By Barbara Smith

Infusing life into a character and making him real is a craft to which all good actors aspire. Roger Robinson, who is featured in Horton Foote’s “Dividing the Estate,” now showing in its West Coast debut at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, is just such an actor. The award-winning professional has carved out a

special niche in the world of acting, creating memorable roles in a career that has spanned stage, television and film for over forty years.

The actor took time last week to share some of his insights gleaned from a varied and rewarding career. Despite having a cold and being in the midst of previews before Thursday’s opening night, Robinson was generous in sharing a conversation about Doug, the character he plays in the production, family, and the blessings of a career that he loves.

Sinking businesses, foreclosures, crops gone bad—this is the Texas of “Dividing the Estate.” Robinson’s character Doug is a 92-year old retainer for the Gordon family in this depressed setting.  He has worked for the family since age 5 when his father was killed by a bull. The man who owned the sprawling estate brought Doug’s mother to live in a house behind the estate house, where she cooked for the family until she died.  With no siblings, the Gordons are the only family he has ever known.

Doug is confidante to 87-year-old Miss Stella (brilliantly portrayed by Elizabeth Ashley), the matriarch of the family, who is being hounded by her three children, now that their financial fortunes have turned, to divide up the estate. Greed, family, death are all placed under the microscope in this entertaining Tony 2009 Tony-nominated play.

Robinson turned in a gem of a performance last week, finely nuanced with humor, pathos and authenticity. The actor speaks eloquently about the character of Doug and how he drew from his mother, who lived to be 100 years old, and other elders in his family to find the wellspring of Doug’s spirit. “The faulty memory, the querulousness, the forgetfulness—this character reminds me of my mother in her declining years,” he reflects. “Dividing the Estate” is Horton Foote’s final play and, says Robinson, “I think he was examining himself a lot too.” For the actor, the play is an observant take on what it takes to get old and what happens when approaching one’s final days. “That was really intriguing to me as an actor, having witnessed my mother so vividly before her transition and what she was dealing with. The loss of memory, living in the past, talking about things that happened to her when she was a little girl. This character does that.  It was a challenge to make that real and do it with compassion and understanding.” We see this as Doug insists on serving the family meal.  His stature is tall but teetering, his hands eager but trembling; he is short tempered at not being able to complete tasks which were once part of his every day routine. His temperament is nonetheless feisty and spirited as he engages in heated exchanges with Mildred (Pat Bowie) and Cathleen (Keiana Richard), the household help. We laugh in spite of ourselves as they angrily accuse each other of “conjuring” and other misdeeds.

The play’s stellar cast, under the able direction of Michael Wilson, has made the production a joyful experience for Robinson. With Horton Foote Jr. (Lewis Gordon) and Tony nominee Hallie Foote (Mary Jo Gordon), both children of the late playwright, the play becomes a family affair both onstage and off.

Robinson’s longevity in a business where careers can be fleeting is impressive. His numerous Broadway credits include “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” for which he won a Tony Award in 2009. You’ve seen him on popular TV series including “ER,” “Friends,” “Law and Order,” and going way back to a recurring role on the detective series “Kojak.” Films include “Willie Dynamite” and “Meteor.”

The actor credits the late Lloyd Richards, noted Dean of the Yale School of Drama and head of the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, for much of the success he has achieved as an actor. Richards mentored Robinson in New York in the early 60’s and later connected the young actor with August Wilson, under whose tutelage Robinson won the Tony for “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.” For Robinson, Richards’ stature cannot be overstated; his original production of Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” in 1959 and his introduction of August Wilson to Broadway in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” were groundbreaking events that changed the face of theatre forever. “There’s never been a black man in that position of power in American theatre,” says Robinson. “Almost every Black actor who is prominent today--James Earl Jones, Lou Gossett, Billy Dee Williams, Cicily Tyson--all of those people came through Lloyd Richards.”

Asked which of the venues—stage, film or television—is his favorite, he chuckles and says, “Whichever one I’m working on,” but adds that stage is special because he enjoys the energy of the live audience.  On stage, he says, “You can’t just go out there and get by with looks and charm. Stage demands that you go out there and develop a character and know stagecraft.” Of Doug, Robinson says, “The character is quite memorable, and hopefully I will have lifted him off the page and made him vital and vivid to people.”

The topic of family is never far from Robinson’s conversation. He speaks with pride of his Seattle roots where his family has lived since 1887 when it was part of the Oregon Territory. Even though he makes his home in New York for professional reasons, his ties to his siblings and other relatives there are strong. When you ask the actor about memorable moments, he is as likely to relate a personal family story as he is to describe a prominent moment in acting.  Case in point: when Robinson won the Tony in 2009, he arranged tickets for his cousin, Theodore Spearman, the first Black Superior Court Judge in Kitsap County, Washington, to see the play. “He was over the moon,” says Robinson at seeing his cousin on Broadway. “He talked about it forever.” The moment is ever more poignant now as Spearman died in January of this year. “It’s a great memory to have forever.”

Asked to ascribe a deep meaning to the play, Robinson says simply, “It’s a play. It’s funny. It’s sad.  It’s like life.” And if you want an evening’s entertainment that will make you laugh, cry, and think about family and your place in the world a bit more, check out Roger Robinson and a premier cast in “Dividing the Estate.”

“Dividing the Estate” plays through February 12. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org or by phone at 619-23GLOBE.