death_place death_date birth_place birth_date yearsactive article_title name occupation
hollywood , california , u.s. 5 april 1948 runnels , texas , u.s. 1 january 1886 1924 -- 1948 willard robertson
 willard robertson actor
willard robertson

willard robertson -lrb- january 1 , 1886 -- april 5 , 1948 -rrb- was an american actor and writer .
he appeared in 147 films between 1924 and 1948 .
he was born in runnels , texas and died in hollywood , california .
willard robertson first worked as a lawyer in texas , but he left his profession for a sudden interest in acting .
he appeared on broadway in 16 plays between 1907 and 1930 .
robertson played supporting roles in many hollywood films from 1930 until the year he died , typically portraying men of authority such as doctors , elected officials , military officers and also lawyers .
he played jackie cooper 's stern but loving father in the oscar-winning drama `` skippy '' -lrb- 1931 -rrb- and its sequel `` sooky '' -lrb- 1931 -rrb- .
robertson also portrayed a flamboyant lawyer in `` remember the night '' -lrb- 1940 -rrb- and the straight sheriff in `` the ox-bow incident '' -lrb- 1943 -rrb- .
willard robertson was also a notable writer of numerous plays , two of them were adapted into films .
he also wrote the novel `` moontide '' which was turned into archie mayo 's drama thriller `` moontide '' -lrb- 1942 -rrb- starring jean gabin and ida lupino .
