Samuel Rabin

Other names: Sam Rabin, Samuel Rabinovitch

Born 20 June 1903
Died 20 December 1991

Active: 1914

Country of birth and death: England

Sculptor, wrestler, singer, art teacher

Born in Manchester. He was the son of Jacob Rabinovitch (1872–1962), a cap cutter, later a cap manufacturer and wholesale milliner. Samuel entered Manchester School of Art in 1914 and continued his studies at the Slade between 1921-24.

Rabin visited Charles Despiau in Paris in 1926 and was greatly inspired by this contact. Little is known of his sculpture of the late 1920s but in 1928 he was commissioned to make one of the carvings for the new London Underground headquarters, architect Charles Holden. Rabin's figure personified the west wind. In 1930 he made two stone heads, 'Past' and 'Future', for the exterior of the Daily Telegraph building, London.

To support his work as an artist, Rabin became a professional wrestler known as 'Rabin the Cat' and 'Sam Radnor the Hebrew Jew'. His talent came to the attention of the film maker Alex Korda who gave him parts using his wrestling and fighting skills in 'The Private Life of Henry VIII' (1933) and in 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' (1934). Rabin also had a strong baritone voice and, though unable to read music, worked as a professional singer during the 1940s.

From 1949 to 1965 he taught at Goldsmiths School of Art. He then taught drawing at Bournemouth College of Art (1965–85) and, after retirement, at the Poole Art Centre until shortly before his death in 1991.

This note is based on John Sheeran's entry for Rabin in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. The full biography contains more detail about Rabin's life and work.

Citing this record

'Samuel Rabin', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib4_1254213522, accessed 30 May 2020]