Editing Toby Robins

{{short description|Canadian actress and television personality}}
{{One source|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Toby Robins
| image       = Fighting words19600522 robins.jpg
| alt         = 
| caption     = 
| birth_name = 
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1931|3|13|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|1986|3|21|1931|3|13|mf=yes}}
| death_place = [[London]], England, UK
| occupation  = [[Actress]]
| years_active = 1950–1984}}
'''Toby Robins''' (March 13, 1931 – March 21, 1986) was a [[Canadians|Canadian]] actress of film, stage and television.

Robins starred in hundreds of radio and stage productions in Canada from the late 1940s through the 1960s, working with such performers as [[Jane Mallett]], [[Barry Morse]], [[John Drainie]], [[Ruth Springford]], and [[James Doohan]] among others. She appeared in a number of television and film roles beginning in the mid-1950s, and hosted the first-ever [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC Television]] series, ''[[The Big Revue]]'' in 1952. In Toronto she played in repertory with [[Lorne Greene]], Mavor Moore, and Don Harron. At the Crest Theatre she played the leading parts in ''[[Cat on a Hot Tin Roof]]'', ''Dream Girl'' and many others.{{Citation needed|date=June 2010}}

Robins became a popular television personality as an original member of the cast of the long-running CBC television series ''[[Front Page Challenge]]'' in 1957, remaining with the program until 1961. Originally hosted by [[Alex Barris]] and later [[Fred Davis (broadcaster)|Fred Davis]], ''Front Page Challenge'' was a current events series disguised as a panel-style game show in a similar format to the American ''[[What's My Line?]]''. Panelists had to guess the news story or person behind a news story by asking questions of the guest; after the game portion, the guest was then interviewed informally by the panel.{{Citation needed|date=June 2010}}

Although Robins was initially criticized for asking simple and sometimes unintelligent questions,<ref>Barris, Alex. ''Front Page Challenge: The 25th Anniversary'' (Toronto: CBC Books, 1981).</ref> she soon found her journalistic sea legs and before long was holding her own alongside the more experienced journalists, including her co-panellists [[Gordon Sinclair]] and [[Pierre Berton]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2010}} She left the series in a salary dispute in 1961 and was replaced by future [[Senate of Canada|senator]] [[Betty Kennedy]] (who remained with the show until its demise in the 1990s). Robins returned to the show from time to time as a guest panelist.{{Citation needed|date=June 2010}}

In 1964, Robins relocated to London and she appeared in a number of film and television productions, including ''[[The Saint (TV series)|The Saint]]'' ("When Spring Is Sprung"), ''[[Space: 1999]]'' (the two-parter "The Bringers of Wonder", which was later re-issued as the television film ''Destination Moonbase Alpha'') and in 1981 she played [[Melina Havelock]]'s ill-fated mother in the [[James Bond]] film ''[[For Your Eyes Only (film)|For Your Eyes Only]]'' (1981).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba45bf030|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301151023/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba45bf030|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 1, 2019|title=Toby Robins|website=BFI}}</ref> She appeared in an episode of ''[[Minder (TV series)|Minder]]'' entitled "The Willesden Suite", broadcast in February 1984.<ref>[http://www.radiotimes.com/episode/sf7j/minder--series-4---8-willesden-suite Profile], radiotimes.com; accessed January 26, 2014.</ref> On London's [[West End (theatre)|West End]] stage, she appeared in such dramas as ''[[The Relapse]]'', ''[[The Latent Heterosexual]]'', ''The Flip Side'', and ''[[The_Aspern_Papers#Film,_play_and_opera_versions|The Aspern Papers]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theatricalia.com/person/3s3/toby-robins|title=Toby Robins &#124; Theatricalia|website=theatricalia.com}}</ref>

==Death==
Toby Robins died from [[breast cancer]] on 21 March 1986. In 1991, her family founded the '''Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre at The Institute of Cancer Research,''' in [[London]], which was opened in 1999 by [[HRH The Prince of Wales]], with the aim of producing a coordinated program of research to tackle breast cancer.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.icr.ac.uk/our-research/centres-and-collaborations/centres-at-the-icr/breast-cancer-now-centre|title=Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre - The Institute of Cancer Research, London|website=www.icr.ac.uk}}</ref> It is the first dedicated breast cancer research centre in the United Kingdom, and directly linked to one of the most renowned cancer facilities in the world, the [[Royal Marsden Hospital]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://breastcancernow.org/breast-cancer-research/where-we-fund-our-research/our-research-centre|title=Our research centre|date=June 2, 2015|website=Breast Cancer Now}}</ref>

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
|1950|| ''Parking on This Side'' || The Girl ||
|-
|1952|| data-sort-value="Big Revue, The" | ''[[The Big Revue]]'' || Co-host ||
|-
|1965|| ''[[Game for Three Losers]]'' || Frances Challinor ||
|-
|1967|| data-sort-value="Naked Runner, The" | ''[[The Naked Runner]]'' || Ruth ||
|-
|1969|| ''[[Department S (TV series)|Department S]]'' || Selina Trenton ||Episode: “The Man In The Elegant Room”
|-
|1971|| data-sort-value="Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder, The" | ''[[The Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder]]'' || Sadie || Episode: "The Duke"
|-
|1971|| ''[[Friends (1971 film)|Friends]]'' || Mrs. Gardner || 
|-
|1972|| data-sort-value="Protectors, The" | ''[[The Protectors]]'' || Madame Rue || Episode: "Ceremony for the Dead"
|-
|1974|| ''[[Paul and Michelle]]'' || Jane ||
|-
|1976|| ''[[Spy Story (film)|Spy Story]]'' || Helen Schlegel ||
|-
|1979|| ''[[Space: 1999]]'' || Diana Morris || Two-part Episode:
"[[The Bringers of Wonder, Part One]]" & "[[The Bringers of Wonder, Part Two]]"
|-
|1979|| ''[[Hazell (TV series)|Hazell]]'' || Jean Curzon || Episode: "Hazell Gets the Part"
|-
|1979|| ''[[Licensed to Love and Kill]]'' || Scarlet Star ||
|-
|1981|| ''[[For Your Eyes Only (film)|For Your Eyes Only]]'' || Iona Havelock ||
|-
|1983|| ''[[Princess Daisy (miniseries)|Princess Daisy]]'' || Eleanour Kavanaugh ||
|-
|1984|| ''[[Scandalous (film)|Scandalous]]'' || Pamella Reynolds ||
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0732330|Toby Robins}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robins, Toby}}
[[Category:1931 births]]
[[Category:1986 deaths]]
[[Category:Actresses from Toronto]]
[[Category:Canadian expatriates in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Canadian film actresses]]
[[Category:Canadian stage actresses]]
[[Category:Canadian television actresses]]
[[Category:Deaths from breast cancer in England]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian actresses]]