Edward H. Robins

Edward Haas Robins (October 15, 1881 – July 27, 1955) was an American actor whose Broadway career spanned from 1909 to 1946. Born in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, to Samuel Williamson Haas and Lennora Robins Haas, he attended Shamokin High School before taking a position at The Shamokin Dispatch, where he rose to city editor by the age of 19.

His transition into acting came about through an unlikely circumstance. In 1900, a prank telegram convinced Robins to travel to Philadelphia under the false impression that he had been cast as the king in Hamlet. Upon discovering the deception, he nonetheless made his stage debut at the Auditorium Theatre, portraying Bernado. He subsequently left that company rather than join its tour of the southern United States, choosing instead to form his own theatrical company. He also performed in Chicago with the Bush Temple stock company.

Producer David Belasco brought Robins to Broadway in 1908, casting him in a co-starring role in The Easiest Way, which marked his Broadway debut. His Broadway work continued across several decades and included productions such as Nellie Bly, The Acquittal, and Bluffing Bluffers. In 1916, George M. Cohan hired him to play Hiram Draper in So This Is London, a production in which Robins also appeared in London itself in 1923. His final Broadway credit was The Front Page in 1946.

Beginning in 1913, Robins led a theatrical troupe each summer at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto and established a year-round theatrical company there as well. During World War I, that company grew to become Canada's largest stock theater operation. In April 1914, Robins also initiated the formation of the Conness-Till Film Company in Canada, named for theater and film figure Luke Edwin Conness and Toronto businessman Louis A. Till, with Philadelphia financiers James and Charles Beury as the primary investors. Robins was designated as the star of the company's productions, with Clara Whipple serving as leading lady. He additionally wrote a weekly column for The Toronto Sunday World focused on the motion-picture industry.

By 1915, Beury had restructured the enterprise as the Beury Feature Film Company, with Robins and grocer J. A. Macdonald as partners. Robins supervised daily operations until a studio fire destroyed equipment, costumes, and furniture valued at $75,000 or more, with insurance covering no more than $12,000. Following the fire, Robins announced that the company would not resume film production in Canada. He later appeared in three American films, all released in 1937: Exclusive, Meet the Missus, and Music for Madame.

Beyond performing, Robins also directed plays and served on the executive staff of Actors' Equity Association from 1928 to 1930. He was a member of both the Garrick Club and The Lambs. Robins was married to Reina Bond and Sydney Shields. He died on July 27, 1955, at Bergen Pines Hospital at the age of 74.