Edward G. Robinson

Lore & Background

Robinson was born Emanuel Goldenberg on December 12, 1893, in a Yiddish-speaking Romanian Jewish family in Bucharest. He emigrated to the United States in 1904. He served in the United States Navy during World War I, but was not sent overseas. During the 1930s and 1940s, he was an outspoken public critic of fascism and Nazism, contributing over $250,000 to more than 850 organizations involved in war relief. During the 1950s, he was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, cleared of deliberate Communist involvement, and found himself on Hollywood's graylist. He returned to the A-list when Cecil B. DeMille cast him as Dathan in The Ten Commandments (1956).

Reader's Guide

Robinson made his professional stage debut in April 1913 in a production of Paid in Full in Binghamton, New York. He made his Broadway debut in 1915 in Under Fire. His first film appearance was in the silent film The Bright Shawl (1923). He appeared in 30 Broadway plays and more than 100 films during his 60-year career. He won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for House of Strangers (1949). He received an Academy Honorary Award two months after his death in 1973.

Did You Know?

• Robinson remained fluent in Romanian his entire life, insisting on speaking Romanian during a 1966 trip to Romania.
• He changed his surname to Robinson because he liked 'the ring and strength of it' from a play, and chose Edward after King Edward VII.
• He was ranked number 24 on the American Film Institute's list of the 25 greatest male stars of Classic American cinema.