Pierre Frank Watkin is an American film and television actor who starred in the 30s, 40s and 50s of the 20th century. His favorite genre is Westerns. Most memorable film role is that of Eleanor Twitchell's father in the 1942 film Yankee Pride.
Biography
Pierre was born in the small town of Sioux City, Iowa on December 29, 1889. He was the third child of four in the family of George and Elizabeth Wattkin, who owned the House for theatrical People in Sioux City.
After graduating from high school, the young man chose an acting profession. By the time the First World War broke out, Pierre was already working in the acting troupe of Sidney Toler and was married. It is known for certain that he avoided participation in the First World War, since he was the only breadwinner in his family. However, history has not preserved the name of his wife or his children. Moreover, in the federal censuses for 1920 and 1930, the name of Pierre Watkin does not appear anywhere.
In the 1920s, Watkin had already put together his own theatrical group called Pierre Watkin Players. Since 1926, the group's shuttle apartment has been located at the Egyptian Theater in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In 1927 they moved to Lincoln, Nebraska.
He died on February 3, 1960.
Film career
In the late 1940s, Pierre Watkin played the role of Perry White in the TV series Superman. The main role was played by Kirk Elina, and Noelle Neal played the role of Superman's beloved Lois Lane.
The most famous films and TV series with Pierre Wattkin are:
- Dangerous (1935);
- I Had to Happen (1936);
- District Attorney and Forgotten Faces (1936);
- Jim of the Jungle (1955);
- Cheyenne (1955);
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955);
- Bat Masterson (1958);
- Bronco (1958);
- Wanted Dead or Alive (1958).
Pierre Watkin has established himself as an outstanding and sophisticated actor such as Russell Hicks, Janathan Hale, Selmer Jackson and Samuel Hinds. He has worked extensively in Hollywood, playing the roles of prominent and influential characters: political leaders, military officers, lawyers, district attorneys, doctors and wealthy businessmen.
However, unlike many others, Pierre has a surprisingly soft voice and articulated speech. According to many critics, Watkin's famous talent was most fully revealed in the role of the unceremonious and arrogant bank president Mr. Skinner in the 1940 comedy WC Fields. Bank sleuth.
Television career
In the late 1950s, Watkin played several different roles on the Adventures of Superman television series (with a new character in each episode). According to the plan, Watkin was supposed to play the role of editor of The Daily Planet, but John Hamilton, who played Superman, died unexpectedly in 1959. After that, the series was closed, the unfinished episodes were canceled, and Watkin himself died just six months later.
In 1955, Pierre was involved in the filming of the children's TV series "Fury" produced by NBC Studios. In parallel with this, Watkin starred in the CBS series Brave Eagle.
The actor also starred in the Warner Brothers TV series The Law Man and the 1956 TV series Reckless Press.
From 1957 to 1958, Watkin starred in the CBS series Perry Mason as Judge Keatley, the Texas Ranger Tales, the Sky King adventure series and the Jack Benny Program.
In 1958, Pierre played Dr. Brin in the series Doctor of the Frontier. In the same year, he plays the role of Colonel Duncan in the TV series "Colt.45".
In total, the actor during his career from 1935 to 1959 participated in more than 100 projects on television and in films.
The best films of Pierre Watkin
Yankee Pride is a 1942 American film by Samuel Goldwin. Starring Harry Cooper, Teresa Wright and Walter Brennan. The film is dedicated to Lou Gehrig - a well-known baseball athlete, whose tragic and untimely death has touched every American. Lou Gehrig died at the age of 37 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease with the informal name "Lou Gehrig's disease."
The film stars Lou Gehrig's Yankee baseball teammates Babe Ruth, Bob Meisel, Mark Koenig and Bill Dickey as themselves. The famous sports commentator Bill Stern also starred in the film. The film won 11 Oscar nominations, and Lou Gehrig's final line of poignant speech, “Today I consider myself the happiest person on earth,” was ranked 38th on the American Film Institute's 100 Best Movie Quotes.
The Adventures of Superman is an American television series from the 1950s. The seasons 1951, 1952 and 1953 were black and white, and from 1954 they became colored. Pierre Watkin played a variety of characters in it, including television villains, playing different roles in each episode.
"Fury" or "The Brave Stallion" is an American western-style TV series filmed between 1955 and 1960. The plot of the series is based on the story of a horse named Fury and a boy who loves her and tells about various stories that happened to them at the "Broken Wheels" ranch in California.
"Brave Eagle" is a western television series filmed in 1955-56. For the first time in Western cinema, the plot of the series reflected the point of view of Native Americans on the history of the American West, and the American Indians acted as the main characters for the first time.
The main characters are Keith Larsen, a Cheyenne Indian, Kim Winona, a Sioux Indian, and Anthony Numken, a Hopi Indian. The series tells about clashes between Indian tribes, about attempts to end the war and encroachments of white Americans, about racial prejudices.
"Frontier Doctor" is a western-style serial filmed in 1958-59 and is also known as "Unarmed" and "Man of the West". Many episodes were filmed at Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, California - the most filmed outdoor location in Hollywood history.
Sky King is a radio and television series about a rancher and an airplane pilot, based on the history of the true personality of the 1930s Jack Kon, known as the Flying Constable in San Bernardino, California. The main character, using his plane, captured criminals, spies, and found lost travelers.
Colt.45 is an American western-style TV series filmed between 1957 and 1960.
In addition, Pierre Watkin was a frequent contributor to The Jack Benny Program, an American comedy radio and television series that lasted more than 30 years and became the culmination of 20th century American comedy.
