My Father-in-Law

James Caughey Watson Jr. professionally Coy Watson, was an American child actor of the silent era, who was from an extended family of fellow performers known as The Watson Family. He appeared in more than 60 films. Wikipedia

Born: November 16, 1912, Los Angeles, California, United States

Died: March 14, 2009, Alpine, California, United States

Education: Belmont High School

Movies: Show People, Buttons, Taxi 13, The Smart Set, MORE

Siblings: Delmar Watson, Bobs Watson, Louise Watson, MORE

Books: The Keystone Kid: Tales of Early Hollywood

Wikipedia

Hollywood Reel - Sample

Los Angeles Times Obituary

A collection of Videos

My uncle-in-Law and the inspiration behind my Biblical Portrayals.

Robert Ball Watson credited as Bobs Watson, was an American actor and Methodist minister. Wikipedia

Born: November 11, 1930, Los Angeles, California, United States

Died: June 27, 1999, Laguna Beach, California, United States

Spouse: Jaye Watson (m. ?–1999)

Siblings: Delmar Watson, Coy Watson Jr., Harry Watson, Louise Watson, Billy Watson, Garry Watson, Gloria Watson, Vivian Watson

TV shows: The Jim Backus Show

IMDB

Billy Watson was born on 25 December 1923 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), In Old Chicago (1938) and The Winning Ticket (1935). He was previously married to Sue Watson. He died on 17 February 2022 in Spokane, Washington, USA.

Born - December 25, 1923

Died - February 17, 2022(98)

     Son of Golda Gladdis Wimer and Coy Watson Sr..
 

     Brother of actors Coy Watson, Vivian Watson, Gloria Watson, Louise Watson, Harry Watson, Delmar Watson, Garry Watson, and Bobs Watson who all also appeared in films at one time or another; there were six boys and three girls.
 

     After his discharge from the United States Coast Guard after World  War 2 he took up a career in commercial photography in Los Angeles.
 

     While working as a commercial photographer he acted in various TV  roles (none are listed on IMDb) and community theater groups on the  side.
 

     Served in World War II along with three of his brothers in the US Coast Guard.

He  and his eight siblings appeared in hundreds of movies starting in the  silent era, and his family has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Photo below - From left: Walter Brennan, Spencer Tracy and Billy Watson in 1939's 'Stanley and Livingstone.' 20th Century Fox Film Corp/courtesy Everett Collection  

Billy Watson, a former child actor from a famous Hollywood family of child actors who appeared in such classic films as Show Boat, In Old Chicago and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, has died. He was 98.

Watson died Feb. 17 of natural causes at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Washington, his family announced.

Watson was one of nine kids, and by the late 1930s, he and his  siblings had appeared in hundreds of films. His family is the only one  to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, getting their place on  Hollywood Boulevard in 1999.

In Old Chicago (1938), Watson portrayed Don Ameche’s  character as a boy, then was one of the sons of Gov. Hopper (Guy  Kibbee), the man who appoints Jimmy Stewart’s Jefferson Smith to the  Senate, in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). His real-life brothers Delmar, Harry and Garry were his brothers in the movie, too.

In the great film year of 1939, Watson also showed up in Young Mr. Lincoln with Henry Fonda, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with Mickey Rooney and in Stanley and Livingstone with Spencer Tracy.

The sixth of nine children — six sons and three daughters — William  Richard Watson was born in 1923 on Christmas Day in Los Angeles.

His mother, Golda, washed and ironed actors’ costumes, and his  father, Coy Watson Sr., was a cowboy stuntman who created the piano-wire  special effects used for Douglas Fairbanks’ flying carpet in Raoul  Walsh’s The Thief of Bagdad (1924).

Mack Sennett’s Keystone Studios was located very close to the family  home in Edendale in what is now Echo Park. When a director would come to  Watson’s dad and say, “I need a child for a movie. Do you have one?” he  would respond, “What size and what sex?”

(The eldest child, Coy Watson Jr., appeared in so many of Sennett’s  Keystone Cops comedies, he was nicknamed “The Keystone Kid.” Meanwhile,  Delmar was Shirley Temple’s goat-herding friend in 1937’s Heidi, and brother Bobs Watson played Pee Wee in 1938’s Boys Town.)

In 1928, Billy Watson got into his first two films, the silent features Taxi 13 and Taking a Chance, then showed up in Love, Live and Laugh (1929), starring George Jessel.

His film résumé also included Cannonball Express (1932), Death on the Diamond (1934), Will Rogers’ Life Begins at 40 (1935), Katharine Hepburn’s Mary of Scotland (1936), Kidnapped (1938) and I Take This Woman (1940), his final onscreen credit, according to IMDb.

After attending Belmont High School, Watson served in the U.S. Coast  Guard during World War II, became a commercial photographer in the Los  Angeles area — many of his brothers were in the guard and worked as  photographers, too — and performed in local theater groups.

Survivors include his children, Bill, Dennis and Rod; 10  grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; and his brother Garry, now 93.  His wife of 62 years, Sue, died in 2008.

A donation in his memory can be made to The Salvation Army.

Billy Watson's Obituary

Running a holiday sale or weekly special? Definitely promote it here to get customers excited about getting a sweet deal.

Louise Watson Obituary

The Coy Watson Family 4/13/99 l of 2 pgs

Known as “The First Family of Hollywood”

• Appeared in over 1000 motion pictures, (silent and sound movies,) as well as television and radio shows, between the years of 1911 and 1999. For over 87 years, the Watsons have been a part of Los Angeles, Hollywood and the motion picture industry.
• Coy Watson Sr., patriarch of the family, began his film career in 1911 as a cowboy in a “Western” with the Selig Studio (the first film studio built on the West Coast) and went on to serve the industry as a prop man, pioneered film special effects, worked as an assistant director for numerous film studios and ultimately became a Casting Director at Fox Studio in the 1920’s. He also acted as agent and manager, as well as loving father, to his 3 daughters and 6 sons, who all appeared and/or starred in motion pictures.
• Coy and Golda Watson raised Coy Jr, Vivian, Gloria, Louise, Harry, Billy, Delmar, Garry and Bobs Watson, all upstanding citizens, fine actors and caring individuals. (All born between 1912 and 1930).
• The 9 Watson children, all born and raised in the Edendale area of Los Angeles, began in the movies as early as 9 months old in 1912 when Coy Jr., the oldest son, appeared with Lon Chaney Sr. in his West Coast film debut in “The Price of Silence.” Most recently, Bobs Watson, youngest of the family, will appear in the motion picture “Deadly Delusions“ to be released in 1999.
  The Watsons starred and appeared in motion pictures with the major stars of their day including Mary Pickford in “Dorothy Vernon of Hadden Hall,” Douglas Fairbanks in “The Thief of Bagdad”, Fatty Arbuckle in “Fatty’s Gift”, Mae West in “I’m No Angel”, Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney in “Boys Town”, Katherine Hepburn in “The Little Minister”, Fred Astaire, Joan Fontaine, George Burns and Gracie Allen in “Damsel in Distress”, Walter Brennen and Loretta Young in “Kentucky”, Shirley Temple in “Heidi”, Lionel Barrymore in “On Borrowed Time”, James Stewart in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”, Will Rogers in “Life Begins at Forty”, Don Amechi and Henry Fonda in “Alexamder Graham Bell” ......... to mention just a few.
• The loving Watson family spirit was not only shared within the home but with others. From the time the children were young, the family entertained and performed at Los Angeles area hospitals, community gatherings and churches to lift the spirits of others. This spirit lives on today. All the Watson are active in civic, church and community activities to further the cause of human welfare.
• “The Watson Brothers” served their country proudly in the military between 1942 and 1954 in the Coast Guard or Army.
• In 1958 the Watsons were the celebrities of a Ralph Edwards “This is Your Life” T.V. show honoring the Watson family for their strong family unity, pioneering spirit and longevity in the Los Angeles film, newspaper and television industries.
• Watsons covered the Hollywood and Los Angeles areas with still photographs, newsreels and television news for local, regional and national news publications and television when they were no longer in front of the camera on movie sets. (Between 1930 and 1980).
• Coy Watson Jr. produced the first weekly, nationally syndicated television newsreel on Hollywood and its stars in 1949 titled ,“Hollywood Reel”.
• The Watsons continue to serve the world with their vast photographic history and experience of Hollywood and the L.A. area through “The Watson Family Archives”, a collection of photographic history of motion pictures, Hollywood and Los Angeles. This collection began with photographs made by “Grandpa” James Watson of “Buffalo Bill” Cody and his Wild West Show traveling down Broadway in downtown Los Angeles in 1903.
  The Coy Watson Family will be honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and
  “The Hollywood Walk of Fame” committee on Thursday, April 22, 1999
  at 11:30 am when
  the Honorary Mayor of Hollywood, Johnny Grant, will unveil
  The Watson Family Star on the Hollywood Walk of
  Fame
  on Hollywood Blvd, near the entrance of the Egyptian Theatre. (Hollywood Blvd. near Los Palmas)
  Many generations of the Watson Clan, friends and media will be on hand to share and celebrate the event.
  - 30 -
  For more information, you may contact: Patricia Watson Price (daughter of Coy Watson Jr.)