Background Trebor was born and grew up in
Northeast Philadelphia. He was of Jewish descent. He first showed signs of interest in acting around age 13. He was soon taking acting classes and participating in local theater groups. He also won several filmmaking awards from
Kodak short film competitions, and the local
ABC Philadelphia and PBS affiliates for a short black and white film called
Communicate!?. His first lead role on the stage was as Finch in
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying for the St. Joseph's Summer Music Theatre Festival. He also won several national awards from Scholastic Magazines for writing film and theatre reviews. One of his award-winning reviews was for
John Frankenheimer's
The Fixer; years later he would appear in Frankenheimer's 1986 film
52 Pick-Up. After a brief focus on oratory, he returned to acting, majoring in theater at
Northwestern University. He returned to Philadelphia to star with
Bill Irwin in a revival of George Gershwin's
Strike Up The Band for the inaugural season of the American Music Theatre Festival at the historic Walnut Street Theatre. The pseudonym he chose for himself has the particularity of being a
palindrome. Trebor played the
Son of Sam killer in
Out of the Darkness. He plays a killer in the 1987 American comedy horror film
My Demon Lover. On television, after playing Waylin the slave in
Hercules and the Lost Kingdom, the second of five TV movies, Trebor rose to fame playing the merchant Salmoneus, a character originating on
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and making occasional crossovers to
sister show Xena: Warrior Princess. He appeared in the 2016 Coen Brothers film
Hail, Caesar!. In 2007 Trebor performed in the one-man show
The Return of Brother Theodore. The
Los Angeles Weekly gave the show its prized "GO" recommendation and said, "actor Robert Trebor reincarnates Gottlieb in a 45-minute late-night solo performance that paints
Brother Theodore's belligerent reflections on a twisted life with broad yet powerful comedic strokes." The production was nominated by The
LA Weekly for Best Solo Performance of 2007. Trebor starred as the Russian Major Viktor Davidykov in the drama
Ravensridge by TS Cook. His performance was praised by
Variety. Trebor died of
sepsis on March 11, 2025, at the age of 71. He had been diagnosed with
leukemia in 2012. He was interred at
Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Author Trebor was the author of
The Haircut Who Would Be King which parodies Donald Trump and his relationship with Vladimir Putin. ==Filmography==