Edward G. Robinson


Actor
Edward G. Robinson

About

Also Known As
Emmanuel Goldenberg
Birth Place
Bucharest, Romania
Born
December 12, 1893
Died
January 26, 1973
Cause of Death
Cancer

Biography

Golden Age Hollywood’s ultimate O.G., Edward G. Robinson made a living as a "tough guy" in a raft of iterations, from hardboiled newspaperman to intrepid G-man. In real life soft-spoken, intellectual and selfless, Robinson would nevertheless imprint himself as cold-eyed Machiavellian thugs in such film classics as "Little Caesar" (1931), "The Sea Wolf" (1941) and "Key Largo" (1948) – tho...

Photos & Videos

Larceny, Inc. - Movie Poster
Manpower - Publicity Stills
Tight Spot - Movie Posters

Family & Companions

Gladys Lloyd
Wife
Actor. Married for nearly 30 years before divorce; diagnosed as a manic depressive; died in 1971 after suffering a stroke.
Jane Adler
Wife
Garment wholesaler. Survived him; later married director George Sidney.

Bibliography

"Little Caesar: A Biography of Edward G. Robinson"
Alan L. Gansberg, New English Library (1983)
"My Father, My Son"
Edward G. Robinson Jr. and William Duffy
"All My Yesterdays"
Edward G. Robinson and Leonard Spigelgass

Biography

Golden Age Hollywood’s ultimate O.G., Edward G. Robinson made a living as a "tough guy" in a raft of iterations, from hardboiled newspaperman to intrepid G-man. In real life soft-spoken, intellectual and selfless, Robinson would nevertheless imprint himself as cold-eyed Machiavellian thugs in such film classics as "Little Caesar" (1931), "The Sea Wolf" (1941) and "Key Largo" (1948) – though he could also single-handedly lift films with his rapid-fire comic timing, as with such screwball outings as "The Whole Town’s Talking" (1935), and with colorful, cerebral supporting roles, as in "Double Indemnity" (1944). Able to command the screen by both verve and subtlety, he played his roles with such archetypal distinction and verbal flare that he would wind up inspiring a number of cartoon characters, from the shorts of Warner Bros. studio-mate Bugs Bunny while he was alive to lovably inept constable Chief Wiggum in American television’s longest-running show, "The Simpsons" (Fox, 1989- ).

He was born Emanuel Goldenberg in Bucharest, Romania on Dec. 12, 1893, the fifth of six sons, but the family decided to emigrate to the U.S. to avoid the persecution that beset Jewish people there and across Europe. Emanuel made the crossing with his parents when he was nine, the family settling in the rough-and-tumble ghetto of the Lower East Side of New York. He attended PS 137 and Townsend Harris Hall High School, along the way excelling in his studies and becoming an ace semiotician, and earned a scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. It was there he was advised to change his name to ease his way into professional acting, where ethnic names were frowned upon, and he became Edward G. Robinson. Graduating AADA, he took a series of theater-related jobs, from menial gofer work to eventual starring roles with stock companies. He joined the U.S. Navy when the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, though he served a relatively uneventful hitch, and mustered out to find work on Broadway. Like many actors of the day, he had less-than-happy early experiences with the nascent movie industry, after which he kept to New York’s theatrical circles. There, he met an aristocratic divorcee named Gladys Lloyd, and, though she was of proper Boston WASP circles and already a young mother, they married in 1926.

The next year, he starred in a play called "The Racket," which had him as a criminal heavy for the first time, but far from the last. The hit production got the attention of movie studios, and though he deflected their offers for years, in 1929 Paramount producer Walter Wanger finally persuaded him to come to the burgeoning film capital in Los Angeles with $50,000 and a chance to star opposite Broadway luminary Claudette Colbert in the film "The Hole in the Wall" (1929). His work so impressed industry players that he grudgingly returned to L.A. for a follow-up film, "East Is West" (1930), for $100,000. Warner Bros. producer Hal Wallis finally convinced Robinson to go on contract in 1930. It was with Warner, in 1931, that he made the film that would cement the image he first rendered in "The Racket," "Little Caesar." He played Rico, the tough-as-nails mobster scheming and murdering his way to the top, compromised only by a near-imperceptible spark of humanity. The film became a phenomenon, even confounding Robinson, whose pacifistic nature and even temperament made him the opposite of the antihero that made him a household name.

He and Gladys became bicoastal for a time, starting their family in New York in 1933 with the birth of a son, Manny, but eventually moved permanently to Beverly Hills. Warners used Robinson liberally in ruthless tough-guy roles in such films as "Smart Money" (1931, co-starring fellow tough James Cagney), "The Hatchet Man" (1932), and "The Last Gangster" (1937), though typecasting rankled him. He flipped sides deftly, taking tough/good-guy roles in "Bullets or Ballots," opposite then-up-and-coming heavy Humphrey Bogart, and as crusading prosecutor in "I Am the Law" (1938). He shone when allowed more texture, as a steelworker waiting to be executed for murder in "Two Seconds" (1932), as a miner-turned-blustery millionaire politician in "Silver Dollar" (1932) and as an idealistic youth who becomes corrupted by inherited wealth and narcissism in "I Loved a Woman" (1933). He particularly excelled in screwball comedies exploiting his tough-guy persona, as bootleggers put out of business by Prohibition’s repeal in "The Little Giant" (1933) and "A Slight Case of Murder" (1938), as both a mild-mannered clerk and his double, a Rico-esque goon, in "The Whole Town’s Talking," opposite Jean Arthur; and as criminal masterminds who inadvertently wind up pillars of the community in "Brother Orchid" (1940) and "Larceny Inc." (1943).

One of his personal favorite performances would be far off the beaten path, in "Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet" (1940), in which Robinson submerged himself in the character of the passionate, driven German scientist who first cured syphilis. He did two unsavory characters for über-director Michael Curtiz, as an unscrupulous boxing manager in "Kid Galahad" (1937) and a draconian sea captain in "The Sea Wolfe." From 1937-1942, he even found time to do a regular radio show, playing a crusading newspaper editor in the "Big Town." As the war years approached, with dark portents for fellow Jews in Europe, Robinson also began showing liberal stripes, joining anti-fascist groups before it was fashionable and making it onto the radar of the U.S.’s welling anti-communist cadres. In the meantime, his home life became strained, as Gladys grew distant, later to be diagnosed manic-depressive. He also let his contract with Warners lapse, opting to buck the studio system for free agency, but as the war years ebbed and burgeoning anti-communist hysteria looming darkly over those with leftist political inclinations, his days as a leading man wound down.

Robinson’s performances would be no less lauded, as would be evident in his first high-profile supporting role as an imperturbable, relentless insurance investigator in the noir classic "Double Indemnity" (1944). Though his top-billing remained for a few more years, he would increasingly share the spotlight, as in the ensemble piece "Our Vines Have Tender Grapes" (1945), an idyllic rendering of a selfless agrarian community that would lead the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) to charge screenwriter Dalton Trumbo with spreading subversive communist messages; and "All My Sons" (1948), an Arthur Miller-penned American tragedy with Robinson’s unscrupulous past coming back to haunt his family, including the up-and-coming Burt Lancaster. Robinson would subsequently make a deep imprint in noir with a flurry of dark thrillers, including two for director Fritz Lang, "The Woman In the Window" (1944) and "Scarlet Street" (1945), Orson Welles’ classic "The Stranger" (1946), "The Red House" (1947), "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" (1948) and Joe Mankiewicz’s "House of Strangers" (1949) – the latter winning him "best actor" award at the Cannes Film Festival. His sneering, imperious turn as Johnny Rocco, the manipulative mobster on the lam in John Huston’s "Key Largo," would make for a triumphal reunion with Bogart, the two playing off each other in a taut cat-and-mouse drama – though with Bogart now top-billed. Both actors had stood up to the HUAC, but as the studios kow-towed to the Red-hunters and instituted the blacklist, they and many bona fide Hollywood liberals backtracked, showed fealty or named names of suspected communists to prove their loyalty. Though at one point scandalizing Hollywood by helping out the wife of Trumbo – who was blacklisted with the Hollywood Ten, imprisoned for contempt of congress, then exiled – HUAC called Robinson to testify three times in the early 1950s before clearing him of overt communist affiliation. He found himself "graylisted" – not officially blacklisted but big studio jobs dried up. Still, he tended to elevate the films he did make, such as "Vice Squad" (1953), "The Glass Webb" (1953), even a return to his gangster imprint in "Black Tuesday" (1954), to something well above the B-flicks they otherwise were.

Back in New York, he also returned to Broadway, earning a Tony Award nomination in 1956 for best actor in a dramatic role for "Middle of the Night," and did more and more TV guest shots and theatrical anthology shows as the decade wore on. His film appearances became rare in the second latter half of the decade, his only notable turn as a scheming, heretical Hebrew Dathan in Cecil B. DeMille’s epic "The Ten Commandments" (1956) – DeMille conspicuously one of the Hollywood’s complicit Red baiters. Meanwhile, his marriage to Gladys reached the breaking point and they divorced in 1956. He had become an avid collector of art, but his forced fall from the A-list left him financially strapped, and the divorce settlement required him to sell much of his collection, and that trauma went further compounded by son Manny’s own developing mental illness.

He would marry again, one Jane Adler, in 1958, and begin rebuilding his art collection, even as his film work resumed once Kirk Douglas hired Trumbo to script "Spartacus" (1960), effectively breaking the blacklist. Robinson took on mostly colorful, sagely supporting roles – sometimes mere cameos – in "My Geisha" (1962), "The Prize" (1963), the Rat Pack vehicle "Robin and the 7 Hoods" (1964), "The Cincinnati Kid" (1965), "The Biggest Bundle of Them All" (1968) and "McKenna’s Gold" (1969). He did his last turn as a mobster, but playing it daffy this time, in "Never a Dull Moment" (1968) opposite Dick Van Dyke, and got his final top-billing in an ABC TV movie, playing an elderly man who witnesses a crime and fears his life now to be in danger in "The Old Man Who Cried Wolf" (1970). But his health was not what it once was; while shooting "A Boy Ten Feet Tall" in Africa, he suffered a heart attack, and four years later back in L.A. he barely survived a car crash. He was diagnosed with cancer in 1970, and began an ongoing chemotherapy regimen. In 1972, he took a final role supporting his co-star from "The Ten Commandments," Charlton Heston, in the eerie sci-fi film "Soylent Green" (1973). One story has it that, though Robinson was nearly deaf at this point, only Heston knew the full, critical state of his health, and that in the scene where Robinson opts to end his life peacefully versus abiding their apocalyptic existence, Heston’s on-screen tears represented real anguish at the parallel of circumstances. Robinson hoped to attend the spring’s Academy Awards, where the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences planned to award him a lifetime achievement award, but on Jan. 26, 1973, mere weeks after production on "Soylent" wrapped, Robinson died.

Filmography

 

Cast (Feature Film)

Entertaining the Troops (1989)
Himself
Soylent Green (1973)
Neither By Day Nor By Night (1972)
Father
Song of Norway (1970)
Krogstad
Mackenna's Gold (1969)
Old Adams
Peking Blonde (1969)
Douglas
Operation Heartbeat (1969)
The Biggest Bundle of Them All (1968)
Professor Samuels
Never a Dull Moment (1968)
Leo Joseph Smooth
Grand Slam (1968)
Prof. James Anders
The Cincinnati Kid (1965)
Lancey Howard
A Boy Ten Feet Tall (1965)
Cocky Wainwright
Who Has Seen the Wind? (1965)
Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964)
Big Jim
Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
Carl Schurz, Secretary of the Interior
The Outrage (1964)
Con man
Good Neighbor Sam (1964)
Simon Nurdlinger
The Prize (1963)
Dr. Max Stratman
Two Weeks in Another Town (1962)
Maurice Kruger
My Geisha (1962)
Sam Lewis
Pepe (1961)
Seven Thieves (1960)
Professor Theo Wilkins
A Hole in the Head (1959)
Mario Manetta
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Dathan
Hell on Frisco Bay (1956)
Victor Amato
Nightmare (1956)
Rene Bressard
Black Tuesday (1955)
Vincent Canelli
A Bullet for Joey (1955)
Inspector Raoul Leduc
The Violent Men (1955)
Lew Wilkison
Tight Spot (1955)
Lloyd Hallett
Illegal (1955)
Victor Scott
Big Leaguer (1953)
John B. "Hans" Lobert
The Glass Web (1953)
Henry Hayes
Vice Squad (1953)
Capt. Barney Barnaby
Actor's Blood and Woman of Sin (1952)
Maurice Tillayou
My Daughter Joy (1950)
House of Strangers (1949)
Gino Monetti
It's a Great Feeling (1949)
Himself
Key Largo (1948)
Johnny Rocco
Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948)
John Triton
All My Sons (1948)
Joe Keller
The Red House (1947)
Pete Morgan
The Stranger (1946)
Wilson
Scarlet Street (1945)
Christopher Cross
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945)
Martinius Jacobson
Journey Together (1945)
Mr. Winkle Goes to War (1944)
Wilbert Winkle
Tampico (1944)
Captain Bart Manson
Double Indemnity (1944)
Barton Keyes
The Woman in the Window (1944)
Richard Wanley
Flesh and Fantasy (1943)
Marshall Tyler
Destroyer (1943)
Steve "Boley" Boleslavski
Tales of Manhattan (1942)
[Avery L. "Larry"] Browne
Larceny, Inc. (1942)
[J. Chalmers] "Pressure" Maxwell
Manpower (1941)
Hank McHenry
The Sea Wolf (1941)
Wolf Larsen
Unholy Partners (1941)
Bruce Corey
A Dispatch from Reuters (1940)
[Paul] Julius Reuter
Brother Orchid (1940)
Little John Sarto [also known as Brother Orchid]
Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940)
Dr. Paul Ehrlich
Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939)
Edward Renard
Blackmail (1939)
John R. Ingram
I Am the Law (1938)
[Professor] John Lindsay
A Slight Case of Murder (1938)
Remy Marko
The Amazing Doctor Clitterhouse (1938)
Dr. Clitterhouse
Kid Galahad (1937)
Nick Donati
The Last Gangster (1937)
Joe Krozac
Thunder in the City (1937)
Bullets or Ballots (1936)
Johnny Blake
Barbary Coast (1935)
Louis Chamalis
The Whole Town's Talking (1935)
Arthur Ferguson Jones [/"Killer" Manion]
Dark Hazard (1934)
Jim "Buck" Turner
The Man with Two Faces (1934)
Damon Wells/Jules Chautard
The Little Giant (1933)
[James Francis] Bugs Ahearn
I Loved a Woman (1933)
John Hayden
The Hatchet Man (1932)
Wong Low Get
Tiger Shark (1932)
Mike Mascarenhas
Silver Dollar (1932)
Yates Martin
Two Seconds (1932)
John Allen
Little Caesar (1931)
Little Caesar "alias Rico" [Enrico Cesare Bandello]
Smart Money (1931)
Nick Venezelos
Five Star Final (1931)
[Joseph W.] Randall
Outside the Law (1930)
Cobra
A Lady to Love (1930)
Tony
East Is West (1930)
Charlie Yong
Night Ride (1930)
Tony Garotta
Die Sehnsucht Jeder Frau (1930)
Tony
The Widow From Chicago (1930)
Dominic
The Hole in the Wall (1929)
The Fox

Misc. Crew (Feature Film)

Entertaining the Troops (1989)
Other

Cast (Special)

The Right Man (1960)
Teddy Roosevelt
The Devil and Daniel Webster (1960)
Operation Entertainment (1954)

Cast (Short)

A Look at the World of "Soylent Green" (1973)
Himself
A Day at Santa Anita (1937)
Himself
Breakdowns of 1936 (1936)
Himself
How I Play Golf by Bobby Jones No. 10 "Trouble Shots" (1931)
Himself
An Intimate Dinner in Celebration of Warner Bros. Silver Jubilee (1930)
Himself

Misc. Crew (Short)

Edward G. Robinson (1962)
Archival Footage
Breakdowns of 1941 (1941)
Archival Footage

Life Events

1904

Immigrated to USA at age 10

1913

Began appearing in stock productions

1915

Broadway debut

1923

First film appearance in "The Bright Shawl"

1927

Appeared on Broadway in "The Racket", playing a character modeled on Al Capone; production also performed in Los Angeles

1929

Began making regular film appearances; first film "A Hole in the Wall"

1930

Top stardom clinched with his appearance in the landmark Warner Brothers gangster film, "Little Caesar"

1942

Left Warner Brothers; next film for the studio would not be until "Key Largo" (1948)

1952

Testified before HUAC; film career revived, first in "B" movies

1956

Worked in theater among other venues, starring on Broadway in "Middle of the Night"

1963

Made first TV commercial, for Maxwell House Coffee

1966

Involved in near fatal automobile accident

1973

Last film, "Soylent Green"

Photo Collections

Larceny, Inc. - Movie Poster
Here is the American One-Sheet Movie Poster for Warner Bros' Larceny, Inc. (1942), starring Edward G. Robinson. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.
Manpower - Publicity Stills
Here are a few publicity stills taken for Warner Bros' Manpower (1941), starring Edward G. Robinson, Marlene Dietrich, and George Raft. Publicity stills were specially-posed photos, usually taken off the set, for purposes of publicity or reference for promotional artwork.
Tight Spot - Movie Posters
Tight Spot - Movie Posters
The Whole Town's Talking - Movie Posters
The Whole Town's Talking - Movie Posters
Tight Spot - Lobby Card Set
Tight Spot - Lobby Card Set
Scarlet Street - Movie Posters
Scarlet Street - Movie Posters
The Woman in the Window - Movie Poster
The Woman in the Window - Movie Poster
The Whole Town's Talking - Lobby Cards
Here are a few lobby cards from The Whole Town's Talking (1935), starring Edward G. Robinson. Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.
Soylent Green - Publicity Stills
Here are a few Publicity Stills from Soylent Green (1973). Publicity stills were specially-posed photos, usually taken off the set, for purposes of publicity or reference for promotional artwork.
Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet - Movie Poster
Here is an original half-sheet movie poster from the Warner Bros. biopic Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940), starring Edward G. Robinson.
A Hole in the Head - Movie Poster
Here is the American one-sheet movie poster for Frank Capra's A Hole in the Head (1959), starring Frank Sinatra. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.
Little Caesar - Movie Posters
Here is the American one-sheet movie poster for Little Caesar (1930), starring Edward G. Robinson. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.
The Stranger - Lobby Cards
Here are a few Lobby Cards from The Stranger (1946), starring Orson Welles, Loretta Young, and Edward G. Robinson. Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.
Two Weeks in Another Town - Movie Poster
Here is the American One-Sheet Movie Poster from Two Weeks in Another Town (1962). One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.
Key Largo - Behind-the-Scenes Photos
Here are several behind-the-scenes photos taken during the shooting of Key Largo (1948), directed by John Huston.
Destroyer - Movie Poster
Here is the American One-Sheet Movie Poster for Warner Bros' Destroyer (1943), starring Edward G. Robinson. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.
Brother Orchid - Movie Poster
Here is the American One-Sheet Movie Poster for Warner Bros' Brother Orchid (1940), starring Edward G. Robinson, Ann Sothern, and Humphrey Bogart. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.
Confessions of a Nazi Spy - Movie Poster
Here is the American one-sheet movie poster for Warner Bros' Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939), starring Edward G. Robinson. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.
The Cincinnati Kid - Behind-the-Scenes Photos
Here are some stills taken behind-the-scenes during production of The Cincinnati Kid (1965), starring Steve McQueen, Ann-Margret, Tuesday Weld, and Edward G. Robinson, and directed by Norman Jewison.
Tiger Shark - Lobby Cards
Here are several Lobby Cards from Tiger Shark (1932), starring Edward G. Robinson. Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.
The Outrage - Scene Stills
Here are a few scene stills from MGM's The Outrage (1964), directed by Martin Ritt and starring Paul Newman and Claire Bloom.
A Hole in the Head - Pressbook
Here is the campaign book (pressbook) for Frank Capra's A Hole in the Head (1959), starring Frank Sinatra. Pressbooks were sent to exhibitors and theater owners to aid them in publicizing the film's run in their theater.
Soylent Green - Movie Poster
Here is the American one-sheet movie poster for Soylent Green (1973). One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.

Videos

Movie Clip

Kid Galahad (1937) -- (Movie Clip) He Used To Be A Farmer Harry Carey as trainer Silver has been sent by the girlfriend of his promoter boss (Bette Davis and Edward G. Robinson, not seen here) to hide novice prize-fighter Ward (Wayne Morris, title character) with Edward G’s mom (Soledad Jimenez) and, not previously mentioned, kid sister Marie (Jane Bryan), Michael Curtiz directing, in Warner Bros.’ Kid Galahad, 1937.
Kid Galahad (1937) -- (Movie Clip) A Fighter's A Machine Michael Curtiz directs with Warner Bros.’ pace, meeting nearly all the principals (except the title character, Wayne Morris), fighters William Haade and Hank Hankinson, opposing managers Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart, Harry Carey the corner-man and Bette Davis the squeeze, opening Kid Galahad, 1937.
Kid Galahad (1937) -- (Movie Clip) Sugar Is Going For Gooseberry Crooked fight manager Morgan (Humphrey Bogart) arrives at the party thrown by rival Nick (Edward G. Robinson), whom he’s just-about ruined, girlfriend Bette Davis smoothing things over, all the gals swooning over the just-introduced title character bellhop Guisenberry (Wayne Morris), in Kid Galahad, 1937.
Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, The (1938) -- (Movie Clip) Some Slight Mental Aberration Loyal nurse Randolph (Gale Page) tries to keep up as her employer (Edward G. Robinson), who’s just informed her that he committed a series of big jewel heists, explains his reasoning, which is getting near science fiction, in the Warner Bros. crime drama The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, 1938.
Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, The (1938) -- (Movie Clip) You Make The Perfect Target It’s nowhere near clear what Edward G. Robinson’s angle is, but he’s the title character, at a society party, interrupting a burglary by Billy Wayne, Humphrey Bogart escaping, as hostess Mrs. Updyke (Georgia Caine) twitters, Anatole Litvak directing, in Warner Bros.’ The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, 1938.
Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, The (1938) -- (Movie Clip) The Guy's A Ghost Edward G. Robinson (title character, dabbling in jewel thievery to satisfy his scientific curiosity) has bluffed his way in to meet fence Jo Keller (Claire Trevor), surprised to find out she’s a girl, Maxie Rosenbloom her goon, Humphrey Bogart her cohort “Rocks,” in The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, 1938.
House Of Strangers (1949) -- (Movie Clip) The Bank Will Open When I Get There Artful introduction of top-billed Edward G. Robinson as Gino Monetti (we’ve seen his portrait earlier, at the family-owned Manhattan bank), with Richard Conte as just-paroled son Max, visiting the vacant family home, and playing some Verdi, Joseph L. Mankiewicz directing, Luther Adler the elder son, in House Of Strangers, 1949.
House Of Strangers (1949) -- (Movie Clip) Money Is A Great Cleanser Having jumped back in time at least seven years, to when Manhattan Italian banker Gino Monetti (Edward G. Robinson) lived, we see the first meeting of Susan Hayward as Irene and Richard Conte as his son and in-house lawyer Max, Paul Valentine as the younger brother and security guard, in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s House Of Strangers, 1949.
House Of Strangers (1949) -- (Movie Clip) This Bank Stinks With Tradition From producer Sol Siegel and director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, opening with legit Little Italy location shots, Richard Conte on what looks like Mulberry St., entering the Monetti Loan & Trust, where we learn he’s Max, released from prison, visiting Joseph (Luther Adler) and brothers Pietro and Tony (Paul Valentine, Efrem Zimbalist Jr.), in House Of Strangers, 1949.
Blackmail (1939) -- (Movie Clip) White Or Whole Wheat? Oklahoma oil-rig fire fighter (Edward G. Robinson as John Ingram) returns home with his wife and son (Ruth Hussey, Bobs Watson) celebrating the opening of his own first well when he’s confronted by a drifter (Gene Lockhart as Ramey), who makes clear why he’s been sensitive about his past, in MGM’s Blackmail, 1939.
Blackmail (1939) -- (Movie Clip) Don't Use A Nasty Word Like That Oklahoma oil-rig fire fighter (Edward G. Robinson as John Ingram) returns home with his wife and son (Ruth Hussey, Bobs Watson) celebrating the opening of his own first well when he’s confronted by a drifter (Gene Lockhart as Ramey), who makes clear why he’s been sensitive about his past, in MGM’s Blackmail, 1939.
Never A Dull Moment (1968) -- (Movie Clip) Stop That Bleeding Escorted by Tony Bill as henchman Florian, who’s mistaken him for west coast hit man Ace, actor Jack (Dick Van Dyke) has found it safer to play along, as he’s introduced to art-loving mobster Joe (Edward G. Robinson, himself a noted art connoisseur) and his painting instructor Sally (Dorothy Provine), in the Disney comedy Never A Dull Moment, 1968.

Trailer

I Loved A Woman - (Original Trailer) A Chicago meat-packer (Edward G. Robinson) begins an affair with an opera singer (Kay Francis) in I Loved A Woman (1933).
Last Gangster, The - (Original Trailer) When a notorious gangster (Edward G. Robinson) gets out of prison, he vows revenge on the wife who left him. Also starring James Stewart.
Kid Galahad (1937) - (Original Trailer) A mob-connected trainer (Edward G. Robinson) grooms a bellhop for the boxing ring. Co-starring Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart.
Man With Two Faces, The - (Original Trailer) Edward G. Robinson plays a ham actor in the film version of a George S. Kaufman - Alexander Wolcott play.
Unholy Partners - (Original Trailer) The editor of a tabloid (Edward G. Robinson) takes money from a gangster in Unholy Partners (1941).
Hatchet Man, The - (Original Trailer) When he's forced to kill his best friend, a Chinese hit man adopts the man's daughter in The Hatchet Man (1932), a pre-Code melodrama directed by William Wellman and starring Edward G. Robinson.
Dispatch From Reuters, A - (Original Trailer) An entrepreneur (Edward G. Robinson) builds an international news agency.
Destroyer - (Re-issueTrailer) The crew of a torpedoed ship fights to take out an enemy sub in Destroyer (1943) starring Edward G. Robinson and Glenn Ford.
Dark Hazard - (Original Trailer) Edward G. Robinson plays a compulsive gambler who loses everything in Dark Hazard (1934).
Blackmail (1939) - (Original Trailer) Edward G. Robinson plays a man in prison on false charges who escapes to save his family from Blackmail (1939).
Big Leaguer - (Original Trailer) Edward G. Robinson plays an aging ballplayer turned manager in Robert Aldrich's first movie Big Leaguer (1953).
Barbary Coast - (Re-issue trailer) A vice king's girlfriend falls for a young miner in Howard Hawks' Barbary Coast (1935) starring Edward G. Robinson, Miriam Hopkins and Joel McCrea (Telluride Film Festival honoree 1982).

Promo

Family

Morris Goldenberg
Father
Sarah Goldenberg
Mother
Died 1947.
Edward Robinson Jr
Son
Died in 1974 at age 40.
Francesca Robinson
Granddaughter

Companions

Gladys Lloyd
Wife
Actor. Married for nearly 30 years before divorce; diagnosed as a manic depressive; died in 1971 after suffering a stroke.
Jane Adler
Wife
Garment wholesaler. Survived him; later married director George Sidney.

Bibliography

"Little Caesar: A Biography of Edward G. Robinson"
Alan L. Gansberg, New English Library (1983)
"My Father, My Son"
Edward G. Robinson Jr. and William Duffy
"All My Yesterdays"
Edward G. Robinson and Leonard Spigelgass