“Things got so bad that when I went shopping for a house, some people would refuse to open the door if they saw it was me standing there. And drunks would always want to challenge me.” – Edward G. Robinson on his screen image.
“If I were just a bit taller and I was a little more handsome or something like that, I could have played all the roles that I have played, and played many more. There is such a thing as a handicap, but you’ve got to be that much better as an actor. It kept me from certain roles that I might have had, but then, it kept others from playing my roles, so I don’t know that it’s not altogether balanced.” — Edward G. Robinson
Robinson and his wife Gladys Lloyd at their Beverly Hills home in 1934. Not sure this is the same house, but Robinson lived at 910 N. Rexford Drive.
“When will I retire? I can’t say, because somehow I can’t quite visualize getting to the end of the gallery of portraits I’d like to paint – on stage and screen. Just now it seems to me I’ll never want to retire – and being the sort of actor I am, not dependent upon beauty nor the bloom of youth to put me across, possibly I’ll be able to do my last portrait wearing a long grey beard the makeup man won’t have to apply.” — Edward G. Robinson
Source: 1937
Photo: 1937
Disney animation cell for Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938)
The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938). Co-starring Claire Trevor and Humphrey Bogart.
“Cast as rivals for the affections of Marlene Dietrich in the Warner Brothers film ‘Manpower,’ Hollywood’s reigning gangsters were smitten with genuine jealousy.” — Los Angeles Times in 1987
Photo: Manpower (1941). With George Raft, Marlene Dietrich and Edward G. Robinson
“I never thought Robinson was right for the role, which was written to be played by a big guy. I’m not sure why I got mad at Robinson. I resented his trying to put me down with advice, you know, how to handle lines and business. He made me madder and madder.” — George Raft
Manpower (1941). With George Raft.
Warner Bros. animator Virgil Ross created this drawing of Bugs Bunny and Edward G. Robinson in graphite and colored pencil on a 10 ¼ in. x 12 ½ in. leaf of animation paper.
Larceny, Inc. (1942). With Jane Wyman.
A Bullet for Joey (1955). With George Raft.
Edward G. Robinson at the Cocoanut Grove around 1956 (or thereabouts).
Edward G. Robinson in a 1966 make-up test for the character, Dr. Zaius, in Planet of the Apes. At the time of this photo, movie studios were still reluctant to produce the project.
An Edward G. Robinson waxwork zombie. 6′ tall. Valued between $2000-$3000. Retired from the Hollywood Wax Museum.
