Robeson graduated at Columbia University as a lawyer, but limited opportunities for blacks led him instead to the stage in, for example, The Emperor Jones (1924).

His film include Sanders of the River and King Solomon's Mines. He is remembered for his singing "Ol' Man River" from Showboat (1928), and playing the title role in Othello (1930).

An ardent advocate of black rights, his outspoken political stance brought him before the Un-American Activities Committee in 1950, and subsequently he had his passport withdrawn (1950-58), because of his association with left-wing movements.