Bobs Watson

Robert Ball Watson (November 11, 1930 – June 27, 1999) credited as Bobs Watson, was an American actor and Methodist minister.

Bobs Watson
Bobs Watson in Wyoming (1940)
Born	Robert Ball Watson (1930-11-11)November 11, 1930 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	June 27, 1999(1999-06-27) (aged 68) Laguna Beach, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1932–1993
Spouse(s)	Jaye Watson (1979–1999) (his death) 3 sons

Biography

Bobs Watson (upper left) featured on a theatrical release poster for Men of Boys Town (1941)

Watson[1] was a member of the Watson Family, famous in the early days of Hollywood as being a houseful of child actors. He was brother to Coy Watson Jr., Harry, Billy, Delmar, Garry, Vivian, Gloria, and Louise, all of whom acted in motion pictures.[2]

The family, known as "the first family of Hollywood", lived by the Echo Park area of Los Angeles and Bobs attended nearby Belmont High School.

They were honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce by placing the Watson family star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6674 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, California.[3]

He died of prostate cancer in 1999 at Laguna Beach, California.

Child actor

Watson was best known for his role as "Pee Wee" in the 1938 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film Boys Town and its sequel Men of Boys Town (1941), both starring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney.[4] Tracy and Watson became good friends during the making of the first film, and Watson was reportedly Tracy's last visitor before his death in 1967. In 1939, Watson delivered a fine, tear-jerking performance as Pud, Lionel Barrymore's grandson, in the MGM film, On Borrowed Time. Watson later made guest appearances in many television programs, including The Twilight Zone, Lou Grant, The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, The Fugitive and Bonanza. In 1963 Watson appeared as Matt Lewis on The Virginian in the episode titled "A Distant Fury."

Career

In addition to working in the motion pictures business, Watson went to Claremont School of Theology to become a Methodist minister, inspired from the movie Boys Town. He retired after 30 years of serving in Burbank and La Cañada, California.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1932	Life Begins	Edgar, Harry's Son	Film debut, Uncredited
1935	Life Begins at 40	Meriwhether Son	Uncredited
	Two-Fisted	Eddie - Jimmy's Boxing Partner	Uncredited
1936	Show Boat	Willie Thomas	Uncredited
	Mary of Scotland	Fisherman's Son	Uncredited
	Libeled Lady	Waif	Uncredited
1937	The Great O'Malley	Boy	Uncredited
	Maytime	Maypole Singer	Uncredited
	It Happened in Hollywood	Boy	Uncredited
1938	In Old Chicago	Bob O'Leary as a Boy
	Go Chase Yourself	Junior	Uncredited
	Boys Town	Pee Wee
	Young Dr. Kildare	Bob O'Leary as a Boy
	Kentucky	Peter Goodwin - 1861
1939	Dodge City	Harry Cole
	The Story of Alexander Graham Bell	George Sanders
	Calling Dr. Kildare	Tommy Benson	Uncredited
	On Borrowed Time	Pud
	Blackmail	Hank
1940	Wyoming	Jimmy Kincaid
	Dreaming Out Loud	Jimmy
	Dr. Kildare's Crisis	Tommy, the Crippled Child
1941	Men of Boys Town	Pee Wee
	Scattergood Pulls the Strings	Jimmy Jordan
	Hit the Road	Pesky
1943	Hi, Buddy	Tim Martin
1955	Public Defender	Rodger Bissel	1 episode, Your Witness
1956	Crossroads		1 episode, The White Carnation
	The Bold and the Brave	Bob
	The 20th Century-Fox Hour	Farnum	1 episode, Smoke Jumpers
1958	Flight		3 episodes
1959	Steve Canyon	A / 1c Gotch	1 episode, The Search
	Hennesey	Waiter	1 episode, Pork Chops and Apple Sauce
1959-1961	The Lawless Years	Butcher Boy/Mousie/Popcorn Peddler	3 episodes
1960-1961	The Jim Backus Show	Sidney	37 episodes
1961	Pete and Gladys	Phone Man	1 episode, Crossed Wires
1962	Saintly Sinners	Attendant	Uncredited
	What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?	Clerk in Newspaper Classified Ad Department
	Bonanza	Junior
1963	The Lucky Show	Calvin	1 episode, Lucy Becomes a Reporter
	The Twilight Zone	Man at Dining Room Table	1 episode, No Time Like the Past
	The New Phil Silvers Show	Ollie	1 episode, Birthday Boy
	The Virginian	Hotel Clerk/Matt Lewis/Clerk	3 episodes
	Take Her, She's Mine	Western Union Messenger	Uncredited
	The Fugitive	Milt Plummer	1 episode, Nightmare at Northoak
	Grindl	Harry Dawson	1 episode, Twas the Week Before Christmas
1964-1967	The Beverly Hillbillies	Fred Penrod/Harry Hogan	4 episodes
1965	The Joey Bishop Show	Bernie Stern	1 episode, Never Put It in Writing
1966	The F.B.I.	Walsh	2 episodes
1967	Green Acres	Bell Hop	1 episode, His Honor
	First to Fight	Sgt. Maypole
	The Mothers-In-Law	Police Officer Bailey	1 episode, The Not-Cold-Enough War
	Please Don't Eat the Daisies	Howard	1 episode, The Day the Play Got Away
1970	Mrs. Stone's Thing	Bartender
1977	Grand Theft Auto	Minister	Final film
1978-1981	Lou Grant	Lind/News Editor/Foreign Editor/Pete Trumbull
1993	The Case of the Wicked Wives	Judge Ezra Frank	Last appearance

References

1. Vallance, Tom (July 6, 1999). "Obituary: Bobs Watson". The Independent. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
2. Los Angeles Times
3. Pool, Bob. "Star Shines Brightly for Hollywood's First Family; Movies: The Watson clan of former child actors finally receives recognition for its pioneering contribution to films." the Los Angeles Times. April 23, 1999. Metro Part B Metro Desk Page 1.
4. Pee Wee at IMDb

Bibliography

• Goldrup, Tom and Jim (2002). Growing Up on the Set: Interviews with 39 Former Child Actors of Film and Television. McFarland & Co. pp. 303–313. ISBN 1476613702.
• Holmstrom, John (1996). The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995. Norwich: Michael Russell, pp. 171–172.
• Best, Marc (1971). Those Endearing Young Charms: Child Performers of the Screen. South Brunswick and New York: Barnes & Co., pp. 256–259.

External links

• Bobs Watson on IMDb
• Bobs Watson at Find a Grave