• Charlie Brown voice actor Peter Robbins pleads not guilty to threats, stalking

    Pool / REUTERS

    Peter Robbins at his arraignment at San Diego County Superior Court.

    By Alex Dobuzinskis, Reuters

    The former child actor who was the voice of Charlie Brown in the 1960s "Peanuts" animated television specials pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges he threatened his girlfriend and a surgeon who carried out her breast enhancement surgery.

    Peter Robbins, 56, from Oceanside, Calif., pleaded not guilty in San Diego Superior Court to two counts of stalking and 10 counts of criminal threats. If convicted, he could face up to nine years in prison, Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth McClutchey said.

    Robbins was arrested on Sunday on outstanding warrants by U.S. Customs officers at the San Ysidro port of entry as he returned to San Diego from Mexico. He remains in jail.

    McClutchey said on Dec. 31 Robbins threatened Dr. Lori Saltz, the plastic surgeon he paid to perform breast enhancement surgery on his girlfriend, Shawna Kern.

    The prosecution also alleged Robbins left several threatening phone messages for Kern, saying in one, "You better hide Shawna, I'm coming for you ... and I'm going to kill you."

    Robbins allegedly threatened to kill a police sergeant who arrested him on Jan. 13 after he refused to pay a restaurant bill at the San Diego hotel where he was staying.

    Robbins was released on $50,000 bond the following day and given a Jan. 28 court date.

    McClutchey urged Judge David Szumowski to keep Robbins' bail set at $550,000 because Kern and Saltz believed Robbins was a "desperate man" and "had nothing to lose."

    Defense attorney Marc Kohnen said the bail was excessive because Robbins had no criminal record and had never been in trouble with the law.

    Robbins was 9 years old in 1965 when he became the voice of the world-weary yet optimistic title character of "A Charlie Brown Christmas," the first of many animated TV specials based on the popular "Peanuts" comic strip by Charles Schulz.

    With its jazz-inflected music score and a storyline involving Charlie Brown's search for the true meaning of Christmas in a season corrupted by commercialism, it became a holiday TV classic.

    The actor went on to voice Charlie Brown in "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," "You're In Love, Charlie Brown" and "A Boy Named Charlie Brown," which aired in the 1960s. He was replaced in later versions of the animated specials. 


    -- reporting by Marty Graham

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  • Voice of Charlie Brown, Peter Robbins, arrested on five felony charges

    Alberto E. Rodriguez / WireImage file

    Voice actor Peter Robbins and Charlie Brown attend the DVD release for "You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown" in Hollywood on Oct. 7, 2008.

    By Randee Dawn, TODAY contributor

    The onetime voice of Charlie Brown in the animated "Peanuts" TV series was arrested on Sunday on five felony charges, NBC News confirms.

    Peter Robbins has been charged with four felony counts of making a threat to cause death or great bodily injury, and a single felony count of stalking. After being booked in San Diego just after 3:30 a.m. local time on Monday, he was held on $550,000 bail. He is scheduled for arraignment on Wednesday.

    The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Robbins was arrested on Sunday evening as he crossed into the United States from Mexico at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. He was alone in his 2006 Mercedes-Benz C230 when a border officer pulled him aside for an examination. During that check, the officers learned he was wanted by the San Diego Sheriff's Department on a felony warrant for crimes against a person, said a U.S. Customs and Border Protection representative.

    During an interview at San Diego's Comic-Con, Robbins, 56, said he'd begun as the original voice of Charlie Brown when he was 9 (video below). He voiced several "Peanuts" TV specials and films, including "A Charlie Brown Christmas," "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and "A Boy Named Charlie Brown." When he reached 14, "it was time to move on," he said in that interview. His acting career also included roles on shows like "My Three Sons" and "F Troop."

    Robbins' manager told the Union-Tribune that she was unable to discuss his arrest at the time, but planned to comment later Wednesday.

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