Joe Roberts
"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 called "The Cowboy, the Swell and the Lady." At this time, in the first decade of the twentieth century, Buster Keaton's father, Joe Keaton, had started a summer Actors' Colony for vaudevillians between Lake Michigan and Muskegon Lake in Michigan. Roberts became acquainted with the Keaton family as
When Buster Keaton's film apprenticeship years with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle came to an end, and Keaton began making his own shorts in 1920, he asked Roberts to join him. Roberts' hefty 6'3" frame, usually playing a menacing heavy or authority figure, made a striking and amusing contrast to the thin, 5'6" Keaton.
IMDB shows that Roberts made only two films without Keaton. He played the role of "Roaring Bill" Rivers in 1922's The Primitive Lover starring Constance Talmadge—Keaton's sister-in-law—and the silent film actor Harrison Ford; and a drill master in the Clyde Cook comedy The Misfit,[4] released in March 1924, after Roberts' death.
When Keaton began making feature films in 1923, he apparently intended to continue working with Roberts. Roberts had roles in Keaton's Three Ages and Our Hospitality (both 1923). During the filming of the second feature, Roberts had a stroke but insisted on returning to the set to finish the film. After completion, Roberts suffered another stroke and died shortly afterwards.
Born
Feb 02, 1871
Albany, New York, USA
Died
Oct 28, 1923
Known For
Acting
Movies
23 acting
0 crew
Popularity
1.5
Known For
One Week
1920
as Piano Mover (uncredited)
Our Hospitality
1923
as Joseph Canfield
Cops
1922
as Police Chief (uncredited)
Hard Luck
1921
as Lizard Lip Luke
The Love Nest
1923
as Captain of the Whaler
The Blacksmith
1922
as Blacksmith
The Goat
1921
as Police Chief
The Scarecrow
1920
as Farmhand (uncredited)
Three Ages
1923
as The Girl's Father
The High Sign
1921
as Leader of Buzzards
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