History Creator / EdwardGRobinson

* ''Film/TheWomanInTheWindow'' (1944)

Robinson was born in Bucharest, UsefulNotes/{{Romania}}. When he was ten, his family emigrated to the United States to escape persecution after one of his brothers was attacked by an antisemitic mob. He began acting on the stage as a teenager, while adopting a much less Jewish-sounding StageName: Edward G. Robinson. (His middle initial "G." stood for his original surname, Goldenberg.) Robinson got a couple of parts in silent movies but hit it big after the transition to talking films led to Hollywood producers looking for fresh talent. His StarMakingRole came in the smash hit gangster film ''Film/LittleCaesar'' in 1931. Robinson's portrayal of the brutal, murderous gangster Rico Bandello wound up typecasting the actor – a soft-spoken, educated man who in RealLife could speak seven languages and collected fine art pieces – as a tough guy. His manner of speaking in that film, including the VerbalTic of ending sentences with "See?" (and to a lesser degree, starting them with "M'yeah!"), also helped to establish a stereotype of wiseguy gangster talk, which was iconic enough to be parodied in a number of ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' shorts and even used as a gag 80 years later in ''Film/TheMuppets2011''. It also served as the inspiration for the voice of Chief Wiggum on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', and even broke through to early phases of Dick Gumshoe's localisation in the first ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'' game.

In the 1940s Robinson was able to branch out to some extent from his tough-guy roles, playing such characters as a humble Norwegian immigrant farmer in ''Our Vines Have Tender Grapes'', a pathetic bank clerk manipulated by a prostitute in ''Film/ScarletStreet'', a shrewd insurance fraud investigator on the heels of Creator/FredMacMurray's murderer in ''Film/DoubleIndemnity'', and a UN war crimes agent tracking down Creator/OrsonWelles's Nazi fugitive to college-town Connecticut in ''Film/TheStranger''. He even sent up his earlier gangster image in such comedy films as ''Larceny, Inc.'' and ''Film/ASlightCaseOfMurder''. However, in spite of the breadth and quality of his screen performances Robinson was sadly never presented with – or even ''nominated'' for – a competitive UsefulNotes/AcademyAward during his long career.

Robinson was born in Bucharest, UsefulNotes/{{Romania}}. When he was ten, his family emigrated to the United States to escape persecution after one of his brothers was attacked by an antisemitic mob. He began acting on the stage as a teenager, while adopting a much less Jewish-sounding StageName: Edward G. Robinson. (His middle initial "G." stood for his original surname, Goldenberg.) Robinson got a couple of parts in silent movies but hit it big after the transition to talking films led to Hollywood producers looking for fresh talent. His StarMakingRole came in the smash hit gangster film ''Film/LittleCaesar'' in 1931. Robinson's portrayal of the brutal, murderous gangster Rico Bandello wound up typecasting the actor – a soft-spoken, educated man who in RealLife could speak seven languages and collected fine art pieces – as a tough guy. His manner of speaking in that film, including the VerbalTic of ending sentences with "See?" (and to a lesser degree, starting them with "M'yeah!"), also helped to establish a stereotype of wiseguy gangster talk which was iconic enough to be parodied in a number of ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' shorts and even used as a gag 80 years later in ''Film/TheMuppets2011''. It also served as the inspiration for the voice of Chief Wiggum on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', and even broke through to early phases of Dick Gumshoe's localisation in the first ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'' game.

In the 1940s Robinson was able to branch out to some extent from his tough-guy roles, playing such characters as a humble Norwegian immigrant farmer in ''Our Vines Have Tender Grapes'', a pathetic bank clerk manipulated by a prostitute in ''Film/ScarletStreet'', a shrewd insurance fraud investigator on the heels of Creator/FredMacMurray's murderer in ''Film/DoubleIndemnity'', and a UN war crimes inspector following Creator/OrsonWelles's Nazi fugitive to college-town Connecticut in ''Film/TheStranger''. He even sent up his earlier gangster image in such comedy films as ''Larceny, Inc.'' and ''Film/ASlightCaseOfMurder''. However, in spite of the breadth and quality of his performances, Robinson was sadly never presented with – or even ''nominated'' for – a competitive UsefulNotes/AcademyAward during his long career.

In the 1940s Robinson was able to branch out to some extent from his tough-guy roles, playing such characters as a humble Norwegian immigrant farmer in ''Our Vines Have Tender Grapes'', a pathetic bank clerk manipulated by a prostitute in ''Film/ScarletStreet'', and a shrewd insurance fraud investigator on the heels of Creator/FredMacMurray's murderer in ''Film/DoubleIndemnity''. He even parodied his earlier gangster image in such comedic films as ''Larceny, Inc.'' and ''Film/ASlightCaseOfMurder''. In spite of the breadth and quality of his performances, however, Robinson was never presented with – or even ''nominated'' for – a competitive UsefulNotes/AcademyAward during his long career.

Robinson was born in Bucharest, UsefulNotes/{{Romania}}. When he was ten, his family emigrated to the United States to escape persecution after one of his brothers was attacked by an antisemitic mob. He began acting on the stage as a teenager, while adopting a much less Jewish-sounding StageName: Edward G. Robinson. (His middle initial "G." stood for his original surname, Goldenberg.) Robinson got a couple of parts in silent movies but hit it big after the transition to talking films led to Hollywood producers looking for fresh talent. His StarMakingRole came in the smash hit gangster film ''Film/LittleCaesar'' in 1931. Robinson's portrayal of the brutal, murderous gangster Rico Bandello wound up typecasting the actor -- a soft-spoken, educated man who in RealLife could speak seven languages and collected fine art -- as a tough guy. His manner of speaking in that film, including the VerbalTic of ending sentences with "See?" (and to a lesser degree, starting them with "M'yeah!"), also established a stereotype of wiseguy gangster talk which was iconic enough to be parodied in a number of ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' shorts and even used as a gag 80 years later in ''Film/TheMuppets2011''. It also served as the inspiration for the voice of Chief Wiggum on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', and even broke through to early phases of Dick Gumshoe's localisation in the first ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'' game.

In the 1940s Robinson was able to branch out to some extent from his tough-guy roles, playing such characters as a humble Norwegian immigrant farmer in ''Our Vines Have Tender Grapes'', a pathetic bank clerk manipulated by a prostitute in ''Film/ScarletStreet'', and a shrewd insurance fraud investigator on the heels of Creator/FredMacMurray's murderer in ''Film/DoubleIndemnity''. He even parodied his earlier gangster image in such comedic films as ''Larceny, Inc.'' and ''Film/ASlightCaseOfMurder''.