Quick Facts
Biography
Pierre Watkin (December 29, 1889 in Sioux City, Iowa – February 3, 1960 in Hollywood, California) was an American character actor in many films, serials, and television series from the 1930s through the 1950s, especially westerns. He is perhaps best remembered for being the father of Eleanor Twitchell, the lady who captures Lou Gehrig's heart in Pride of the Yankees (1942)
Stage
In the 1920s, Watkin had his own theatrical troupe, the Pierre Watkin Players. In 1927, the group moved its headquarters from Sioux Falls to Lincoln, Nebraska.
Film
Watkin portrayed Perry White in both of the Superman serials of the late 1940s, which starred Kirk Alyn as the title character and Noel Neill as Lois Lane.
Television
Watkin played a few different characters in the television series Adventures of Superman, in which John Hamilton played Perry White. He was set to reprise his role as the editor of The Daily Planet in a revival of the series in 1959, as Hamilton had died in the interim since the cancellation of the original series. However, series star George Reeves also died in the summer of 1959, and those plans ended. Watkin himself died six months later.
He also cast in 1955 in the episode "Joey and the Gypsies" of the NBC children's western series Fury. Watkin guest starred in the CBS western series Brave Eagle. He was cast twice each on the ABC/Warner Brothers series, Cheyenne (as Harvey Sinclair in "The Law Man") and Annie Oakley (as the Reverend Mills in the 1956 episode "The Reckless Press"). In 1958, Watkin portrayed Dr. Breen of Samaritan Hospital in the episode "San Francisco Story" of Rex Allen's syndicated western series, Frontier Doctor.
During the first season of CBS's Perry Mason from 1957 to 1958, Watkin appeared in three episodes as Judge Keetley. He was also cast during the 1950s on The Range Rider, Tales of the Texas Rangers, in three episodes of the western aviation adventure series Sky King, and five times on The Jack Benny Program.
Watkin played the part of Colonel Duncan in the 1958 episode "Decoy" of the ABC/Warner Brothers western series Colt .45.
Partial filmography
- Dangerous (1935)
- Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) (uncredited)
- Forgotten Faces (1936)
- Swing Time (1936) (uncredited)
- Wanted! Jane Turner (1936) (uncredited)
- It Had to Happen (1936)
- Bunker Bean (1936)
- Country Gentlemen (1936)
- Waikiki Wedding (1937)
- Larceny on the Air (1937)
- Green Light (1937)
- Sea Devils (1937)
- Internes Can't Take Money (1937)
- The Go Getter (1937)
- Ever Since Eve (1937)
- Racketeers in Exile (1937)
- Breezing Home (1937)
- The Singing Marine (1937)
- Stage Door (1937)
- Breakfast for Two (1937)
- Girls' School (1938)
- Girls on Probation (1938)
- King of Alcatraz (1938)
- Tip-Off Girls (1938)
- Young Dr. Kildare (1938)
- The Lady Objects (1938)
- King of the Underworld (1939) as District Attorney
- Wings of the Navy (1939)
- Society Lawyer (1939)
- The Adventures of Jane Arden (1939)
- Fast and Loose (1939)
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) as Senate Minority Leader
- The Great Victor Herbert (1939)
- The Saint Takes Over (1940)
- I Love You Again (1940)
- Captain Caution (1940)
- Father Is a Prince (1940)
- The Bank Dick (1940)
- Out West with the Peppers (1940)
- Five Little Peppers in Trouble (1940)
- No Time for Comedy (1940)
- Hired Wife (1940)
- Road to Singapore (1940)
- The Green Hornet Strikes Again! (1940 serial)
- Cheers for Miss Bishop (1941)
- A Man Betrayed (1941)
- Meet John Doe (1941)
- Nevada City (1941)
- Great Guns (1941)
- She Knew all the Answers (1941)
- Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring (1941)
- Jesse James at Bay (1941)
- Nazi Agent (1942)
- Obliging Young Lady (1942)
- The Adventures of Martin Eden (1942)
- Heart of the Rio Grande (1942)
- The Magnificent Dope (1942)
- The Pride of the Yankees (1942) as Mr. Twitchell
- Whistling in Dixie (1942)
- Cinderella Swings It (1943)
- Swing Shift Maisie (1943)
- What a Woman! (1943)
- Thousands Cheer (1943)
- It Ain't Hay (1943)
- Old Acquaintance (1943)
- Jungle Woman (1944)
- Dead Man's Eyes (1944)
- Weekend Pass (1944)
- Oh, What a Night! (1944)
- Docks of New York (1945)
- Keep Your Powder Dry (1945)
- Strange Illusion (1945)
- Here Come the Co-Eds (1945)
- Thrill of a Romance (1945)
- Mr. Muggs Rides Again (1945)
- Two Years Before the Mast (1945)
- The Phantom Speaks (1945)
- Allotment Wives (1945)
- Incendiary Blonde (1945)
- Adventure (1945) as Mr. Buckley (uncredited)
- Three's a Crowd (1945)
- I'll Tell the World (1945)
- Miss Susie Slagle's (1945)
- Divorce (1945)
- Dakota (1945)
- The Shadow Returns (1946)
- Little Giant (1946)
- Swamp Fire (1946)
- Behind the Mask (1946)
- The Missing Lady (1946)
- Claudia and David (1946)
- Monsieur Verdoux (1947) (uncredited)
- Hard Boiled Mahoney (1947)
- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) (uncredited)
- Her Husband's Affairs (1947)
- The Hunted (1948)
- State of the Union (1948)
- Shanghai Chest (1948)
- Don't Trust your Husband (1948)
- The Strange Mrs. Crane (1948)
- Superman (1948 serial)
- An Innocent Affair (1948)
- The Counterfeiters (1948)
- Siren of Atlantis (1949)
- Knock on Any Door (1949) (uncredited)
- Hold That Baby! (1949)
- The Fountainhead (1949) (uncredited)
- The Story of Seabiscuit (1949)
- Neptune's Daughter (1949)
- Samson and Delilah (1949) (uncredited)
- Radar Secret Service (1950)
- The Big Hangover (1950) as Samuel C. Lang
- Atom Man vs. Superman (1950 serial)
- Sunset in the West (1950)
- Southside 1-1000 (1950)
- The Second Face (1950)
- Three Little Words (1950)
- Two Lost Worlds (1950)
- In Old Amarillo (1951)
- Hold That Line (1952)
- Canadian Mounties vs. Atomic Invaders (1953 serial)
- The Stranger Wore a Gun (1953)
- Johnny Dark (1954)
- About Mrs. Leslie (1954)
- The Big Bluff (1955)
- Creature with the Atom Brain (1955)
- The Maverick Queen (1956)
- Shake, Rattle & Rock! (1956)
- Don't Knock the Rock (1956)
- Spook Chasers (1957)
- Pal Joey (1957) (uncredited)
- Flying Fontaines (1959) as Doctor (uncredited)