Joe Roberts (actor) explained

Joe Roberts
Birth Name:Joseph Henry Roberts
Birth Date:2 February 1871
Birth Place:Amsterdam, New York, U.S.
Death Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Joseph Henry Roberts (February 2, 1871 – October 28, 1923) was an American comic actor who appeared in 16 of Buster Keaton's 19 silent short films of the 1920s.

"Big Joe" Roberts, as he was known in vaudeville, toured the country with his first wife, Lillian Stuart Roberts, as part of a rowdy act known as Roberts, Hays, and Roberts. Their signature routine was "The Cowboy, the Swell and the Lady."[1] At this time, the first decade of the twentieth century, Buster Keaton's father, Joe Keaton, had a summer Actors' Colony for vaudevillians between Lake Michigan and Muskegon Lake in Michigan, where Roberts got to know the Keaton family.[2]

When Buster's apprenticeship with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle came to an end and Keaton began making his own short films in 1920, he asked Roberts to join him. The hefty 6feet Roberts, usually playing a menacing heavy or authority figure, made an amusing contrast next to thin, 5feet Keaton.

Roberts played "Roaring Bill" Rivers in 1922's The Primitive Lover starring Keaton's sister-in-law Constance Talmadge and silent film actor Harrison Ford. He also played a drill master in the Clyde Cook comedy The Misfit, released in March 1924, after Roberts' death.

When Keaton began making feature films in 1923, he apparently intended to keep working with Roberts. Roberts had roles in Keaton's Three Ages and Our Hospitality (both 1923). During the latter's filming, Roberts had a stroke but insisted on returning to the set to finish shooting. After completion, he suffered another stroke and died shortly thereafter, aged 52.

Filmography

Film Year CharacterRef
One Week1920Piano Mover (uncredited) Short
Convict 13The Crazed Prisoner
The ScarecrowFarmhand (uncredited)
NeighborsHer Father (uncredited)
The Haunted House1921Bank Cashier
Hard LuckLizard Lip Luke
The High SignLeader of Buzzards (uncredited)
His Meal TicketOrgan Grinder
The GoatPolice Chief
Who's Who
The Devilish Romeo
Little Lord FauntleroyBuzz Saw Brannigan (uncredited)
The Play HouseActor-Stage Manager (uncredited)Short
One Moment, Please
The Paleface1922The Indian Chief (uncredited)
CopsPolice Chief (uncredited)
The Primitive Lover'Roaring' Bill Rivers
My Wife's RelationsBrother (uncredited) Short
The BlacksmithBlacksmith (uncredited)
The Frozen NorthThe Driver
The Electric HouseMillionaire (uncredited)
Day DreamsThe Mayor (uncredited)
The Love Nest1923Captain of the Whaler
Three AgesThe Girl's Father
Our HospitalityJoseph Canfield
No LoafingShort
The Misfit1924The Drill Master

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.actorscolony.com/Roberts.htm Muskegon Actors' Colony - Big Joe Roberts
  2. http://www.actorscolony.com/colony.htm Members of the Muskegon Actors' Colony