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The role of Joe in the musical was originally written with Robeson in mind, but Robeson declined the role in the 1927 production due to scheduling conflict. Robeson, however, accepted the role for its 1928 London production and 1932 Broadway revival. He also performed the song three times in the show instead of the one originally written. [10] .
- Assessment
- Early years
- Early career
- Politics
- Later years
- Death and legacy
This handsome, eloquent and highly charismatic actor became one of the foremost interpreters of Eugene O'Neill's plays and one of the most treasured names in song during the first half of the twentieth century. He also courted disdain and public controversy for most of his career as a staunch Cold War-era advocate for human rights. While the backla...
Born in Princeton, New Jersey, on April 9, 1898, Paul LeRoy Bustill Robeson and his four siblings (William, Benjamin, Reeve, Marian) lost their mother, a schoolteacher, in a fire while quite young (Paul was only six). Paul's father, a humble Presbyterian minister and former slave, raised the family singlehandedly and the young, impressionable boy g...
Paul subsequently played professional football to earn money while attending Columbia University's law school, and also took part in amateur dramatics. During this time he met and married Eslanda Cardozo Goode in 1921. She eventually became his personal assistant. Despite the fact that he was admitted to the New York bar, Paul's future as an actor ...
During the 1930s he also gravitated strongly towards economics and politics with a burgeoning interest in social activism. In 1934 he made the first of several trips to the Soviet Union and outwardly extolled the Russian way of life and their lack of racial bias. He was a popular figure in Wales where he became personally involved in their civil ri...
The 1940s was a mixture of performance triumphs and poignant, political upheavals. While his title run in the musical drama \"John Henry\" (1940), was short-lived, he earned widespread acclaim for his Broadway \"Othello\" in 1943 opposite José Ferrer as Iago and Uta Hagen as Desdemona. By this time, however, Robeson was being reviled by much of whi...
Paul died at age 77 of complications from a stroke. Among his many honors: he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995; he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998; was honored with a postage stamp during the \"Black Heritage\" series; and both a Cultural Center at Penn State University and a high school in Brooklyn b...
- April 9, 1898
- January 23, 1976
May 2, 2024 · The character of Joe, who sings “Ol’ Man River” in the show, is a prime example of this controversy. While the song itself is a powerful lament about the hardships faced by African American laborers working on the Mississippi River, the character of Joe was played by a white actor in blackface.
The character Joe, the stevedore who sings "Ol' Man River", was expanded from the novel and written specifically by Kern and Hammerstein for Paul Robeson, already a noted actor and singer. Although he is the actor most identified with the role and the song, he was unavailable for the original production due to its opening delay.
There was also to have been an additional reprise of "Ol' Man River", sung by Paul Robeson in old-age makeup as Joe, but this was deleted, and we never do see an aged Joe (or Queenie) in the film as released.
His recording of the song hit the charts after he originated the role of Joe on the West End in 1928; he went on to reprise his role in the 1936 film adaptation. Robeson, a staunch advocate for workers and human rights, would sing the song at concerts and events for decades to come.
From Showboat's 2nd version (1936) Paul Robeson - Ol' Man RiverOl' Man River (Jerome Kern - Oscar Hammerstein II)Lyrics from the Original Libretto Dare's an ...
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