Edward G. Robinson

Robinson emigrated from Romania to New York as a child and studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts before building a substantial Broadway career, which led to his breakthrough gangster roles in early sound-era Hollywood.

The legendary tough-guy star of Little Caesar gave his final screen performance here — dying of cancer during filming, a fact Heston has said he didn't learn until after the shoot. One of the defining gangster-picture stars of Hollywood's golden age, he closed a five-decade career with a quiet, poignant performance in a very different genre.

Heston has spoken in interviews about how emotionally difficult the film's central euthanasia scene became once he learned of Robinson's real condition, adding an unintended layer of poignancy to the film's release.