Paul Robeson

Paul Robeson , 1898-1976, American actor and bass singer, b. Princeton, N.J. The son of a runaway slave who became a minister, Robeson graduated first from Rutgers (1919), where he was an All-American football player, and then from Columbia Univ. law school (1923). He began his acting career in 1924 with the Provincetown Players . With a resonant voice and the ability to project a humane spirit, he won wide acclaim with his creation of the title role in Eugene O'Neill's Emperor Jones (1925; film, 1933). Other outstanding dramatic performances include Crown in DuBose Heyward's Porgy (1928) and Othello (in London, 1930, and New York, 1943-45). In 1925 he made his debut as a concert singer. Possessed of a magnificent bass voice, he became known especially for his rendition of "Ol' Man River" in Jerome Kern's musical Show Boat (1928; film, 1936) and for his interpretations of spirituals. He lived mainly in Europe from 1928 to 1939, traveling to the Soviet Union for the first time in 1934. Robeson's association with Communist causes and his winning of the International Stalin Peace Prize (1952) made him a controversial figure in the United States. He moved to England in 1958, and continued to appear in concerts in Europe and the Soviet Union. He returned to live in the United States in 1963.

Bibliography: See his Here I Stand (1958); biographies by his wife (1930), his son (2001), and M. B. Duberman (1988).

Robeson, Paul (1898–1976), African‐American singer, actor, and social activist.Born in Princeton, New Jersey, the son of a Presbyterian minister, Paul Robeson attended Rutgers University, distinguishing himself as a scholar, athlete, singer, and actor. He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1923 and briefly practiced law, but soon turned to the theater. His roles in Eugene O'Neill's All God's Chillun Got Wings (1924) and The Emperor Jones (1924 in New York, 1925 in London) catapulted him to international prominence as a serious actor at a time when stage opportunities for African Americans were generally limited to racist stereotypes. Robeson's Shakespeare roles, particularly Othello, were popular and critical successes. He appeared in several films and won fame at home and in Europe for his vocal recitals featuring Negro spirituals and show tunes such as Old Man River.

Robeson understood the fight against racism within the context of antifascism. Supporting the Loyalist forces during the Spanish Civil War, he became increasingly interested in communism and the American Communist party from the mid‐1930s on, particularly as the party embraced antifascism and spoke to the plight of African Americans and on behalf of organized labor. Robeson's political leanings limited his opportunities to perform. During the Cold War he became a target of Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Committee on Un‐American Activities. From 1950 to 1958, the U.S. government revoked his passport. Plagued by ill health and mental disorders, Robeson spent several years in Europe, but eventually returned to America. Increasingly withdrawn and reclusive, he died in Harlem.
See also Anticommunism; Communist Party—USA; Drama; Harlem Renaissance; Music: Traditional Music.

Bibliography

Paul Robeson , Here I Stand, 1958.
Martin Duberman , Paul Robeson 1988.
Jeffrey C. Stewart, ed., Paul Robeson: Artist and Citizen, 1998.

Theodore O. Mason Jr.

Robeson, Paul (1898–1976), actor and singer. Born in Princeton, New Jersey, and educated at Rutgers (where he was a champion athlete) and Columbia (where he received a law degree), the dynamic African‐American performer made a number of noteworthy appearances on Broadway, including the roles of lawyer Jim Harris in All God's Chillun Got Wings (1924) and the tormented Brutus Jones in a 1925 revival of The Emperor Jones. Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein are said to have written the role of Joe in Show Boat with him in mind, but he did not sing it until the London premiere and played it in America only in the 1932 revival. Robeson's greatest success came when he played Othello to José Ferrer's Iago in 1943; the production became the longest‐running Shakespearean revival in history. Robeson was a powerful, athletic figure with a deep, resounding voice in both speaking and singing. Always a controversial figure because of his outspoken views on discrimination, he was a Communist sympathizer in the 1950s and, consequently, shunned by many. After spending some years in Russia, Robeson returned to America and lived in seclusion the last decades of his life. Autobiography: Here I Stand, 1971; biography: Paul Robeson, Martin B. Duberman, 1988.