According to the biography written by his son, Paul Robeson Jr., he had a long-term extramarital relationship with Fredi Washington. They appeared in one film together, The Emperor Jones (1933).
Although he changed the lyrics of "Ol' Man River" in 1938 to reflect his own personal and political views, and although the recordings he made of the song after 1938 use those altered lyrics, Robeson always sang the song as originally written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II in the stage productions of "Show Boat" in which he appeared, as well as in the 1936 film version (with the exception of the word 'niggers", which, in the film, was changed to "darkies").
Although he did give a few interviews on television, he never played any dramatic or musical roles in that medium.
Appeared in a World War II-era U.S. Government War Department propaganda film aimed at combating the spread of venereal diseases among black soldiers. The film was called "Easy to Get" (serial number T.F.8 1423), and Robeson appears at the end in his capacity as a celebrity football star and singer to advise viewers to stay "clean.".
Attempted suicide at a party in 1961. His son Paul Robeson Jr. believes his father had been drugged by the CIA.
Elected to Phi Beta Kappa at Rutgers in 1919.
Elected Valedictorian of his senior class at Rutgers, 1919.
Graduate of Columbia University School of Law.
Has a black tomato variety named after him, allegedly named so by its Russian growers because he was extremely well liked in that country. (source: tomatofest.com)
He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
He was awarded the 1953 Stalin Peace Prize by the Soviet government. He was the last one to receive it before it was renamed the Lenin Peace Prize a few years later.
He was captain of the Rutgers debating team.
He was elected into the 2008 New Jersey Hall of Fame for his contributions to History.
His father was William Drew Robeson, a minister. His mother was Maria Louisa Bustill (? - 1904).
In 1925, he sang the first concert recital consisting solely of black spirituals, at the Greenwich Village Theatre in New York.
In 1942, said he wouldn't make any more films until there were better roles for blacks.
In 1952 and 1953 he sang in defiance of the U.S. government in what is now called "The Peace Arch Concerts." These concerts, attended by over 40,000 people, are now available on CD and feature Robeson's only political speeches on record along with his signature song, "Old Man River."
In December 1937 he sang a whole night for Spanish Republican troops fighting to take the town of Teruel.
In its time, the Robeson "Othello" could not have been filmed because of the racial climate of the era - a black man could not play a love scene with a white woman in a motion picture in the 1940s. In addition, Robeson was blacklisted for his political beliefs in 1950, and as a result, was not able to make any films in the U.S., or have any of his films shown in the U.S. at that time.
In stage productions he acted William Shakespeare's "Othello" as it was written, but when he performed Othello's final speech at his concert recitals, he changed the famous phrase "one that lov'd not wisely, but too well" to "one that lov'd full wisely, but too well".