Former child actor Billy Watson, from a famous Hollywood family of child actors, has died.
William ‘Billy’ Watson, who appeared in classic films Show Boat, In Old Chicago and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, has died aged 98 of natural causes at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Washington, his family announced.
Described as ‘loving and kind,’ his family said ‘he could light up a crowded room with his laughter and exuberance.’
He was one member of the talented Watson Family, the only family where every member has a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame, all child actors who appeared in hundreds of films starting in the silent era.
His family continued: ‘He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.’
Billy starred in many films including The Little Minister, The Winning Ticket, and Young Mr. Lincoln, and he shared the screen with Hollywood legends from James Stewart to Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn.
In Old Chicago, he portrayed Don Ameche’s character as a boy, and in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, he was one of the sons of Gov. Hopper (Guy Kibbee), the man who appoints Jimmy Stewart’s Jefferson Smith to the Senate. His real-life brothers Delmar, Harry and Garry were also his brothers in the movie.
Born on Christmas Day, 1923, Billy was the sixth of nine children. 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 The Thief of Bagdad (1924). His siblings were also actors.
Following his career as a child actor, he served in the United States Coast Guard after WWII, and then became a successful photographer in Los Angeles.
His later career included various TV roles and performances in community theatre groups.
His wife Sue, who he married in 1946, died in 2008. Billy is survived by his children, ten grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren, and his last surviving sibling, his 93-year-old brother, Garry Watson.
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