Fred Robbins

Fred Robbins (born Fred Rubin, September 28, 1919 – June 23, 1992) was an American radio personality who became a television host and celebrity interviewer.

Background Fred Robbins was born in Baltimore, Maryland, ). He was briefly the host of The Talent Shop and Cavalcade of Bands for the DuMont TV network. He also worked on Coke Time with Eddie Fisher on NBC

Beginning in 1960, Robbins was host of Assignment Hollywood, a five-minute program on the ABC radio network. Nearly 400 affiliated stations carried the show, as did stations in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Robbins traveled to interview movie stars and singers on location. The trade publication Billboard reported in 1966 that radio stations considered the program "extremely useful, either as a separate show or integrated into a deejay's program".

Robbins starred or played himself in more than two dozen television shows or movies from the 1940s through the 1980s. He was also a feature interviewer for CNN's Showbiz Tonight and wrote profiles of celebrities for many magazines.

He was immortalized by two jazz compositions, one by Billy Strayhorn called "Snibor", his name spelled backwards. It was recorded by the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1947 and again in 1967. The other composition was "Robbins Nest" by Sir Charles Thompson and recorded by many artists'. It became a jazz standard.

Robbins died of lymphoma on June 23, 1992, at the Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. He was 72 years old.