Robert Williams (actor)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert "Bobby" Williams (born September 15, 1897 in Morgantown , North Carolina , † November 3, 1931 in Hollywood , California ) was an American actor .

Life

Robert Williams was born on a farm near Morgantown, North Carolina in 1897. At the age of eleven, he ran away from home and joined a circus. In the early 1920s, he appeared on Broadway shows such as Eyes of Youth with Marjorie Rambeau , The Trial of Mary Dugan , Milgrim's Progress , Scarlet Pages, and Love, Honor and Betray with Alice Brady . His best-known role was that of Abie in Abie's Irish Rose (1922), a comedy that ran on Broadway for five years. At this time (1921-1922) he was married to the singer Marion Harris . Their daughter Marion later became known as the singer Marion Harris herself.
Also in the early 1920s, Williams caused a traffic accident in Corona, Queens, in which a seven-year-old boy, James Cali, was fatally injured.

In the spring of 1924, Williams married actress Alice Lake , a leading actress in several comedies directed by Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and Buster Keaton in the late 1910s. The split from Lake in February 1925 became a topic in the rainbow press .

In 1930, Williams appeared in the Broadway comedy Rebound by Donald Ogden Stewart on. The production was only moderately successful, but still successful enough to be bought by RKO as film material. Williams went to Hollywood and also played the role of Johnnie Coles in the movie version of Rebound . He made two other films in quick succession for RKO, The Common Law (1931) with Constance Bennett and Devotion (1931) with Ann Harding and Leslie Howard . He married the actress Nina Penn , and Frank Capra hired him for the film Platinum Blonde ( Warning of Blondes , 1931).

During the screen tests for his next planned film, Lady with a Past (1932), again with Constance Bennett, Williams complained of stomach ache and a few days later, on November 3, 1931, he died of a ruptured appendix . Platinum Blonde premiered just four days earlier, and early reviews hailed him as the new star in Hollywood.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Williams, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Williams, Bobby (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH September 15, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Morgantown , North Carolina , United States
DATE OF DEATH November 3, 1931
Place of death Hollywood , California , United States