Succumbs at 78 May Robson...Beloved by Hollywood, succumbs to illness. Veteran Stage Film Figure Dies in Sleep May Robson Began 58 Year Career Of Trouping in 1883 BEVERLY HILLS, Cal., Oct. 20 May Robson, who retired from pictures because her pride wouldnt let her admit that she was going blind, died quietly Tuesday as she slept. She had spent 58 of her 78 years as an actress on stage and screen. But she gave up her career last year after instinct alone had carried her through pictures when she could recognize fellow players by voice alone. With her as she passed away, after two days of intermittent consciousness, were her son and daughter in law, Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Gore, and her secretary companion since 1910, Lillian Harmer. Outside were the birds she loved so well, in the cages and bird houses which studded her back yard. Surrounded by them, she for years had spent her hours of relaxation. She needed relaxation, for her capacity for work far exceeded that of many actresses less than half her age. As recently as three years ago, she made seven pictures in a single year. Miss Robson was beloved by Hollywood as was probably no other character actress except the late Marie Dressier. Her birthday parties were annual occasions of celebration often an elaborate luncheon on the set of whatever picture she happened to be working in at the time. She was beloved, too, outside Hollywood. Driving one day, she and Miss Harmer noted two crying youngsters on a curb. They stopped to inquire the trouble. The pair said their parents were being put out of their home because the landlord didnt like children, and that they had been unable to move because other owners felt the same way. Their tears and story turned Miss Robson into a landlord. She built a number of houses and rented them only to families of four or more. Born in Melbourne, Australia, April 19, 1864, Miss Robson was educated in France. At 16, she married E. H. Gore, an inventor. But soon after the birth of their son, Edwin, Gore died. In 1886, she was married to Dr. A. H. Brown, then a Harvard medical student, later a New York physician. He died in 1919. She had made her stage debut, meanwhile, in 1883, as Tilly, an old maid, in Hoop of Gold. That was the start of a career devoted largely to playing elderly character parts. She was in early moving pictures, including King of Kings, but didnt believe the flickers had a future and stayed away from Hollywood until 1930. Her stage career included tours of almost every city of importance in the country, as well as many foreign lands. The Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary was probably the best of her roles. She opened in the play in this country in 1908, and in 1911 was a sensation when she took it to London. Survivors, in addition to her son, include a grandson, Robson Gore of New York, and two great grandchildren, Virginia May Robson Gore and Robson Gore Jr. Funeral arrangements have not been completed, but Miss Robson will be buried in Forest Lawn, where Miss Dressier, Douglas Fairbanks and other film notables lie.