David Delmar Watson (July 1, 1926 – October 26, 2008) was an American child actor and news photographer.Nelson, Valerie J
"Delmar Watson, child actor turned news photographer, dies at 82"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

''. October 28, 2008.Andres, Holly J.
Famed news photographer Delmar Watson dies
." '' Daily News''. October 28, 2008.

Life and career

Watson was one of nine children born to actor, stuntman, and pioneer special effects artist Coy Watson Sr. The family lived in the old Edendale area (now

Echo Park Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east-central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake to the west and Chinatown to the east. The culturally diverse neighborhood has become known f ...

) of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Watson attended Belmont High School.Pool, Bob.
Star Shines Brightly for Hollywood's First Family; Movies: The Watson clan of former child actors finally receives recognition for its pioneering contribution to films
" ''Los Angeles Times''. April 23, 1999. Metro Part B Metro Desk Page 1. Watson acted in '' Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' alongside

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...

and in ''

Heidi ''Heidi'' (; ) is a work of children's fiction published in 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, originally published in two parts as ''Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning'' (german: Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre) and ''Heidi: How She Use ...

'' with

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...

. His eight siblings (five brothers and three sisters) also acted in films, including Coy Jr.,

Harry Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

and Bobs. He and his brothers played the governor's sons in '' Mr. Smith Goes to Washington''. The family was honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce by placing the Watson family ("the First Family of Hollywood") star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...

, at 6674

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...

in Hollywood. Watson edited and published five books: ''"Quick, Watson, The Camera (1976), ''Los Angeles The Olympic City, 1932–1984'' (1984), ''The 10th Olympiad – Japan'' (1984), ''Goin' Hollywood 1887–1987'' (1988), and ''Delmar Watson's "Babe", The One and Only'' (1992). Watson died from prostate cancer at his home in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

, on October 26, 2008, at the age of 82.

Partial filmography

* ''

Taxi 13 ''Taxi 13'' is a 1928 silent film comedy produced and distributed by Film Booking Offices of America and directed by Marshall Neilan. The film stars Chester Conklin in what is FBO's first film with a pre-recorded soundtrack. Once thought lost, ...

'' (1928) - Mactavish Child (uncredited) * '' Blue Skies'' (1929) * '' The Valiant'' (1929) - Little Boy Who Falls Down (uncredited) * '' Lucky Star'' (1929) - Young Tucker (uncredited) * ''

Love, Live and Laugh ''Love, Live and Laugh'' is a 1929 American drama film directed by William K. Howard and written by Edwin J. Burke, Dana Burnet, and George Jessel. It is based on the 1922 play ''The Hurdy-Gurdy Man'' by Leroy Clemens and John B. Hymer. The f ...

'' (1929) - Little Boy (uncredited) * '' The Lone Star Ranger'' (1930) - Baby Jones * '' Outside the Law'' (1930) - The Kid * ''

Mothers Cry ''Mothers Cry'' is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film released by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., and directed by Hobart Henley. The movie stars Dorothy Peterson, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Evalyn Knapp and Sidney ...

'' (1930) - One of the Williams Children - Age 3 (uncredited) * ''

Riders of the Purple Sage ''Riders of the Purple Sage'' is a Western novel by Zane Grey, first published by Harper & Brothers in 1912. Considered by scholars to have played a significant role in shaping the formula of the popular Western genre, the novel has been called ...

'' (1931) - Young Boy (uncredited) * '' Compromised'' (1931) - Sandy Brock * '' The Fourth Horseman'' (1932) - Young Boy (uncredited) * '' Wild Girl'' (1932) - Willie - Red Pete's Boy (uncredited) * ''

Goldie Gets Along ''Goldie Gets Along'' is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Malcolm St. Clair and starring Lili Damita, Charles Morton and Sam Hardy. The screenplay was written by William A. Drake, based on the 1931 novel of the same title by H ...

'' (1933) - Autograph Seeking Boy Outside Restaurant (uncredited) * '' The Last Trail'' (1933) - Pupil with Tom's Hat (uncredited) * '' To the Last Man'' (1933) - Tad Stanley (uncredited) * ''

The Right to Romance ''The Right to Romance'' is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film starring Ann Harding and Robert Young and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Premise Ann Harding plays a successful plastic surgeon who meets a local playboy, played by Robert Young ...

'' (1933) - Bill * '' Fugitive Lovers'' (1934) - Tommy (uncredited) * '' Straight Is the Way'' (1934) - Crying Boy (voice, uncredited) * '' Chained'' (1934) - Boy Shipboard Swimmer (uncredited) * '' Among the Missing'' (1934) - First Boy * '' Gentlemen Are Born'' (1934) - Crying Boy (uncredited) * '' The Painted Veil'' (1934) - Crying Boy (scenes deleted) * '' Life Begins at 40'' (1935) - Meriwether Son (uncredited) * '' Silk Hat Kid'' (1935) - Child (uncredited) * ''

Freckles Freckles are clusters of concentrated melaninized cells which are most easily visible on people with a fair complexion. Freckles do not have an increased number of the melanin-producing cells, or melanocytes, but instead have melanocytes that ...

'' (1935) - Little Boy (uncredited) * ''

Annie Oakley Annie Oakley (born Phoebe Ann Mosey; August 13, 1860 – November 3, 1926) was an American sharpshooter who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. Oakley developed hunting skills as a child to provide for her impoverished family in western ...

'' (1935) - Wesley Oakley * '' We're Only Human'' (1936) - Tommy Anderson (uncredited) * ''

Sutter's Gold ''Sutter's Gold'' is a 1936 American Western film. It is a fictionalized version of the aftermath of the discovery of gold on Sutter's property, spurring the California Gold Rush of 1849. Edward Arnold plays John Sutter. The supporting cast i ...

'' (1936) - 3rd Newsboy (uncredited) * '' The Country Doctor'' (1936) - Oldest Wyatt Boy (uncredited) * ''

Silly Billies ''Silly Billies'' is a 1936 American comedy film directed by Fred Guiol from a screenplay by Al Boasberg and Jack Townley, based on a story by Guiol and Thomas Lennon. The film was the twentieth feature for the comedy duo of Wheeler and Woolsey ...

'' (1936) - Martin * ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...

'' (1936) - Boy (uncredited) * ''

Old Hutch ''Old Hutch'' is a 1936 American romantic comedy film directed by J. Walter Ruben and starring Wallace Beery as a man who finds $100,000 in the depths of the Depression. It is a remake of the 1920 Will Rogers film '' Honest Hutch.'' Cast *Wall ...

'' (1936) - Allie Hutchins * '' The Great O'Malley'' (1937) - Tubby * '' Maytime'' (1937) - Maypole Singer (uncredited) * ''

We Have Our Moments ''We Have Our Moments'' is a 1937 American comedy mystery film directed by Alfred L. Werker and starring Sally Eilers, James Dunn and Mischa Auer Mischa Auer (born Mikhail Semyonovich Unkovsky (Михаил Семёнович Унковск� ...

'' (1937) - Little Boy (uncredited) * ''

Let Them Live ''Let Them Live'' is a 1937 American drama film directed by Harold Young and written by Lionel Houser and Bruce Manning. The film stars John Howard, Nan Grey, Edward Ellis, Judith Barrett, Robert Wilcox and Benny Bartlett. The film was releas ...

'' (1937) - Boy in Orphanage (uncredited) * ''

The Road Back ''The Road Back'', also translated as ''The Way Back'', (german: Der Weg zurück) is a novel by German author Erich Maria Remarque, commonly regarded as a sequel to his 1929 novel ''All Quiet on the Western Front''. It was first serialized in the ...

'' (1937) - Boy (uncredited) * ''

It Happened in Hollywood ''It Happened in Hollywood'' is a 1937 American comedy film directed by Harry Lachman and starring Richard Dix, Fay Wray and Victor Kilian. The arrival of sound wrecks the career of a leading western actor while his leading lady rises to new hei ...

'' (1937) - Boy (uncredited) * ''

'' (1937) - Peter * ''

52nd Street 52nd Street is a -long one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan, New York City. A short section of it was known as the city's center of jazz performance from the 1930s to the 1950s. Jazz center Following the repeal of ...

'' (1937) - Young Benjamin (uncredited) * ''

Outlaws of the Prairie ''Outlaws of the Prairie'' is a 1937 American Western film directed by Sam Nelson, starring Charles Starrett, Donald Grayson, and Iris Meredith. Cast * Charles Starrett as Dart Collins * Donald Grayson as Slim Grayson * Iris Meredith as Judy G ...

'' (1937) - Dart Collins Jr. (uncredited) * '' Clipped Wings'' (1937) - Mickey Lofton - as a Boy * '' Tovarich'' (1937) - Urchin Stealing Groceries (uncredited) * '' Change of Heart'' (1938) - Jimmy Milligan * ''

Hunted Men ''Hunted Men'' is a 1938 American drama film directed by Louis King and written by William R. Lipman and Horace McCoy. The film stars Lloyd Nolan, Mary Carlisle, Lynne Overman, J. Carrol Naish, Delmar Watson and Buster Crabbe. The film was r ...

'' (1938) - Robert Harris aka Butch * '' Breaking the Ice'' (1938) - Reuben Johnson * ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...

'' (1938) - Snowballer in Gang (uncredited) * ''

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

'' (1938) - Thad Goodwin Jr. - 1861 * ''

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' or as it is known in more recent editions, ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'', is a novel by American author Mark Twain, which was first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United St ...

'' (1939) - Joe (uncredited) * ''

You Can't Cheat an Honest Man ''You Can't Cheat an Honest Man'' is a 1939 American comedy film directed by George Marshall and Edward F. Cline and starring W. C. Fields. Fields also wrote the story on which the film is based under the name Charles Bogle. Plot Circus propr ...

'' (1939) - Boy with Slingshot (uncredited) * '' The Family Next Door'' (1939) - Boy (uncredited) * ''

Young Mr. Lincoln ''Young Mr. Lincoln'' is a 1939 American biographical drama western film about the early life of President Abraham Lincoln, directed by John Ford and starring Henry Fonda. Ford and producer Darryl F. Zanuck fought for control of the film, to ...

'' (1939) - Admiring Boy in New Salem (uncredited) * ''

When Tomorrow Comes "When Tomorrow Comes" is a song recorded by British pop music duo Eurythmics. It was written by group members Annie Lennox, David A. Stewart and guest keyboardist Pat Seymour. With this single and its parent album ''Revenge'', Lennox and Stewart ...

'' (1939) - Boy in Wagon (uncredited) * ''

Those High Grey Walls ''Those High Grey Walls'' is a 1939 American crime film directed by Charles Vidor and starring Walter Connolly and Onslow Stevens. It is also known as ''The Gates of Alcatraz''. Plot Dr. MacAuley, a kindly beloved country doctor, is sent to Fil ...

'' (1939) - Boy (uncredited) * ''

Here I Am a Stranger ''Here I Am a Stranger'' is a 1939 American drama film directed by Roy Del Ruth and written by Sam Hellman and Milton Sperling. The film stars Richard Greene and Richard Dix as son and father. It was based on the short story of the same name by ...

'' (1939) - Shoeshine Boy (uncredited) * '' Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' (1939) - Hopper Boy #2 * ''

Legion of the Lawless ''Legion of the Lawless'' is a 1940 American Western film directed by David Howard and starring George O'Brien, Virginia Vale, and Slim Whitaker. The screenplay was written by Doris Schroeder from a story by Berne Giler. Plot In the Old ...

'' (1940) - Lafe Barton Jr. * ''

His Girl Friday ''His Girl Friday'' is a 1940 American screwball comedy directed by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell and featuring Ralph Bellamy and Gene Lockhart. It was released by Columbia Pictures. The plot centers on a newspaper edito ...

'' (1940) - Skinny (uncredited) * '' I Take This Woman'' (1940) - Smaller Murphy Kid (scenes deleted) * ''

My Little Chickadee ''My Little Chickadee'' is a 1940 American comedy-western film starring Mae West and W. C. Fields, featuring Joseph Calleia, Ruth Donnelly, Margaret Hamilton, Donald Meek, Willard Robertson, Dick Foran, William B. Davidson, and Addison Ri ...

'' (1940) - Boy (uncredited) * ''

The Lady from Cheyenne ''The Lady from Cheyenne'' is a 1941 American comedy western film directed by Frank Lloyd and starring Loretta Young, Robert Preston and Edward Arnold. Plot In the 1860s, after receiving an inheritance a Philadelphia Quaker school teacher h ...

'' (1941) - Toothless Boy (uncredited) * ''

New York Town ''New York Town'' is a 1941 American romantic comedy film directed by Charles Vidor and starring Fred MacMurray, Mary Martin, Akim Tamiroff, and Robert Preston. The film was written by Lewis Meltzer and an uncredited Preston Sturges based on a ...

'' (1941) - Hungarian Boy (uncredited) * ''

Among the Living ''Among the Living'' is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Anthrax. It was released on March 16, 1987, by Megaforce Records in the US and by Island Records in the rest of the world. The album is dedicated to Cliff Burton of ...

'' (1941) - Newsboy (uncredited) * ''

Gas House Kids Go West ''Gas House Kids Go West'' is a 1947 American comedy film directed by William Beaudine. A sequel to the 1946 film '' Gas House Kids'', which had starred former Dead End Kids leader Billy Halop, this new film emphasized comedy and recast the gang w ...

'' (1947) - Young Boy (uncredited) (final film role)

References

Bibliography

* * Holmstrom, John (1996). ''The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995''. Norwich: Michael Russell, p. 144-145.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Delmar 1926 births 2008 deaths 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American photographers American male child actors American male film actors Belmont High School (Los Angeles) alumni Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from prostate cancer Male actors from Los Angeles Male Western (genre) film actors People from Echo Park, Los Angeles Delmar

Life and career

Partial filmography

See also

References

Bibliography

External links