwaymen, succumbed to prostate cancer at his home in Mexico, his son said.
Robbins, 80, spent three years with the Highwaymen, which became known for "Michael," its version of the folk classic "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore," the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.
"He was very charming, open and funny," Tim Robbins said Saturday. "He had a real strong moral center; he spoke up for what he believed in."
Robbins was born April 3, 1931, in Spokane, Wash., and his family moved to Los Angeles before he was 1 year old.
In high school, he played percussion with the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra and he won a scholarship to study music at UCLA, where he became the marching band's drum major. While there, he met his future wife, Mary Bledsoe.
He enlisted in the Air Force in 1951.
Before joining the Highwaymen, he performed with the Cumberland Three, the Belfonte Singers, folk singer Tom Paxton and others. In the Highwaymen, he sang baritone and played the guitarron, a large six-string guitar, on five albums
"I remember being very proud, seeing him on stage," Tim Robbins told the Times in a 1992 interview. "I'd go to folk concerts, where his group would be playing social protest songs and I'd be amazed to see 1,000 people singing along with him."
In addition to his son and his wife of almost 59 years, Robbins is survived by three other children, Adele, David and Gabrielle; a brother, Tom; and four grandchildren.
