biography
| name: |
Robeson, Paul (Bustill)
|
pronunciation:
[rohbsn]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1898–1976)
|
| biography:
| Stage actor, singer, and political activist, born in Princeton, New Jersey, USA. At Rutgers University, he was a two-year All-American in football, valedictorian, and a Phi Beta Kappa at a time when few African-Americans even attended college. He took a law degree at Columbia University, but turned to singing and acting, appearing internationally in plays, films, on concert stages, and on recordings. He was especially known for his renditions of black spirituals, while his most famous stage role was in Othello. By the late 1930s he had become increasingly more active and outspoken on behalf of racial justice, social progress, and international peace, and when he defied charges that he was a Communist, the government cancelled his passport. He spent most of the next 13 years living in Russia and London, returning to the USA (1963) to live out his last years in poor health. |
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