In 1972, he was seriously injured in an automobile accident when he drove his car into the side of a mountain on a winding California road, requiring extensive surgery and facial reconstruction. The accident may have been related to his longtime struggle with alcoholism. Robards overcame his addiction and went on to publicly campaign for alcoholism awareness. Robards was an American Civil War buff and scholar, an interest which informed his portrayal of the voice of Ulysses S. Grant in "The Civil War" series by filmmaker Ken Burns.