Robert W. Castle

Rev. Robert Wilkinson Castle Jr. (August 29, 1929 – October 27, 2012) was an American Episcopal priest, social activist, and actor. Castle was the subject of the 1992 documentary film Cousin Bobby, which was directed by his cousin, film director Jonathan Demme. His involvement in Demme's documentary led to an unlikely career as an actor in more than a dozen films over the next two decades, including roles in Philadelphia, The Addiction, Beloved, and Rachel Getting Married. Life and career Castle was born on August 29, 1929, in Jersey City, New Jersey. He played as a football quarterback at St. Lawrence University, where he received his bachelor's degree. He earned a second degree from the Berkeley Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut. While still studying at Berkeley, was given an assignment to serve at a predominantly African American Episcopal parish on Manhattan's Lower East Side, sparking a lifelong commitment to civil rights and minority rights. His first assignment as an Episcopal priest was as a rector at St. John’s Episcopal Church in his native Jersey City from 1960 to 1968. During that time, Castle became very involved with the American civil rights movement, including traveling to Mississippi to march with Martin Luther King Jr. He became one of the city's most vocal activists. He once dumped large amounts of garbage outside Jersey City Hall as a way to draw attention to the need for more street cleanings. He protested against his own New Jersey Episcopal bishop for his membership in segregated social clubs. Castle also led protests against restaurants, banks, and other businesses because they would not hire minority employees. An opponent of the Vietnam War, he allowed 1960s left-wings groups, including the Black Panthers and Students for a Democratic Society, to use both his home and St. John's Episcopal Church for their meetings.