The younger brother of fellow actor/stunt man Joe Robinson, Doug was born Douglas Bowbank Robinson in central Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1930. Their father Joseph Robinson Senior and grandfather John were world champion wrestlers, and both brothers trained in wrestling and body-building. Doug's film career began in the mid-1950s, and his early film work included Ben-Hur (1959). He was also one of the Argonauts in Jason and the Argonauts (1963), and he made numerous British television appearances usually as a tough guy in everything from The Avengers to Steptoe and Son. Together, Doug and Joe became two of the cinema's most popular stunt arrangers, particularly on the James Bond films. Doug and Joe co-authored, with Honor Blackman, the book "Honor Blackman's Book of Self-Defence" published by Andre Deutsch in 1965.