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Paul Robeson as Othello, standing over English actress Peggy Ashcroft as Desdemona. London, 1930.
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Paul Robeson as Othello, standing over English actress Peggy Ashcroft as Desdemona. London, 1930.

Credit: Image Donated by Corbis-Bettmann

In 1930, Paul Robeson won rave reviews as the first actor of African descent to star in an English performance of Shakespeare's Othello. New York would not follow London's lead until 1943, when Othello, again with Robeson in the lead, ran for almost 300 performances.

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