Gil Robbins
Encyclopedia
Gilbert Lee "Gil" Robbins (April 3, 1931 April 5, 2011) was an American
folk singer
, folk musician and actor
. Robbins was a former member of the folk band, The Highwaymen
. The New York Times described Robbins as a "fixture on the folk-music scene." He was the father of actor and director, Tim Robbins
.
in 1931. He moved with his family to Los Angeles
, California
, when he was less than one year old. Robbins began playing with the percussion section of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra
as a high school student. He received a scholarship to attend the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA), where he joined the university's marching band
as a drum major. He met his future wife, Mary Bledsoe, then a collegiate flautist
, as a student at UCLA. Robbins left UCLA before his graduation and enlisted in the United States Air Force
in 1951. During his time in the U.S. Air Force, Robbins became a conductor and drum major
for the 542nd Division at an air force base in Selma, Alabama
.
and musician John Stewart, who sent them New York City
. Robbins soon became active in the city's folk music scenes, especially in Greenwich Village
. Robbins recorded three albums with the Cumberland Three, including two albums of American Civil War
music
. Robbins left the Cumberland Three after three albums and joined the Belafonte Singers, a twelve member group which performed with Harry Belafonte
. He also performed with Tom Paxton.
Robbins joined the folk band, The Highwaymen
in 1962, replacing departing member Stephen Trott, who left the band to attend Harvard Law School
. He remained as a member of the band for three years until its breakup in 1964. Robbins, who appeared on five of the band's albums, performed for the band as a guitarrón mexicano player, songwriter
and baritone
singer. His live album
credits with the band included Hootenanny With the Highwaymen, One More Time and Homecoming. Robbins has been credited with influencing some of The Highwaymen more politically oriented music during his membership.
Robbins became the manager of the The Gaslight Cafe
, a former folk music
club in New York City
's Greenwich Village
, during the late 1960s. The club saw performances by well known musicians early in their careers, including Bob Dylan
, Bonnie Raitt
and Bruce Springsteen
. Robbins also became active within other sectors of the Greenwich Village community, including as the choir director of the Church of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village. He also founded the Occasional Singers, a choral group which performed "avant garde" music, according to the New York Times.
Outside of music, Robbins also pursued a career in acting
. He worked as a stage actor in New York City
, including off Broadway productions and musicals. He was also cast in several small films roles, including Bob Roberts
in 1992, Dead Man Walking
in 1995, the 1999 dramatic film, Cradle Will Rock
, and the 1998 M. Night Shyamalan
film, Wide Awake. Additionally, Robbins worked as a musical consultant and vocal coach
.
, Mexico
from prostate cancer
on April 5, 2011, two days after his 80th birthday. He was survived by his wife of 58 years, Mary Robbins; their four children - Tim Robbins
, Adele, David and Gabrielle - and four grandchildren. Mary died only 12 days later, on April 17, 2011, aged 78.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
folk singer
Folk Singer
Folk Singer is a 1964 album by Muddy Waters. Waters plays acoustic guitar, backed by Willie Dixon on string bass, Clifton James on drums, and Buddy Guy on acoustic guitar...
, folk musician and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. Robbins was a former member of the folk band, The Highwaymen
The Highwaymen (folk band)
The Highwaymen were a circa 1960 "collegiate folk" group, which originated at Wesleyan University and had a Billboard number-one hit in 1961 with "Michael" and another Top 20 hit in 1962 with "Cottonfields"...
. The New York Times described Robbins as a "fixture on the folk-music scene." He was the father of actor and director, Tim Robbins
Tim Robbins
Timothy Francis "Tim" Robbins is an American actor, screenwriter, director, producer, activist and musician. He is the former longtime partner of actress Susan Sarandon...
.
Early life
Robbins was born in Spokane, WashingtonSpokane, Washington
Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
in 1931. He moved with his family to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, when he was less than one year old. Robbins began playing with the percussion section of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra
Long Beach Symphony Orchestra
The Long Beach Symphony was established in 1935 and is currently led by music director Enrique Diemecke. The Long Beach Symphony Orchestra presents six Classics Concerts each year in the Terrace Theater...
as a high school student. He received a scholarship to attend the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
(UCLA), where he joined the university's marching band
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
as a drum major. He met his future wife, Mary Bledsoe, then a collegiate flautist
Flautist
A flautist or flutist is a musician who plays an instrument in the flute family. See List of flautists.The choice of "flautist" versus "flutist" is the source of dispute among players of the instrument...
, as a student at UCLA. Robbins left UCLA before his graduation and enlisted in the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
in 1951. During his time in the U.S. Air Force, Robbins became a conductor and drum major
Drum Major
A drum major is the leader of a marching band, drum and bugle corps, or pipe band, usually positioned at the head of the band or corps. The drum major, who is often dressed in more ornate clothing than the rest of the band or corps, is responsible for providing commands to the ensemble regarding...
for the 542nd Division at an air force base in Selma, Alabama
Selma, Alabama
Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama, United States, located on the banks of the Alabama River. The population was 20,512 at the 2000 census....
.
Career
Robbins played with several bands and musicians early in his career. he became a member of the trio, Cumberland Three, in 1960. The band had been formed by Roulette RecordsRoulette Records
Roulette Records is an American record label, which was founded in late 1956, by George Goldner, Joe Kolsky, Morris Levy and Phil Khals, with creative control given to producers and songwriters Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. Levy was appointed as director...
and musician John Stewart, who sent them New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Robbins soon became active in the city's folk music scenes, especially in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
. Robbins recorded three albums with the Cumberland Three, including two albums of American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
music
Music of the American Civil War
During the American Civil War, music played a prominent role on both sides of the conflict: Union and Confederate. On the American Civil War battlefield, different instruments including bugles, drums, and fifes were played to issue marching orders or sometimes simply to boost the morale of one's...
. Robbins left the Cumberland Three after three albums and joined the Belafonte Singers, a twelve member group which performed with Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
. He also performed with Tom Paxton.
Robbins joined the folk band, The Highwaymen
The Highwaymen (folk band)
The Highwaymen were a circa 1960 "collegiate folk" group, which originated at Wesleyan University and had a Billboard number-one hit in 1961 with "Michael" and another Top 20 hit in 1962 with "Cottonfields"...
in 1962, replacing departing member Stephen Trott, who left the band to attend Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
. He remained as a member of the band for three years until its breakup in 1964. Robbins, who appeared on five of the band's albums, performed for the band as a guitarrón mexicano player, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
singer. His live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
credits with the band included Hootenanny With the Highwaymen, One More Time and Homecoming. Robbins has been credited with influencing some of The Highwaymen more politically oriented music during his membership.
Robbins became the manager of the The Gaslight Cafe
The Gaslight Cafe
The Gaslight Cafe was an American coffee house located in the basement of 116 MacDougal Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York...
, a former folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
club in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, during the late 1960s. The club saw performances by well known musicians early in their careers, including Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
and Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
. Robbins also became active within other sectors of the Greenwich Village community, including as the choir director of the Church of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village. He also founded the Occasional Singers, a choral group which performed "avant garde" music, according to the New York Times.
Outside of music, Robbins also pursued a career in acting
Acting
Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....
. He worked as a stage actor in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, including off Broadway productions and musicals. He was also cast in several small films roles, including Bob Roberts
Bob Roberts
Bob Roberts is a 1992 film written and directed by Tim Robbins. It is a satirical mockumentary, chronicling the rise of Bob Roberts, a conservative politician who is a candidate for an upcoming United States Senate election...
in 1992, Dead Man Walking
Dead Man Walking (film)
Dead Man Walking is a 1995 American drama film directed by Tim Robbins, who adapted the screenplay from the non-fiction book of the same name...
in 1995, the 1999 dramatic film, Cradle Will Rock
Cradle Will Rock
Cradle Will Rock is a 1999 drama film which chronicles the process and events that surrounded the production of the original 1937 musical The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein...
, and the 1998 M. Night Shyamalan
M. Night Shyamalan
Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan,known professionally as M. Night Shyamalan, is an Indian-born American screenwriter, film director, and producer known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots that climax with a twist ending. He is also known for filming his movies in and around...
film, Wide Awake. Additionally, Robbins worked as a musical consultant and vocal coach
Vocal coach
A vocal coach is a music teacher who instructs singers on how to improve their singing technique, take care of and develop their voice, and prepare for the performance of a song or other work. Vocal coaches may give private music lessons to singers, or they may coach singers who are rehearsing on...
.
Death
Gil Robbins died at his home in Esteban Cantu, Baja CaliforniaBaja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
from prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
on April 5, 2011, two days after his 80th birthday. He was survived by his wife of 58 years, Mary Robbins; their four children - Tim Robbins
Tim Robbins
Timothy Francis "Tim" Robbins is an American actor, screenwriter, director, producer, activist and musician. He is the former longtime partner of actress Susan Sarandon...
, Adele, David and Gabrielle - and four grandchildren. Mary died only 12 days later, on April 17, 2011, aged 78.