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Bobs Watson

Bobs Watson

Born: 1930-11-16 • 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
Perry Mason: The Case of the Wicked Wives poster
Perry Mason: The Case of the Wicked Wives
1993 • Judge Ezra Frank
Grand Theft Auto poster
Grand Theft Auto
1977 • Minister
Mrs. Stone's Thing poster
Mrs. Stone's Thing
1970 • Bartender
First to Fight poster
First to Fight
1967 • Sergeant Maypole
Take Her, She's Mine poster
Take Her, She's Mine
1963 • Western Union Messenger (uncredited)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? poster
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
1962 • Clerk in Newspaper Department
The Bold and the Brave poster
The Bold and the Brave
1956 • Bob
Hi, Buddy poster
Hi, Buddy
1943 • Tim Martin
Hit the Road poster
Hit the Road
1941 • Pesky
Scattergood Pulls the Strings poster
Scattergood Pulls the Strings
1941 • Jimmy Jordan
Men of Boys Town poster
Men of Boys Town
1941 • Pee Wee
Dr. Kildare's Crisis poster
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
1940 • Tommy, the Crippled Child
Dreaming Out Loud poster
Dreaming Out Loud
1940 • Jimmy
Wyoming poster
Wyoming
1940 • Jimmy Kincaid
Blackmail poster
Blackmail
1939 • Hank Ingram
On Borrowed Time poster
On Borrowed Time
1939 • Pud Northrup
Calling Dr. Kildare poster
Calling Dr. Kildare
1939 • Tommy Benson (uncredited)
Dodge City poster
Dodge City
1939 • Harry Cole
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell poster
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
1939 • George Sanders
Kentucky poster
Kentucky
1938 • Peter Goodwin - 1861
Young Dr. Kildare poster
Young Dr. Kildare
1938 • Little Boy (uncredited)
Boys Town poster
Boys Town
1938 • Pee Wee
Go Chase Yourself poster
Go Chase Yourself
1938 • Junior (uncredited)
In Old Chicago poster
In Old Chicago
1938 • Bob O'Leary (as a boy)
It Happened in Hollywood poster
It Happened in Hollywood
1937 • Boy
The Great O'Malley poster
The Great O'Malley
1937 • Boy (uncredited)
She's Dangerous poster
She's Dangerous
1937 • Boy at Airport
Pay As You Exit poster
Pay As You Exit
1936 • Audience
Libeled Lady poster
Libeled Lady
1936 • Waif (uncredited)
Show Boat poster
Show Boat
1936
Two-Fisted poster
Two-Fisted
1935 • Jimmy's Boxing Partner
Life Begins at Forty poster
Life Begins at Forty
1935 • Meriwhether Son
Life Begins poster
Life Begins
1932 • Edgar, Harry’s Son (uncredited)