Tod Robbins | |
---|---|
Born | Clarence Aaron Robbins June 25, 1888 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
Died | May 10, 1949 60) | (aged
Occupation | Author |
Genre | Horror, mystery fiction |
Clarence Aaron Robbins (25 June 1888 – May 10, 1949), [1] billed as C. A. Robbins and better known as Tod Robbins, was an American author of horror and mystery fiction, particularly novels and short story collections.
Robbins was born in Brooklyn, June 25, 1888. He attended Washington and Lee University (Lexington, Virginia) and—along with Mark W. Sheafe (1884?–1949) and Thornton Whitney Allen (1890–1944)—wrote the college song "Washington and Lee Swing". Sheafe wrote the tune in 1905, Allen set the music down on paper in 1909, and Robbins provided the words. The completed version was published in 1910.
Robbins authored two short story collections and several novels. His work often contains bizarre and frightening plots, sometimes influenced by writers like Oscar Wilde (Robbins' "The Living Portrait" is a homage to The Picture of Dorian Gray ) [1] and Robert W. Chambers. [2] Robbins's Mysterious Martin (1912) is an early novel about a serial killer. [1] His novel The Unholy Three (1917) was twice adapted for the screen, a silent version directed by Tod Browning in 1925 and a sound version directed by Jack Conway in 1930; both adaptations starred Lon Chaney. Robbins was also the author of the short story "Spurs", which Browning used as the basis for Freaks (1932), a film which later developed a cult following. [1] Some of Robbins's work was later reprinted in the "Creeps" series of horror anthologies edited by Charles Birkin. [1]
Robbins' novel Fighting Mad reportedly won the $3,000 contest held in 1922 by Physical Culture magazine, serializing the novel beginning with the January 1922 issue. [3]
E. F. Bleiler described Robbins' Who Wants a Green Bottle? as "excellent commercial fiction, with good little touches". [4]
Robbins emigrated to the French Riviera from New York City and refused to leave during the Nazi occupation of France. He spent the war in a concentration camp and died in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in 1949. [2]
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Freaks is a 1932 American pre-Code drama horror film produced and directed by Tod Browning, starring Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova, Roscoe Ates and Harry Earles.
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The Unholy Three is a 1925 American silent crime melodrama film involving a trio of circus conmen, directed by Tod Browning and starring Lon Chaney. The supporting cast features Mae Busch, Matt Moore, Victor McLaglen, and Harry Earles. The Unholy Three marks the establishment of the notable artistic alliance between director Browning and actor Chaney that would deliver eight films to M-G-M studios during the late silent film era.
The Unholy Three is a 1930 American Pre-Code melodrama directed by Jack Conway and starring Lon Chaney. Its plot involves a crime spree. The film is a sound remake of the silent 1925 film of the same name, with both films based on the novel The Unholy Three, by Tod Robbins.
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