Joe Roberts

Joseph Henry Roberts (February 2, 1871 – October 28, 1923) was an American comic actor, who appeared in 16 of Buster Keaton's 19 silent short films of the 1920s.

Joe Roberts
Still from The Blacksmith (1922)
Born
Joseph Henry Roberts

(1871-02-02)February 2, 1871
Amsterdam, New York
DiedOctober 28, 1923(1923-10-28) (aged 52)
Los Angeles, California
Roberts dragging Buster Keaton in a still from Neighbors (1920)

"Big Joe" Roberts, as he was known in vaudeville, toured the country with his first wife, Lillian Stuart Roberts, as part of a rowdy act known as Roberts, Hays, and Roberts. Their signature routine was called "The Cowboy, the Swell and the Lady."[1] At this time, in the first decade of the twentieth century, Buster Keaton's father, Joe Keaton, had started a summer Actors' Colony for vaudevillians between Lake Michigan and Muskegon Lake in Michigan. Roberts became acquainted with the Keaton family as a member of this community.[2]

When Buster Keaton's film apprenticeship years with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle came to an end, and Keaton began making his own shorts in 1920, he asked Roberts to join him. Roberts' hefty 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) frame, usually playing a menacing heavy or authority figure, made a striking and amusing contrast to the thin, 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) Keaton.

IMDb shows that Roberts made only two films without Keaton. He played the role of "Roaring Bill" Rivers in 1922's The Primitive Lover,[3] starring Constance Talmadge—Keaton's sister-in-law—and the silent film actor Harrison Ford; and a drill master in the Clyde Cook comedy The Misfit,[4] released in March 1924, after Roberts' death.

When Keaton began making feature films in 1923, he apparently intended to continue working with Roberts. Roberts had roles in Keaton's Three Ages and Our Hospitality (both 1923). During the filming of the second feature, Roberts had a stroke but insisted on returning to the set to finish the film. After completion, Roberts suffered another stroke and died shortly thereafter.

References
  1. Muskegon Actors' Colony - Big Joe Roberts at www.actorscolony.com
  2. Members of the Muskegon Actors' Colony at www.actorscolony.com
  3. The Primitive Lover at imdb.com
  4. The Misfit at imdb.com
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