Robbie was born in San Antonio, TX, raised in Sacramento, CA and currently resides in Los Angeles and New York city. Named after her father Robert, Robbie was often referred to by her full name. The rhythmical pattern of “Robbie Darby,” was fun to say and therefore memorable by many. With a personality to match, no wonder she was nominated as “Most Likely to Remember” by her high school senior class.
However despite her outgoing personality Robbie wasn’t able to flex her acting muscles in the school’s theater department. Instead she was found flexing her actual muscles as a soccer player and cheerleader. She graduated number seven in her graduating class and left her hometown to travel across the country to Atlanta’s prestigious Spelman College.
It was there where her passion for the arts trumped her athleticism. Robbie quickly found herself admiring and socializing with the theater and dance students, however was too afraid to pursue a creative path. Instead she decided to pursue an alternative path via the college’s “independent major option.”
However by her junior year unfortunate and unexpected circumstances caused her unique major to be denied. Ultimately she found herself major-less with less than a year left of college, but after reviewing her transcript discovered that due to her minor in dance she could graduate on time if she took up Drama and Dance as a major. And so it was, her performing arts love affair began. Robbie spent her final summers in college teaching dance, and studying in New York city at The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. She graduated Cum Lade and was proudly accepted into The University of Texas, Austin’s MFA Acting program (ranked in the Top 10 of Graduate Schools for Theatre in US News & World Report).
Upon graduation she had the opportunity to tour her solo show Love and Violence: The Fusion Or Eruption to sold out audiences across the country, perform at the Alliance Theatre in the World Premiere of In The Red and Brown Water directed by Tina Landau, star in the New York revival of No Snakes In This Grass at Lincoln Center, and serve as a resident artist at The Vineyard Art Project in Bekah Brunstetter’s Off Broadway bound A Long And Happy Life.
In addition to her theater highlights Robbie also starred opposite American Idol finalist Nadia Turner in the independent film Poses, played a major role in the infamous Texas director Ya’ke Smith’s HBO award winning short film The Second Coming and even had an international debut in the Nollywood feature film Tobi.
Her commercial and print work include national ad campaigns for Lowe’s, AT&T, Shell Oil, IBM, Scott & White Hospital, CALIA by Carrie Underwood, Digicel and much more.
You may also recognize her from her fitness influencer work – RAD Experience. Learn more here.