Minor silent film actor Rudolph “Rudy” Robbins was first discovered while working in the Tennyson Big Top Circus as part of the trapeze group, the Golden Flyers. He served as the group’s leader, executing impressive aerial stunts and making audiences laugh with his off-the-cuff jokes. During one of these performances, film producer Martin Cray was in attendance and immediately approached Robbins to see if he was interested in performing stunts in Cray’s movies. Robbins was getting close to the end of his contract with Tennyson and jumped at the chance to move to Hollywood.
At first, Robbins enjoyed his stunt work duties, but longed for more time in front of the camera. After the seventh film had wrapped, he approached Cray and asked him for a starring role. The producer inexplicably agreed to give him a shot with a romantic comedy called “The Fool.” Many speculate that Cray and Robbins had entered into a bizarre relationship and this was Cray’s way of placating Robbins, to keep him from exposing Cray. In the film, Robbins played Henry, a man who spots a woman in the city square and is immediately smitten with her. He then spends the rest of the film trying to catch up with her to introduce himself, only to get into many various predicaments along the way.
