Edna Mae Robinson (September 4, 1915 – May 2, 2002) was an American dancer, actress, and activist. She was a dancer at the

Cotton Club The Cotton Club was a 20th-century nightclub in New York City. It was located on 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue from 1923 to 1936, then briefly in the midtown Theater District until 1940. The club operated during the United States' era of P ...

and toured Europe with

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

and

Cab Calloway Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he became a popular vocalist of the Swing music, swing era. His niche ...

. She later became a public figure when she married the boxer

Sugar Ray Robinson Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regarde ...

, appearing on the first cover of '' Jet'' magazine in 1951. Robinson made her

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

debut in an all-black version of ''Born Yesterday'' in 1953.

Life and career

She was born Edna Mae Holly to a prominent family in Miami, Florida on September 4, 1915. Her great-grandfather was Rt. Rev.

James Theodore Holly James Theodore Augustus Holly (3 October 1829 in Washington, D.C. – 13 March 1911 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti) was the first African-American bishop in the Protestant Episcopal church, and spent most of his episcopal career as missionary bishop o ...

, the first black man to be consecrated an

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

. 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 Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

and began dancing in nightclubs such as the

and the Mimo Club. Holly was known for dancing atop an enormous drum at the Cotton Club. 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. However, she gave him another chance, and after a long courtship, they married in 1944. 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. 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. In 1953, Robinson made her

debut in an all-black version of ''Born Yesterday''. Despite positives reviews, the play closed after five days. She accompanied the cast on a

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

tour of Japan and Europe. In 1956, she was a guest artist at Detroit producer Ziggy Johnson's annual dance school graduation party at the

Latin Quarter The Latin Quarter of Paris (, ) is an urban university campus in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne. Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistros, t ...

. After their divorce in 1962, Robinson worked as a medical assistant and then obtained a license in

cosmetology Cosmetology (from Greek , ''kosmētikos'', "beautifying"; and , ''-logia'') is the study and application of beauty treatment. Branches of specialty include hairstyling, skin care, cosmetics, manicures/ pedicures, non-permanent hair removal suc ...

. In her later years, Robinson became an exercise instructor, teaching

aerobic Aerobic means "requiring air," in which "air" usually means oxygen. Aerobic may also refer to * Aerobic exercise, prolonged exercise of moderate intensity * Aerobics, a form of aerobic exercise * Aerobic respiration, the aerobic process of cellu ...

classes for senior citizens. She was a technical consultant during the making of Francis Ford Coppla's 1984 film ''The Cotton Club''. Robinson was active in

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

Southern Christian Leadership Conference The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African Americans, African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., ...

, the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

, and she supported several charities. When Robinson resided in Riverdale in the early 1960s, she was chairman of Intergroup, an organization working for housing integration. After Sugar Ray's' death in 1989, Robinson reflected on their turbulent marriage by putting her painful memories into a

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

. She was planning to release a memoir. Robinson died at the age of 86 on May 2, 2002 from complications of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

in New York. She was survived by her son and five grandchildren.

Personal life

She married Sugar Ray Robinson on May 29, 1944. They had difficulty having children during their tumultuous marriage. Robinson had four miscarriages before the birth of their son, Ray Robinson Jr. (born 1949). Despite her husband’s extramarital affairs, Robinson was present in support and often seen ringside during his fights. They separated in 1960 and obtained a divorce in 1962. 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 Legal separation (sometimes judicial separation, separate maintenance, divorce ', or divorce from bed-and-board) is a legal process by which a married couple may formalize a separation while remaining legally married. A legal separation is gra ...

provided her with $200 a week, fringe benefits and a percentage of any annual income over $60,000. In 1989, Robinson stated her

divorce settlement A divorce settlement is an arrangement, adjustment, or other understanding reached, as in financial or business proceedings, between two adults who have chosen to divorce. It serves as the final legal agreement between these adults for documenting ...

amounted to a little more than $23,000 due to Sugar Ray's bad investments and issues with the

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Edna Mae 1915 births 2002 deaths Actresses from Miami Actresses from New York City American female dancers 20th-century American dancers African-American female dancers American musical theatre actresses African-American activists 20th-century African-American actresses 20th-century American actresses 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century African-American actresses 21st-century American actresses