Robert E. Pearson (January 31, 1928 – July 4, 2009) was a

movie director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

, writer, and

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

. He was involved in over 100 films.Kansas artist remains prolific despite handicaps , lawrence.com
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Early life

When Pearson was 12 years old, he left his hometown of Concordia, Kansas, on a three-year trek to California to get into show business. He had reportedly decided to make this trip himself after witnessing a band concert at Concordia High School when he was 10 years old.

Movie career

In 1950, Pearson got his first big break when he met

Norman Rice Norman Blann Rice (born May 4, 1943) is an American politician who served as the 49th mayor of Seattle, Washington, serving two terms from 1990 to 1997. Rice was Seattle's first elected African-American mayor. Early life Rice graduated from th ...

, who was hosting the weekly

CBS radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

show, ''This Is Our America''. He was hired to play seven characters on the show. His work there led to minor roles in other movies. Pearson also served as official videographer for stars receiving the Golden Palm Awards, including

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...

, James Earl Jones, and Robert Stack. In the early 1990s, Pearson also filmed and directed the entire classical musical videos of Jan Davis, guitarist, Davis' largest twelve video effort 'Concert by the Sea' available on 'You Tube'. While in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

, Pearson jdirected two films: ''

The Devil and LeRoy Bassett ''The Devil and LeRoy Bassett'' is a 1973 modern-day western adventure. The story follows a jailbreak that leads to the fugitives taking a church bus while trying to keep ahead of the law. The film was directed by Robert E. Pearson and starred ...

'' and '' Hawaiian Split''. The movie, ''The Devil and LeRoy Bassett'' starring

Don Epperson Don Epperson (born January 1938 - died 1973 in Arizona) was an American singer and actor. His daughter, Brenda Epperson is most well known for portraying Ashley Abbott on ''The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbre ...

, premiered at the

Brown Grand Theatre The Brown Grand Theatre is a community-based historical theatre located in Concordia, Kansas and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The theatre has been called "the most elegant theater between Kansas City and Denver" and to th ...

in Concordia, Kansas, where Robert previously had lived. This was the last movie to be shown at the theater before its restoration.

Paintings

Throughout his film and television career, Pearson wrote poetry and created art in his spare time. He now lives in

Clay Center, Kansas Clay Center is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,199. History Clay Center was first settled in 1862. It was named from its position near the geographica ...

, and paints oils and acrylics nearly every day and regularly exhibits his work in regional galleries. Pearson has had Parkinson's disease for nearly a decade, is blind in his right eye and legally blind in his left eye, plus he has been

color-blind Color blindness or color vision deficiency (CVD) is the decreased ability to see color or differences in color. It can impair tasks such as selecting ripe fruit, choosing clothing, and reading traffic lights. Color blindness may make some aca ...

his entire life. This makes his ability to create paintings even more extraordinary.

Current life

As of 2004, a family member's

obituary An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

reported he was still living in

. He died on July 4, 2009, in Clay Center, Kansas.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Robert E. 2009 deaths People from Concordia, Kansas Writers from Kansas American artists People from Clay Center, Kansas 1928 births Film directors from Kansas