Edward G. Robinson | |
|---|---|
 Robinson in 1948 | |
| Born | Emanuel Goldenberg (1893-12-12)December 12, 1893 Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania |
| Died | January 26, 1973(1973-01-26) (aged 79) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Beth El Cemetery,Ridgewood, Queens |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1913–1973 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | Edward G. Robinson Jr. |
| Awards | |
Edward G. Robinson (bornEmanuel Goldenberg; December 12, 1893 – January 26, 1973) was an American actor of stage and screen, who was popular duringHollywood's Golden Age. He appeared in 30 Broadway plays,[1] and more than 100 films, during a 50-year career,[2] and is best remembered for his tough-guy roles as gangsters in such films asLittle Caesar andKey Largo. During his career, Robinson received theCannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance inHouse of Strangers. In 1999, he is ranked number 24 in theAmerican Film Institute's list of the 25greatest male stars of Classic American cinema.
During the 1930s and 1940s, Robinson was an outspoken public critic offascism andNazism, which were growing in strength in Europe in the years which led up toWorld War II. His activism included contributing over $250,000 to more than 850 organizations that were involved in war relief, along with contributions to cultural, educational, and religious groups. During the 1950s, he was called to testify in front of theHouse Un-American Activities Committee during theRed Scare, but he was cleared of any deliberateCommunist involvement when he claimed that he was "duped" by several people whom he named (including screenwriterDalton Trumbo), according to the official Congressional record, "Communist infiltration of the Hollywood motion-picture industry".[3][4] As a result of being investigated, he found himself on Hollywood's graylist, people who were on the Hollywood blacklist maintained by the major studios, but could find work at minor film studios on what was calledPoverty Row.
Robinson's roles included aninsurance investigator in thefilm noirDouble Indemnity,Dathan (the adversary ofMoses) inThe Ten Commandments, and his final performance in thescience-fiction storySoylent Green.[5] Robinson received anAcademy Honorary Award for his work in the film industry, which was awarded two months after he died in 1973. Multiple film critics and media outlets have cited him as one of the best actors never to have received anAcademy Award nomination.[6][7]
Robinson was born Emanuel Goldenberg (Yiddish:עמנואל גאָלדענבערג) on December 12, 1893, in aYiddish-speakingRomanian Jewish family inBucharest, the fifth son of Sarah (née Guttman) and Yeshaya Moyshe Goldenberg (later called Morris in the U.S.), a builder.[8]
According to theNew York Times, one of his brothers was attacked by ananti-semitic gang during a "schoolboy pogrom".[2] In the wake of that violence, the family decided toemigrate to the United States.[2] Robinson arrived inNew York City on February 21, 1904.[9] "AtEllis Island I was born again," he wrote. "Life for me began when I was 10 years old."[2] In America, he assumed the name of Edward. He grew up on theLower East Side,[10]: 91 and had hisbar mitzvah at theFirst Roumanian-American Congregation.[11] He attendedTownsend Harris High School and then theCity College of New York, planning to become a criminal attorney.[12] An interest in acting and performing in front of people led to him winning anAmerican Academy of Dramatic Artsscholarship,[12] after which he changed his name toEdward G. Robinson (the G. standing for his originalsurname).[12]
He served in theUnited States Navy duringWorld War I, but was not sent overseas.[13]
_1.jpg)
Robinson's first foray in professional theatre was in a 1913 production ofPaid in Full staged inBinghamton, New York.[14]In 1915, Robinson made hisBroadway debut in Roi Cooper Megrue'sUnder Fire. Because of his physical features he was often cast as foreign characters in plays on the Broadway stage; including a Swede in Henning Berger'sThe Deluge (1917), a Filipino in Azelle M. Aldrich and Joseph Noll'sThe Pawn (1917), and a French-Canadian inHarry James Smith'sThe Little Teacher (1918).[15]
He made his film debut inArms and the Woman (1916).
In 1923, he made his named debut asE. G. Robinson in the silent film,The Bright Shawl.[2]
He played a snarling gangster in the 1927Broadway police/crime dramaThe Racket, which led to his being cast in similar film roles, beginning withThe Hole in the Wall (1929) withClaudette Colbert forParamount.
One of many actors who saw their careers flourish rather than falter in the newsound film era, he made only three films prior to 1930, but left his stage career that year and made 14 films between 1930 and 1932.
Robinson went toUniversal forNight Ride (1930) and MGM forA Lady to Love (1930) directed byVictor Sjöström. At Universal he was inOutside the Law andEast Is West (both 1930), then he didThe Widow from Chicago (1931) atFirst National.
At this point, Robinson was becoming an established film actor. What began his rise to stardom was an acclaimed performance as the gangster Caesar Enrico "Rico" Bandello inLittle Caesar (1931) atWarner Bros.
Robinson signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros., casting him in another gangster film,Smart Money (1931), his only movie withJames Cagney. He was reunited withMervyn LeRoy, director ofLittle Caesar, inFive Star Final (1931), playing a journalist, and played a Tong gangster inThe Hatchet Man (1932).
Robinson made a third film with LeRoy,Two Seconds (1932) then did a melodrama directed byHoward Hawks,Tiger Shark (1932).
Warner Bros. tried him in a biopic,Silver Dollar (1932), where Robinson playedHorace Tabor; a comedy,The Little Giant (1933); and a romance,I Loved a Woman (1933).
Robinson was then inDark Hazard (1934) andThe Man with Two Faces (1934).
He went to Columbia forThe Whole Town's Talking (1935), a comedy directed by John Ford.Sam Goldwyn borrowed him forBarbary Coast (1935), again directed by Hawks.
Back at Warner Bros., he didBullets or Ballots (1936) then he went to Britain forThunder in the City (1937). He madeKid Galahad (1937) withBette Davis andHumphrey Bogart. MGM borrowed him forThe Last Gangster (1937), then he did a comedyA Slight Case of Murder (1938). Again with Bogart in a supporting role, he was inThe Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938) and then he was borrowed by Columbia forI Am the Law (1938).
At the timeWorld War II broke out in Europe, he played anFBI agent inConfessions of a Nazi Spy (1939), the first American film that portrayedNazism as a threat to the United States.
MGM borrowed him forBlackmail (1939). Then, to avoid being typecast, he played the biomedical scientist and Nobel laureatePaul Ehrlich inDr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940) and playedPaul Julius Reuter inA Dispatch from Reuters (1940).[16] Both films were biographies of prominent Jewish public figures. In between, he and Bogart starred inBrother Orchid (1940).[16]
Robinson was teamed up withJohn Garfield inThe Sea Wolf (1941), andGeorge Raft inManpower (1941). He went to MGM forUnholy Partners (1942), and made a comedyLarceny, Inc. (1942).
He volunteered for military service in June 1942 but was disqualified as he was aged 48;[17] he was an active and vocal critic offascism and Nazism during the war.[18]
Robinson was one of several stars inTales of Manhattan (1942) andFlesh and Fantasy (1943).
He did war films:Destroyer (1943) atColumbia, andTampico (1944) atFox. At Paramount, he was inBilly Wilder'sDouble Indemnity (1944), withFred MacMurray andBarbara Stanwyck, where his riveting soliloquy on insurance actuarial tables (written byRaymond Chandler) is considered a career showstopper;[clarification needed] and at Columbia, he was inMr. Winkle Goes to War (1944). He then performed withJoan Bennett andDan Duryea inFritz Lang'sThe Woman in the Window (1944), andScarlet Street (1945), where he played a criminal painter.
At MGM, he was inOur Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945), and thenOrson Welles'The Stranger (1946), with Welles andLoretta Young. Robinson followed it with another thriller,The Red House (1947), and starred in an adaptation ofAll My Sons (1948).
Robinson appeared for directorJohn Huston as the gangster Johnny Rocco inKey Largo (1948), the last of five films that he made withHumphrey Bogart, and the only one in which Robinson played a supporting role to Bogart's character in the film. It is also the only film with Bogart where Bogart's character killed Robinson's character in a gunfight, instead of the opposite. Around the same time, he was cast in starring roles forNight Has a Thousand Eyes (1948) andHouse of Strangers (1949).
Robinson found it hard to get work after hisgreylisting. He starred in modest-budget films:Actors and Sin (1952),Vice Squad (1953), with brief appearances by second-billedPaulette Goddard,Big Leaguer (1953) withVera-Ellen,The Glass Web (1953) withJohn Forsythe,Black Tuesday (1954) withPeter Graves,The Violent Men (1955) withGlenn Ford andBarbara Stanwyck, in the well-receivedTight Spot (1955) withGinger Rogers andBrian Keith,A Bullet for Joey (1955) withGeorge Raft,Illegal (1955) withNina Foch, and inHell on Frisco Bay (1956) withAlan Ladd.
His career's rehabilitation received a boost in 1954, when theanti-communist film directorCecil B. DeMille cast him as the traitorousDathan inThe Ten Commandments. The film was released in 1956, as was his psychological thrillerNightmare. After a subsequent short absence from the screen, Robinson's film career – augmented by an increasing number of television roles – re-started in 1958/1959, when he was second-billed, after Frank Sinatra, in the 1959 comedyA Hole in the Head.
Robinson went to Europe forSeven Thieves (1960). He had support roles inMy Geisha (1962),Two Weeks in Another Town (1962),Sammy Going South (1963),The Prize (1963),Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964),Good Neighbor Sam (1964),Cheyenne Autumn (1964), andThe Outrage (1964).
He was second-billed, underSteve McQueen, with his name above the title, inThe Cincinnati Kid (1965). McQueen had idolized Robinson while growing up, and opted for him whenSpencer Tracy insisted on top billing for the same role. Robinson was top-billed inThe Blonde from Peking. He also appeared inGrand Slam (1967), starringJanet Leigh andKlaus Kinski.
Robinson was originally cast in the role of Dr. Zaius inPlanet of the Apes (1968) and he even went so far as to film a screen test withCharlton Heston. However, Robinson dropped out of the project before its production began due to heart problems and concerns over the long hours that he would have needed to spend under the heavy ape makeup. He was replaced byMaurice Evans.
His later appearances includedThe Biggest Bundle of Them All (1968) starringRobert Wagner andRaquel Welch,Never a Dull Moment (1968) withDick Van Dyke,It's Your Move (1968),Mackenna's Gold (1969) starringGregory Peck andOmar Sharif, and theNight Gallery episode “The Messiah on Mott Street" (1971).
The last scene that Robinson filmed was aeuthanasia sequence, with his friend and co-starCharlton Heston, in thescience fiction filmSoylent Green (1973); he died 84 days later.
Heston, as president of theScreen Actors Guild, presented Robinson with its annual award in 1969, "in recognition of his pioneering work in organizing the union, his service during World War II, and his 'outstanding achievement in fostering the finest ideals of the acting profession.'"[10]: 124
Robinson was never nominated for anAcademy Award, but in 1973 he was awarded anhonorary Oscar in recognition that he had "achieved greatness as a player, a patron of the arts and a dedicated citizen ... in sum, a Renaissance man".[2] He had been notified of the honor, but he died two months before the award ceremony took place, so the award was accepted by his widow, Jane Robinson.[2]
From 1937 to 1942, Robinson starred as Steve Wilson, editor of theIllustrated Press, in the newspaper dramaBig Town.[19] He also portrayed hardboiled detectiveSam Spade for aLux Radio Theatre adaptation ofThe Maltese Falcon. During the 1940s he performed on CBS Radio's "Cadena de las Américas" network broadcasts to South America in collaboration withNelson Rockefeller'scultural diplomacy program at the U.S. State Department'sOffice of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs.[20]
During the 1930s, Robinson was an outspoken public critic offascism andNazism, donating more than $250,000 to 850 political and charitable organizations between 1939 and 1949. He was host to theCommittee of 56, which gathered at his home on December 9, 1938, signing a "Declaration of Democratic Independence," which called for a boycott of all German-made products.[18] After theNazi invasion of the Soviet Union, while he was not a supporter ofCommunism, he appeared at Soviet war relief rallies in order to give moral aid to America's new ally, which he said could join "together in their hatred of Hitlerism".[10]: 107
Although he attempted to enlist in the military when the United States formally entered World War II, he was unable to do so because of his age;[17] instead, theOffice of War Information appointed him as a Special Representative based in London.[10]: 106 From there, taking advantage of his multilingual skills, he delivered radio addresses in over six languages to European countries that had fallen underNazi domination.[10]: 106 His talent as a radio speaker in the U.S. had previously been recognized by theAmerican Legion, which had given him an award for his "outstanding contribution toAmericanism through his stirring patriotic appeals".[10]: 106 Robinson was also an active member of the Hollywood Democratic Committee, serving on its executive board in 1944, during which time he became an "enthusiastic" campaigner for Roosevelt'sreelection that same year.[10]: 107 During the 1940s, Robinson also contributed to thecultural diplomacy initiatives of Roosevelt'sOffice of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs in support ofPan-Americanism through his broadcasts to South America on theCBS "Cadena de las Américas" radio network.[20]
In early July 1944, less than a month after theInvasion of Normandy by Allied forces, Robinson traveled to Normandy to entertain the troops, becoming the first movie star to go there for theUSO.[10]: 106 [21] He personally donatedUS$100,000 (equal to $1,786,200 today) to the USO.[10]: 107 After returning to the U.S., he continued his active involvement in the war effort by going to shipyards and defense plants in order to inspire workers, and appearing at rallies to help sellwar bonds.[10]: 107 After the war ended, Robinson publicly spoke out in support ofdemocratic rights for all Americans, especially in demanding equality forBlack workers in the workplace. He endorsed theFair Employment Practices Commission's call to end workplace discrimination.[10]: 109 Black leaders praised him as "one of the great friends of the Negro and a great advocator of Democracy".[10]: 109 Robinson also campaigned for the civil rights of African Americans, helping many to overcomesegregation anddiscrimination.[22]
During the years when Robinson spoke out against fascism and Nazism, he was not a supporter of Communism, but he did not criticize theSoviet Union, which he saw as an ally againstHitler. However, according to the film historianSteven J. Ross "activists who attacked Hitler without simultaneously attackingStalin were vilified byconservative critics as either Communists, Communist dupes, or, at best, asnaïveliberal dupes."[10]: 128 In addition, Robinson learned that 11 out of the more than 850 charities and groups that he had helped over the previous decade were listed as Communist front organizations by the FBI.[23] As a result, he was called to testify in front of theHouse Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1950 and 1952, and he was also threatened withblacklisting.[24]
As shown in the full House Un-American Activities Committee transcript for April 30, 1952,[3] Robinson repudiated some of the organizations that he had belonged to in the 1930s and 1940s.[24][25] and stated that he felt he had been duped or made use of unawares "by the sinister forces who were members, and probably in important positions in these [front] organizations."[10]: 121 When asked whom he personally knew who might have "duped" him, he replied, "Well, you hadAlbert Maltz, and you haveDalton Trumbo, and you have ...John Howard Lawson. I knewFrank Tuttle. I didn't know [Edward]Dmytryk at all. There are the Buchmans, that I know, Sidney Buchman and all that sort of thing. It never entered my mind that any of these people were Communists."[3] Despite accusing these persons of being duplicitous towards him about their political aims, Robinson never directly accused anyone of being a Communist. His own name was cleared, but in the aftermath, his career noticeably suffered; he was offered smaller roles infrequently. In October 1952, he wrote an article titled "How the Reds made a Sucker Out of Me", and it was published in theAmerican Legion Magazine.[26] The chair of the committee,Francis E. Walter, told Robinson at the end of his testimonies that the Committee "never had any evidence presented to indicate that you were anything more than a very choice sucker."[10]: 122
Robinson married stage actress Gladys Lloyd Cassell in 1927. The couple had a son,Edward G. Robinson Jr. (1933–1974), known as Manny, and a daughter from Gladys Robinson's first marriage.[27] The couple divorced in 1956. In 1958, Robinson married Jane Bodenheimer, a dress designer professionally known as Jane Arden. They lived inPalm Springs, California.[28]
In contrast to the gangsters he portrayed in film, Robinson was a soft-spoken and cultured man.[2] He was a passionate art collector, eventually building up a significant privatecollection. In 1956, however, he was forced to sell his collection to pay for his divorce settlement with Gladys Robinson; his finances had also suffered due to underemployment in the early 1950s.[10]: 120
Robinson died ofbladder cancer atCedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles[29] on January 26, 1973, just weeks after finishingSoylent Green, and months before he was to be given an honoraryAcademy Award later that year. He was 79. Services were conducted at Temple Israel in Los Angeles whereCharlton Heston delivered the eulogy.[2] More than 1,500 friends of Robinson attended, with another 500 people outside.[10] His body was flown to New York where it was entombed in a crypt in his family's mausoleum at Beth-El Cemetery in Queens.[30] His pallbearers wereJack L. Warner,Hal B. Wallis,Mervyn Leroy,George Burns,Sam Jaffe,Frank Sinatra, Jack Karp and Alan Simpson.[2]
In October 2000, Robinson's image was imprinted on a U.S. postage stamp, the sixth in its Legends of Hollywood series.[10]: 125 [31]
Robinson has been the inspiration for a number of animated television characters, usually caricatures of his most distinctive 'snarling gangster' guise. An early version of the gangster characterRocky, featured in theBugs Bunny cartoonRacketeer Rabbit, shared his likeness. This version of the character also appears briefly inJustice League, in the episode "Comfort and Joy", as an alien with Robinson's face and non-human body, who hovers past the screen as a background character.
Similar caricatures also appeared inThe Coo-Coo Nut Grove,Thugs with Dirty Mugs andHush My Mouse. Another character based on Robinson's tough-guy image was The Frog (Chauncey "Flat Face" Frog) from the cartoon seriesCourageous Cat and Minute Mouse. The voice of B.B. Eyes inThe Dick Tracy Show was based on Robinson, withMel Blanc andJerry Hausner sharing voicing duties. TheWacky Races animated series character 'Clyde' from the Ant Hill Mob was based on Robinson's Little Caesar persona.
Voice actorHank Azaria has noted that the voice ofSimpsons character police chiefClancy Wiggum is an impression of Robinson.[32]
Robinson was portrayed by actorMichael Stuhlbarg in the 2015 biographical drama filmTrumbo.[33]
| Year | Program | Episode/source |
|---|---|---|
| 1940 | Screen Guild Theatre | Blind Alley[36] |
| 1946 | Suspense | The Man Who Wanted to Be Edward G. Robinson akaThe Man Who Thought He Was Edward G. Robinson[37][38] |
| 1946 | This Is Hollywood | The Stranger[39] |
| 1950 | Screen Directors Playhouse | The Sea Wolf[39] |
