- Joe Robinson in Carry On Regardless (1961)
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He was born Joseph Robinson in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England on May 31st 1927. His father, also Joseph, and his grandfather, John, were both professional wrestlers. His brother Doug was also a wrestler and stuntman, one of Joe's 4 children, Polly, was a judo champion and Phoebe, one of his 11 grandchildren, is a stuntwoman.
Joe followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather as "Tiger Joe Robinson", winning the European heavyweight wrestling championship in 1952 - he was also a judo champion and black belt at karate. After injuring his back wrestling, Joe decided to concentrate on acting and studied at London's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He started out in theatre in 1952 and made his film debut 3 years later, playing a substantial role as a wrestler in A Kid for Two Farthings. Joe featured prominently in the film's advertising, but failed to build on the momentum and for the rest of the 50's he only appeared in small parts in British films and television.
With the peplum craze well under way, Joe got the call to come to Italy in 1960-61, where he would play supporting roles in 3 peplums. 2 years later he was back again, replacing Reg Lewis in 2 films as Taur/Thor. His appearance in an episode of British TV series The Avengers the same year led to him co-authoring the book Honor Blackman's Book of Self-Defence. Joe's final major film appearance is probably the one he is best remembered for, as one of Sean Connery's adversaries in his final outing as James Bond, Diamonds are Forever (1971).
Retiring from acting and sports, Joe opened a martial arts training centre in Brighton.
He died in Brighton on July 3rd 2017, aged 90.
Joe's biography is compiled from a variety of reliable online and written sources.
Filmography
- A Kid for Two Farthings .... Sam Heppner (credited)
1956 - Die ganze Welt singt nur Amore .... Max (credited)
1957 - Fighting Mad .... Mike (poster credit - role unconfirmed)
- The Flesh is Weak .... Lofty (credited)
1958 - Sea Fury .... Hendrik (credited)
- The Strange Awakening .... Sven (credited)
1959 - Pasaporte al infierno .... Pete Archer (poster credit - role unconfirmed)
1960 - The Bulldog Breed .... Tall sailor (credited)
- The Strange World of Gurney Slade (TV mini-series) Ep. 3 .... Farm human (credited)
- The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll .... Corinthian (uncredited)
1961 - Barabba .... Senior gladiator (credited)
- Carry On Regardless .... Dynamite Dan (credited)
- Gli invasori .... Garian (uncredited)
- Ursus e la ragazza tartara .... Ursus (credited)
1962 - The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner .... Mr. Roach (credited)
1963 - Doctor in Distress .... Sonia's boyfriend (credited)
- Le gladiatrici .... Thor (credited)
- Taur, il re della forza bruta .... Taur (credited)
- The Avengers (TV series) Ep.: "November Five" .... Max (credited)
- The Saint (TV series) Ep.: "The Saint Plays with Fire" .... Austin (credited)
1966 - Pardon the Expression (TV series) Ep.: "Self Defence" .... Gerry (credited)
1971 - Diamonds are Forever .... Peter Franks (credited)
1973 - Diamonds on Wheels (TV movie) .... Ashley's bodyguard (uncredited)
Titles to check
- Fit as a Fiddle (1952 Documentary short) IMDb as Himself
- Before Your Very Eyes (1956 TV series) S. 4, Ep. 2. IMDb
- Murder Reported (1957) IMDb as Jim
- Hancock's Half Hour (1959 TV series) Ep.: "The Beauty Contest". IMDb
- Emergency-Ward 10 (1960 TV series) Ep. 357. IMDb as Dale Brookwood
- Meet the Champ (1960 TV series) Ep. 3. IMDb
- Probation Officer (1961 TV series) S. 2, ep. 22. IMDb as Mr. Phillips
- Theatre 625 (1966 TV series) Ep.: "Girl of My Dreams". IMDb as Arkwright's son
- The Undertakers (1969 Short film) IMDb as Garage mechanic
- Various James Bond-related featurettes and documentaries
No Joe!
Titles where Joe is listed as appearing somewhere online, but cannot be found. There always has to be one!
- Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) IMDb as Man walking in pub. As far as I could find there is only one role that could fit this description and it is not Joe (agreed by Dan).