Topic: Edward G. Robinson

Edward Goldenberg Robinson, Sr. (born Emanuel Goldenberg; Yiddish: עמנואל גאָלדנבערג; December 12, 1893 – January 26, 1973) was an honorary Academy Award-winning American actor born in Romania. Although he has played a wide range of characters, he is best remembered for his roles as a gangster, most notably in his star-making film Little Caesar.

Born to a Yiddish-speaking Jewish family in Bucharest, he emigrated with his family to New York City in 1903. He had his Bar Mitzvah at First Roumanian-American congregation, and attended Townsend Harris High School and then City College of New York. An interest in acting led to him winning an American Academy of Dramatic Arts scholarship, after which he changed his name to Edward G. Robinson (the G. signifying his original last name).

He began his acting career in 1913 and made his Broadway debut in 1915. He made his film debut in a minor and uncredited role in 1916; in 1923 he made his named debut as E. G. Robinson in The Bright Shawl. One of many actors who saw his career flourish in the new sound film era rather than falter, he made only three films prior to 1930 but left his stage career that year and made fourteen films in 1930-32. He married his first wife, the stage actress Gladys Lloyd, in 1927; born Gladys Lloyd Cassell, she was the former wife of Ralph L. Vestervelt and the daughter of Clement C. Cassell, an architect, sculptor, and artist. The couple had one son, Edward Goldenberg Robinson, Jr. (a.k.a Manny Robinson, 1933-1974), as well as a daughter from Gladys Robinson's first marriage.