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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
November 16, 1930
Died
June 27, 1999
Place of Birth
Los Angeles, California, USA
Also Known As
- Robert Ball Watson
- The Crybaby of Hollywood
Bobs Watson
0.4 Popularity
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.
Known For
6.6
Judge Ezra Frank
Perry Mason: The Case of the Wicked Wives
1993
5.3
Minister
Grand Theft Auto
1977
2.7
Bartender
Mrs. Stone's Thing
1970
5.6
Rod
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
1968
5.8
Officer Bailey
The Mothers-in-Law
1967
7.9
Sergeant Maypole
First to Fight
1967
5.5
Walsh
The F.B.I.
1965
7.3
Green Acres
1965
5.3
Western Union Messenger (uncredited)
Take Her, She's Mine
1963
7.2
Milt Plummer
The Fugitive
1963
Credits
Perry Mason: The Case of the Wicked Wives
as Judge Ezra Frank
1993
6.6
Grand Theft Auto
as Minister
1977
5.3
Mrs. Stone's Thing
as Bartender
1970
2.7
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
as Rod
1968
5.6
The Mothers-in-Law
as Officer Bailey
1967
5.8
First to Fight
as Sergeant Maypole
1967
7.9
The F.B.I.
as Walsh
1965
5.5
Green Acres
1965
7.3
Take Her, She's Mine
as Western Union Messenger (uncredited)
1963
5.3
The Fugitive
as Milt Plummer
1963
7.2
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
as Clerk in Newspaper Department
1962
7.9
The Lucy Show
as Calvin
1962
7.0
The Beverly Hillbillies
as Fred Penrod
1962
6.8
The Virginian
as Hotel Clerk
1962
6.5
The Virginian
as Matt Lewis
1962
6.5
The Virginian
as Clerk
1962
6.5
The Jim Backus Show
1960
0.0
Pete and Gladys
1960
6.5
The Twilight Zone
as Man at Dining Room Table (uncredited)
1959
8.4
The Bold and the Brave
as Bob
1956
5.6
The 20th Century Fox Hour
1955
5.4
Hi, Buddy
as Tim Martin
1943
7.0
Hit the Road
as Pesky
1941
0.0
Scattergood Pulls the Strings
as Jimmy Jordan
1941
0.0
Men of Boys Town
as Pee Wee
1941
6.1
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
as Tommy, the Crippled Child
1940
6.0
Dreaming Out Loud
as Jimmy
1940
5.7
Wyoming
as Jimmy Kincaid
1940
5.9
Blackmail
as Hank Ingram
1939
6.4
On Borrowed Time
as Pud Northrup
1939
7.5
Calling Dr. Kildare
as Tommy Benson (uncredited)
1939
6.1
Dodge City
as Harry Cole
1939
6.9
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
as George Sanders
1939
6.0
Kentucky
as Peter Goodwin - 1861
1938
5.8
Young Dr. Kildare
as Little Boy (uncredited)
1938
6.5
Boys Town
as Pee Wee
1938
6.7
In Old Chicago
as Bob O'Leary (as a boy)
1938
6.5
It Happened in Hollywood
as Boy
1937
6.1
The Great O'Malley
as Boy (uncredited)
1937
6.7
She's Dangerous
as Boy at Airport
1937
5.0
Pay As You Exit
as Audience
1936
7.3
Libeled Lady
as Waif (uncredited)
1936
7.3
Show Boat
1936
6.7
Two-Fisted
as Jimmy's Boxing Partner
1935
7.0
Life Begins at Forty
as Meriwhether Son
1935
0.0
Life Begins
as Edgar, Harry’s Son (uncredited)
1932
6.0