A. Robins(1886-1950)
- Actor
Adolf Proper was the son of a Viennese textile manufacturer; he left
home as a teenager to go into show business as a street performer, and
changed his last name to "Robins", as he said, "Like Rubens, the
painter." He traveled through Europe in his younger days as a comedian
who used musical instruments in his act before coming to America where
he perfected his classic act where he would pull an amazing array of
objects from a long black floor length overcoat - various fruits and
vegetables, including many bunches of bananas; musical instruments and
other objects. He was an inventor and innovator - he made all of his
own props - and held a couple of U.S. patents. Although he never
completely retired, around the beginning of World War II, with his
agent, Karl Taussig, Robins opened the Tip Top Toy Company in White
Plains, New York, where he sold handmade toys, theatrical props and
costumes.