Bobs Watson

Acting

Born November 16, 1930, Los Angeles, California, USA

Watson 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. 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. 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. 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, and The Fugitive. 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. He died of prostate cancer in 1999 at Laguna Beach, California.

Filmography

• 1993Perry Mason: The Case of the Wicked Wives — Judge Ezra Frank
• 1977Grand Theft Auto — Minister
• 1970Mrs. Stone's Thing — Bartender
• Skippy the Bush Kangaroo — Rod
• 1967First to Fight — Sergeant Maypole
• The Mothers-in-Law — Officer Bailey
• Green Acres
• The F.B.I. — Walsh
• 1963Take Her, She's Mine — Western Union Messenger (uncredited)
• The Fugitive — Milt Plummer
• The Beverly Hillbillies — Fred Penrod
• The Lucy Show — Calvin
• The Virginian — Hotel Clerk, Matt Lewis
• 1962What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? — Clerk in Newspaper Department
• Pete and Gladys
• The Jim Backus Show
• Bonanza — Junior
• The Twilight Zone — Man at Dining Room Table (uncredited)
• 1956The Bold and the Brave — Bob
• The 20th Century Fox Hour
• 1943Hi, Buddy — Tim Martin
• 1941Hit the Road — Pesky
• 1941Men of Boys Town — Pee Wee
• 1941Scattergood Pulls the Strings — Jimmy Jordan
• 1940Dr. Kildare's Crisis — Tommy, the Crippled Child
• 1940Dreaming Out Loud — Jimmy
• 1940Wyoming — Jimmy Kincaid
• 1939Blackmail — Hank Ingram
• 1939Calling Dr. Kildare — Tommy Benson (uncredited)
• 1939Dodge City — Harry Cole
• 1939On Borrowed Time — Pud Northrup
• 1939The Story of Alexander Graham Bell — George Sanders
• 1938Boys Town — Pee Wee
• 1938Go Chase Yourself — Junior (uncredited)
• 1938In Old Chicago — Bob O'Leary (as a boy)
• 1938Kentucky — Peter Goodwin - 1861
• 1938Young Dr. Kildare — Little Boy (uncredited)
• 1937It Happened in Hollywood — Boy
• 1937She's Dangerous — Boy at Airport
• 1937The Great O'Malley — Boy (uncredited)
• 1936Libeled Lady — Waif (uncredited)
• 1936Pay As You Exit — Audience
• 1936Show Boat
• 1935Life Begins at Forty — Meriwhether Son
• 1935Two-Fisted — Jimmy's Boxing Partner
• 1932Life Begins — Edgar, Harry’s Son (uncredited)