JOE ROBINSON

(31 May 1927 - 3 July 2017)

British actor Joe Robinson, who has died aged 90, was from a wrestling family, both his father and grandfather having been wrestlers. Joe won the European Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in 1952 but, following an injury, he pursued his other main interest, that of acting. He studied at RADA and then secured small parts in films. His first film of any distinction was a gymnastics documentary called Fit As a Fiddle (1952) and in the same year he appeared on stage. Usually cast in films as a heavy or as a boxer or wrestler, Robinson’s first and most famous feature part was in Carol Reed’s A Kid for Two Farthings, in which he wrestled Primo Carnera. He went on to make action films and muscle-men epics, as well as appearing on TV with Tony Hancock and in Emergency – Ward 10, plus the Norman Wisdom film The Bulldog Breed, and Carry On, Regardless, Doctor in Distress and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. After that it was mainly TV until Diamonds Are Forever, his last film in 1971. However, Joe and his brother Doug became stunt arrangers on the Bond movies and elsewhere, while Joe, a judo and karate champion, latterly ran a martial arts centre in Brighton.

MICHAEL DARVELL