Trivia

Although best known for playing fierce, angry and often murderous little men, he was actually well-liked and respected by almost everyone off-screen, having been a sensitive, quiet, artistic type when not performing.

When he died in 1973, he left an estate valued at $2.5 million, which largely consisted of rare works of art.

Died two weeks after he had finished filming Soylent Green (1973).

Lived in a Yiddish community in Romania until he was 9.

He hated guns. During production of Little Caesar (1931), his eyelids had to be taped open so he wouldn't flinch when he fired his weapon.

Was a great art lover, especially paintings. Robert Wagner, who knew him very well, revealed that Robinson bought a [Paul Cézanne painting that did not fit with his living room. So he first changed the mantel of the living room, then the wallpaper of the living room, then the furniture around the painting, but he still didn't like it. So he finally chose another apartment for the painting.

Donated $100,000 to the United Service Organization (USO) during WW2. Like many celebrities, he also pitched in at the Hollywood Canteen and, being multilingual (he reportedly spoke seven languages fluently, among them Yiddish, Romanian and German), worked on broadcasts to countries occupied by the Nazis.

Never nominated for an Academy Award. He was awarded an Honorary Oscar two months after his death. His wife, who accepted for him, commented on how thrilled he was to learn he would be given the award.

Suffered a heart attack while filming Sammy Going South (1963) in Africa.

Interred at Beth El Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY, in the Goodman Mausoleum.

Was considered for the role of Don Vito Corleone in Bố Già (1972) before Marlon Brando was cast.

According to the 3/31/41 issue of "Time" magazine, he and Melvyn Douglas bid $3,200 for the fedora hat that Franklin D. Roosevelt had worn during his three successful campaigns for the presidency. They acquired the hat at a special Hollywood auction to benefit the Motion Picture Relief Fund. Both Robinson and Douglas were identified as "loyal Democrats". Robinson would later be "grey-listed" during the McCarthy Red Scare hysteria of the 1950s and be forced to make his living on stage.

Although it has been said that he chose his stage name after an actor he had seen and admired, later he said he was just trying to keep his birth initials. He was unsure as to why he had settled on Robinson but would have chosen a shorter name if allowed to do it again, as it takes a long time to write "Robinson" in an autograph.

Was named #24 greatest actor on The 50 Greatest Screen Legends by the American Film Institute

The inspiration for the voice of Chief Clancy Wiggum (Hank Azaria) on Gia Đình Simpson (1989).

According to an interview with Soylent Green (1973) co-star Dick Van Patten, he worked with Edward G. Robinson for the first time while shooting the euthanasia scene and was somewhat embarrassed that he was so nervous they had to do several takes before he got used to not calling him "Mr. Robinson". The next day, before, shooting started, Charlton Heston called all the cast together to announce that "Eddie" had passed away during the night. One of the finest scenes ever worked by this classic icon fittingly became his swan song.

Pictured on a 33¢ US commemorative postage stamp in the Legends of Hollywood series, issued 10/24/2000.

Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1953.

In May 2020 he was honored as Turner Classic Movies Star of the Month.

Was originally slated to play Dr. Zaius in Hành Tinh Khỉ (1968) but dropped out due to heart problems.

Received a special award from the Maryland State Council of the American Jewish Congress for his performance as Dathan in Mười Điều Răn Của Chúa (1956).

Has appeared in three films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Little Caesar (1931), Bồi Thường Gấp Đôi (1944) and Mười Điều Răn Của Chúa (1956).

Became a father at age 39 when his first [later ex] wife Gladys Lloyd gave birth to their son Edward G. Robinson Jr. on 3/19/33.

In 1949 he was investigated by the California Senate's Fact Finding Committee on Un-American Activities (colloquially known as the "Tenney Committee" after Committee Chairman Jack Tenney). Tenney claimed that Robinson, an unabashed progressive Democrat, was "frequently involved in Communist fronts and causes".

Starred in three Best Picture Academy Award nominees: Five Star Final (1931), Bồi Thường Gấp Đôi (1944), and Mười Điều Răn Của Chúa (1956).

Other alumni of his P.S. 21 in Manhattan were George Gershwin, Paul Muni and US Sen. Jacob Javits.

His fellow student and close friend at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts was Joseph Schildkraut, who remembered, "I looked at the girls, but Manny stuck to his work".

He was originally offered the role of Little Bonaparte in Some Like It Hot (1959), but had vowed never again to work with George Raft, with whom he had a fistfight on the set of Manpower (1941) when, for a scene, Raft spun him around too hard (despite the avowal, he did co-star with Raft in A Bullet for Joey (1955)). However, the role of Johnny Paradise, the kid paying tribute to Raft's "cheap trick" of coin-flipping, is also the man with the Tommy gun in the birthday cake who mows down Spats and his gang. The actor is Edward G. Robinson Jr..

On 4/30/52 he "named names" of Communist sympathizers in the industry and publicly repudiated some of the left-wing organizations he had belonged to in the 1930s and 1940s.

Alumnus of the AADA (American Academy of Dramatic Arts), Class of 1913.

His great-grandson Adam Edward Sanchez, via granddaughter Francesca and her husband Ricardo, was born ten years after his death on 2/5/83.

Became a grandfather at age 59 when his son Edward G. Robinson Jr. and his first [later ex] wife Frances Chisholm welcomed a daughter, Francesca Gladys Robinson, on 3/27/53.

Co-starred with Joan Bennett in The Woman in the Window (1944) and Phố Quyến Rũ (1945).

Co-starred with Nina Foch in Illegal (1955) and Mười Điều Răn Của Chúa (1956).

Caricatured in Hollywood Steps Out (1941).

Born at 5:00 a.m. LMT.

Mentioned in Have Kimono, Will Travel (1963).