Edna Mae Robinson

Edna Mae Robinson (September 4, 1915 – May 2, 2002) was an American dancer, actress, and activist.[1] She was a dancer at the Cotton Club and toured Europe with Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway. She later became a public figure when she married the boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, appearing on the first cover of Jet magazine in 1951.[2] Robinson made her Broadway debut in an all-black version of Born Yesterday in 1953.[3]

Life and career

She was born Enda Mae Holly to a prominent family in Miami, Florida on September 4, 1915.[4] Her great-grandfather was Rt. Rev. James Theadore Holly, the first black man to be consecrated an Episcopal Bishop. Robinson studied dance as a child, and after her parents died, she moved to New York to live with her aunt when she was five. She attended Hunter College and began dancing in nightclubs such as the Cotton Club and the Mimo Club.[5] Holly was known for dancing atop an enormous drum at the Cotton Club.[1]

Holly met the boxer Walker Smith Jr. in 1940, before he acquired the nicknamed Sugar Ray Robinson. She wasn't fond of him at first, because when they met at a local pool, he pushed her in and she could not swim.[4] However, she gave him another chance, and after a long courtship, they married in 1944.[5] During their marriage, Robinson appeared on the cover various black publications such as Jet and Ebony magazine. She appeared on the first cover of Jet magazine in 1951 wearing a $10,000 mink coat given to her by Sugar Ray for her birthday.[6][7][2] They were a flashy couple and spent extravagantly from his boxing winnings and other ventures. In the 1950s they owned business, including Edna Mae's Lingerie Shop and Sugar Ray's Cafe.[4]

In 1953, Robinson made her Broadway debut in an all-black version of Born Yesterday.[4][3] Despite positives reviews, the play closed after five days.[8] She accompanied the cast on a USO tour of Japan and Europe.[9] In 1956, she was a guest artist at Detroit producer Ziggy Johnson's annual dance school graduation party at the Latin Quarter.[10]

After their divorce in 1962, Robinson worked as a medical assistant and then obtained a license in cosmetology.[5] In her later years, Robinson became an exercise instructor, teaching aerobic classes for senior citizens. She was a technical consultant during the making of Francis Ford Coppla's 1984 film The Cotton Club.[5]

Robinson was active in Martin Luther King Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference,[11] the NAACP, and she supported several charities.[1] When Robinson resided in Riverdale in the early 1960s, she was chairman of Intergroup, an organization working for housing integration.[12]

After Sugar Ray's' death in 1989, Robinson reflected on their turbulent marriage by putting her painful memories into a manuscript. She was planning to release a memoir.[5]

Robinson died at the age of 86 on May 2, 2002 from complications of Alzheimer's disease in New York. She was survived by her son and five grandchildren.[4]

Personal life

As a dancer at the Cotton Club, Holly had an affair with Bill Robinson.[13]

She married Sugar Ray Robinson on May 29, 1944.[5] They had difficulty having children during their rocky marriage. Robinson had four miscarriages before the birth of their son, Ray Robinson Jr. (born 1949).[5] Despite her husband’s extramarital affairs, Robinson was a loyal wife often seen ringside during his fights. They separated in 1960 and obtained a divorce in 1962.[14][15][4] Although Robinson tried to have other romances, she never remarried.[5]

In 1969, Sugar Ray tried to declare their marriage void on the grounds that her divorce from  a previous husband was fraudulent; his case was dismissed. Their separation agreement provided her with $200 a week, fringe benefits and a percentage of any annual income over $60,000.[16] In 1989, Robinson stated her divorce settlement amounted to a little more than $23,000 due to Sugar Ray's bad investments and issues with the IRS.[5]

References
  1. "Edna Mae Robinson, 86; Ex-Wife of Boxing Great, Performer and Activist". The Los Angeles Times. May 5, 2002.
  2. "Edna Mae Robinson, Ex-Wife of Boxing Champ Sugar Robinson, Dies; First Cover Subject Of Jet Magazine". Jet: 49. May 27, 2002.
  3. C, L. (January 1, 1954). "AT THE THEATRE; Garson Kanin's 'Born Yesterday' Is Revived Here by Negro Troop Led by Edna Mae Robinson". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  4. "Edna Mae Robinson, 86, Dancer and Boxer's Wife". The New York Times. May 7, 2002. ISSN 0362-4331.
  5. "Remembering Sugar Ray: Edna Mae Robinson recalls the glitter and pain of her past". Ebony: 74, 76, 78. December 1989.
  6. "10 Ways To Get A Mink Coat". Jet: 45. November 1, 1951.
  7. Chenault, Julie (November 5, 1981). "Edna Mae Robinson Still Looking Good In Her Mink". Jet: 31–32.
  8. "'Born Yesterday' Folds". Jet: 31. January 14, 1954.
  9. "New York Beat". Jet: 64. December 24, 1953.
  10. "New York Beat". Jet: 63. June 30, 1955.
  11. "New York Beat". Jet: 64. March 10, 1960.
  12. "New York Beat". Jet: 64. September 27, 1962.
  13. Johnson, Howard Eugene (2014). A Dancer in the Revolution: Stretch Johnson, Harlem Communist at the Cotton Club. Fordham Univ Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-8232-5656-3.
  14. "Sugar Ray's Wife Files Separation Suit". Jet: 54. December 29, 1960.
  15. Wiley, Ralph (July 13, 1987). "Bittersweet Twilight for Sugar". Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com.
  16. "Ex-Champ Sugar Ray Loses Bout With Ex-Wife". Jet: 46. June 26, 1969.
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