Person Details

Birthday: 1930-11-16 03:54:15

Death: 1999-06-27 03:54:15

Aliases: Robert Ball Watson , The Crybaby of Hollywood

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Los Angeles, California, USA

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 19

TV Involvements: 7


Most Famous Work

Biography

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.

Most Famous Work

The Virginian
Average
7

The Virginian

(1962) Clerk
The Fugitive
Average
7

The Fugitive

(1963) Milt Plummer
The Twilight Zone
Average
8

The Twilight Zone

(1959) Man at Dining Room Table (uncredited)
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
Average
5
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Average
8

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

(1962) Clerk in Newspaper Classified Ad Department
The F.B.I.
Average
5

The F.B.I.

(1965) Walsh
Boys Town
Average
7

Boys Town

(1938) Pee Wee
Dodge City
Average
7

Dodge City

(1939) Harry Cole

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
1993 Judge Ezra Frank
1977 Minister (as Rev. Bobs Watson)
1970 Bartender
1968 Rod
1967 Officer Bailey
Sergeant Maypole
1965 Walsh
N/A
1963 Western Union Messenger (uncredited)
Milt Plummer
1962 Clerk in Newspaper Classified Ad Department
N/A
N/A
Matt Lewis
Clerk
Hotel Clerk
1960 N/A
N/A
1959 Man at Dining Room Table (uncredited)
1956 Bob
1955 N/A
1943 Tim Martin
1941 Pesky
Jimmy Jordan
Pee Wee
1940 Tommy, the Crippled Child
Jimmy
Jimmy Kincaid
1939 Hank Ingram
Pud Northrup
Tommy Benson (uncredited)
Harry Cole
George Sanders
1938 Peter Goodwin - 1861
Little Boy (uncredited)
Pee Wee
Bob O'Leary (as a boy)
1937 Boy
Boy (uncredited)
Boy at Airport
1936 Audience
Waif (uncredited)
N/A
1935 Jimmy's Boxing Partner
Meriwhether Son
Year Character Movie/Tv

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