Robinson, Robert

▪ British journalist

born Dec. 17, 1927, Liverpool

      British journalist and broadcaster known for his wit and for the number and variety of his simultaneously held television assignments.

      Robinson began his career in the print media and was film critic of the London Sunday Graphic and a columnist on the Sunday Chronicle. Film criticism introduced Robinson to television; he made his first appearance in 1959 reviewing current cinema for the program “Picture Parade.”

      In 1962 he became the gossip columnist of The Sunday Times, continuing to work in television as the host of “Points of View”. Robinson was a popular personality on television, and he began to accumulate jobs in that medium and on radio. He was often on as many as six concurrent programs, such as “Call My Bluff,” a panel game show; “Ask the Family,” a lighthearted quiz between members of two families; “Stop the Week,” a diverting and intelligent radio chat show; “Brain of Britain,” a radio quiz show; “Word for Word”; and “The Book Programme,” which included reviews and interviews with authors. On the latter show Robinson conducted the last interview that Vladimir Nabokov gave. Robinson wrote two novels: Landscape with Dead Dons (1956) and The Conspiracy (1968). In 1978 he made a series of travelogues of the United States that was well received.

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