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.
Movie | Perry Mason: The Case of the Wicked Wives | Judge Ezra Frank | 1993-12-17 |
Movie | Grand Theft Auto | Minister | 1977-06-16 |
Movie | Mrs. Stone's Thing | Bartender | 1970-07-11 |
Movie | First to Fight | Sergeant Maypole | 1967-01-25 |
Series | Green Acres | Unknown | 1965-09-15 |
Series | The F.B.I. | Unknown | 1965-09-19 |
Movie | Take Her, She's Mine | Western Union Messenger (uncredited) | 1963-11-13 |
Series | The Fugitive | Unknown | 1963-09-17 |
Series | The Virginian | Unknown | 1962-09-19 |
Series | The Beverly Hillbillies | Unknown | 1962-09-26 |
Movie | What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? | Clerk in Newspaper Department | 1962-10-31 |
Series | The Lucy Show | Unknown | 1962-10-01 |
Series | Pete and Gladys | Unknown | 1960-09-19 |
Series | The Jim Backus Show | 1960-10-06 | |
Movie | The Bold and the Brave | Bob | 1956-01-04 |
Series | The 20th Century Fox Hour | Unknown | 1955-10-05 |
Movie | Hi, Buddy | Tim Martin | 1943-02-26 |
Movie | Men of Boys Town | Pee Wee | 1941-04-11 |
Movie | Scattergood Pulls the Strings | Jimmy Jordan | 1941-05-23 |
Movie | Hit the Road | Pesky | 1941-06-27 |
Movie | Wyoming | Jimmy Kincaid | 1940-09-13 |
Movie | Dr. Kildare's Crisis | Tommy, the Crippled Child | 1940-11-29 |
Movie | Dreaming Out Loud | Jimmy | 1940-09-30 |
Movie | The Story of Alexander Graham Bell | George Sanders | 1939-04-04 |
Movie | Dodge City | Harry Cole | 1939-04-08 |
Movie | Calling Dr. Kildare | Tommy Benson (uncredited) | 1939-04-28 |
Movie | Blackmail | Hank Ingram | 1939-09-08 |
Movie | On Borrowed Time | Pud Northrup | 1939-07-07 |
Movie | Boys Town | Pee Wee | 1938-09-08 |
Movie | In Old Chicago | Bob O'Leary (as a boy) | 1938-04-15 |
Movie | Young Dr. Kildare | Little Boy (uncredited) | 1938-10-14 |
Movie | Kentucky | Peter Goodwin - 1861 | 1938-12-30 |
Movie | She's Dangerous | Boy at Airport | 1937-01-24 |
Movie | It Happened in Hollywood | Boy | 1937-09-07 |
Movie | The Great O'Malley | Boy (uncredited) | 1937-02-13 |
Movie | Show Boat | 1936-05-17 | |
Movie | Pay As You Exit | Audience | 1936-10-23 |
Movie | Libeled Lady | Waif (uncredited) | 1936-10-09 |
Movie | Life Begins at Forty | Meriwhether Son | 1935-03-22 |
Movie | Two-Fisted | Jimmy's Boxing Partner | 1935-10-03 |
Movie | Life Begins | Edgar, Harry’s Son (uncredited) | 1932-09-10 |