Robby Robinson (bodybuilder)

Robinson was born in Damascus, Georgia, and raised in Tallahassee, Florida. His mother was illiterate, and his father was a bootlegger who later abandoned his 14 children.[3] Robinson attended Florida A&M University, where he competed in both football and track & field. While training for those sports he noticed his body's great responsiveness to weight training, which motivated him to enter his first bodybuilding competition. After competing in more than 300 amateur competitions, Robinson turned professional in 1975. By that year he was married with three children.[3]

In his first year as a professional in 1975, he won the IFBB Mr America, Mr World and Mr Universe titles. He went on to win many IFBB contests, including the first annual Night of the Champions in 1979 as well as the first Masters Olympia in 1994. He was the Masters Olympia overall champion the first year that the event was held in 1994 and won the 50+ division at the same contest in 1997 and 2000.

Robinson appeared as himself in the 1977 part-scripted, part-documentary film on bodybuilding Pumping Iron.[4] He also appeared in a 1989 TV documentary, in the 1997 documentary Stand Tall, and (uncredited) in the 1976 film comedy Stay Hungry.

Robinson suffers from intermittent bouts of sickle cell crisis. These episodes tended to occur during contest preps, and became one of the reasons he decided to stop competing.

After a 27-year career, Robinson retired from professional bodybuilding at the age of 55. He has remained active in various ways, including as a personal trainer, lifestyle and bodybuilding coach, athlete, artist, and actor. As a published author, Robinson published his autobiography, The Black Prince, in 2013.[5][6][7] Since his retirement in 2001, Robby has opposed steroid use in bodybuilding, saying that "it's taking away from the beauty of bodybuilding, the artistry of it."[8] In 2016, aged 70, Robinson continued to make guest posing appearances and maintains a developed physique.