Paul Robeson, a giant among American bass singers, was born in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1898. His first interest was the law, which he studied at Rutgers and Columbia Universities, obtaining degrees in 1919 and 1923. While at college, his talent for the stage was discovered; his interest then grew as he was revealed to be not only a remarkable singer but an actor as well.
As a result he became a professional actor, performing in the US and in England. He made a success in the works of the playwright Eugene O'Neill, and as Porgy in the stage version of DuBose Heyward's novel, which was to become the inspiration for George Gershwin's opera, Porgy and Bess.
In 1925 Robeson gave his first recital of what were then called negro spirituals, in New York, and followed it with a concert tour of Europe. The following year he was engaged to sing the r├┤le of Joe in Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's new musical, Show Boat. Delays in opening the show resulted in recasting, but three years later Robeson joined the company and made a personal success as Joe in the Broadway revival.
Three film versions were made of Show Boat. Of these, the best-remembered is the 1936, Universal Studios, production in which Robeson appeared. In it, his interpretation of the bass aria, Ol Man River is as remarkable for its truth and simplicity as for the technique and beauty of his voice.
In 1930 he appeared in London in the title r├┤le of Shakespeare's play, Othello. On his return to the US he continued his concert career. To the lasting shame of his fellow-countrymen, this was cut short in his native country because of his passionate belief in freedom of political convictions and his outspoken condemnation of racism.
In 1952, having continued his career in Europe, where he was not spared a certain amount of racial abuse, he was awarded the International Stalin Peace Prize. He continued to sing on the concert platform and, in 1958, made an extended European tour.
With the success of the civil rights movement in the United States he eventually returned home. He died there, in Philadelphia, in 1976.
