Eileen Robinson by Hollywood photographer Max Munn Autrey, c1935. The ‘bright reports’ of Eileen’s early US successes came about courtesy of letters she sent home to her father in Sydney in 1921. Photo courtesy Margaret Leask.

The Five Second Version
The only daughter of Sydney publisher Herbert E.C. Robinson (1857-1933) and Augusta Dahlquist (1862-1914), Eileen was “a young actress with an exceptionally charming personality across the footlights” reported one newspaper after her first professional appearance in 1914.^[1]Sunday Times (Sydney)19 Apr 1914 P22<script type="text/javascript"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_19497_20_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_19497_20_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });</script> Great success was predicted for her. In 1919 she went to the US, where her older brother Cecil Robinson (aka Ashley Cooper) and niece (Dulcie Cooper) had been performing for more than a decade. She again earned good reviews, but extended returns to visit and perform in Australia every few years meant it was difficult for her to build career momentum in the US.
Her close friend and professional collaborator for a decade, US actress Theresa Carmo,(1906-1990) worked with her in the US and joined her on two extended Australian trips – in 1929-1931 and 1935-1936. Their collaboration included scripting and performing original material for the stage and on radio.
In 1923 she bore a daughter, Peggy, to US actor Alan Brooks (Irving Hayward) (1888 – 1936), but their marriage was short- lived. She died in Sydney in 1955.

<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Eileen Robinson in an undated photo, most likely from her performances in John Ferguson in San Francisco in 1921. (Enlarged) Courtesy Margaret Leask </figcaption></figure>

At the time of her travel overseas in 1919, Eileen Robinson was spoken of as one of the new generation of successful Australian actresses. She was a direct contemporary of Sylvia Breamer(1897-1943), Dorothy Cumming (1894-1983) and a friend of Judith Anderson(1897-1992), all of whom would make successful careers in the United States. As Andree Wright has noted, “At the time, [these film success] stories convinced readers that ‘with very few exceptions, every Australian who ha[d] ever gone to America ha[d] succeeded beyond expectations.“^[2]Andrée Wright (1986) Pps18-19. The inserted quote is from Picture Show, 2 August 1919<script type="text/javascript"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_19497_20_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_19497_20_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });</script>

<figure class="alignleft size-full is-resized"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Eileen, aged about 25, in 1921,^[3]The Triad (Aust) 10 June 1921, P24. Photo has been filtered<script type="text/javascript"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_19497_20_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_19497_20_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });</script></figcaption></figure>

Born Eola Eileen Trilby Robinson in Sydney in October 1896, to Herbert Robinson (or “HEC” as he was known – after his initials), a well known map maker and publisher, and his wife Augusta nee Dahlquist.^[4]The Daily Telegraph (Syd) 30 Oct 1896, P1<script type="text/javascript"