Jay Robinson

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Jay Robinson, born April 14, 1930 in New York, is an American actor specialising in character roles.

Robinson began his acting career in summer stock and repertory companies and he made his way to the Broadway stage where he appeared in Shakespeare's As You Like It and Much Ado About Nothing.

His first film role was as the Emperor Caligula in The Robe (1953), which he reprised in Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954). This was followed by roles in The Virgin Queen (1955) starring Bette Davis, and My Man Godfrey (1957) with David Niven and June Allyson.

His career took a downward turn when in 1958 he was arrested for possession of narcotics and sentenced to a year in jail. He could not get work in Hollywood and was forced to take whatever work he could. Spending most of the next 13 years out of work, he was rescued by Bette Davis, who insisted that Robinson be cast in an important role in her 1971 feature Bunny O'Hare. Robinson made a slow, steady comeback in supporting parts in Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (1972), and Warren Beatty's Shampoo (1975). In the 80s, he appeared in made-for-video films of Macbeth (1981), Othello (1981) and Richard II (1982). He continued to act into the 1990s, and was seen as Vincent in 1992's Bram Stoker's Dracula. In 1997, he proved an ideal host for the TV series Beyond Bizarre (1997).