Paul
Robeson
Paul
Robeson
(1898-1976)
"I shall take my voice wherever there are those who want to hear the melody of freedom or the words that might inspire hope and courage in the face of fear. My weapons are peaceful, for it is only by peace that peace can be attained. The song of freedom must prevail."
Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopaedia:
Robeson was one of the few true Renaissance men of the 20th century: a scholar,
athlete, political activist, and performer. He could dominate a stage or concert
hall with his resonant, melodic baritone, but because of his outspokenness
against racism and his political activism, he encountered challenges throughout
his lifetime. The son of a schoolteacher and former slave who became a
Protestant minister, Robeson earned a scholarship to Rutgers College, becoming
the third black ever to attend the school. In 1917, he was the first black
Walter Camp All-American football player; he won varsity letters in basketball,
baseball, and track, and was awarded a Phi Beta Kappa key. While attending
Columbia University Law School, he performed in an amateur stage production, and
in 1921 made his professional debut in the theater. He apprenticed with the
famous Provincetown Players, where he was cast in Eugene O'Neill's "All God's
Chillun Got Wings" and "The Emperor Jones."
He made his screen debut in Body and Soul (1924), directed by Oscar Micheaux; it
was the only time in his career that he would be directed by a black filmmaker.
He first performed the role of Joe the Riverman in "Show Boat" in London in
1928, a role he was to recreate on film some years later. In 1933 he starred in
the movie version of The Emperor Jones playing Brutus Jones, the Pullman
porter/convict turned island ruler. Although the film was made outside the
Hollywood mainstream, it was nevertheless a milestone, with a white actor
(Dudley Digges) supporting Robeson in his leading role. In 1936 he sang his
thrilling rendition of "Old Man River" in the Hollywood production of Show Boat
Robeson's remaining film opportunities came in England, where he felt he could
escape stereotyping and find better parts. However, while he avoided having to
"shuffle along," his characters consistently remained in the shadows of the
Great White Hunter in Sanders of the River (1935), Song of Freedom (1936), in
the tailor-made role of a dock worker turned concert singer who is heir to an
African tribal throne, Big Fella (1937), Jericho (1937, aka Dark Sands), in
which he sang "Shortnin' Bread," King Solomon's Mines (1938), as an exiled
tribal chief, and Proud Valley (1940). Robeson was consistently good; the same
could not be said for the movies. In 1942 he returned to Hollywood to act in a
segment of the multi-episode Tales of Manhattan It would be his final film
appearance. Robeson's politics were to become his undoing. He defied the House
Committee on Un-American Activities; the State Department revoked his passport.
In 1958, a Supreme Court ruling reinstated the passport, and he performed in
concert until illness forced him to retire. In 1958 Robeson published his
autobiography, "Here I Stand."
Filmography:
Miscellaneous Crew - filmography