dead death_date birth_date image article_title name
dead 28 october 1923 2 february 1871 file : joe-roberts-1922 . jpg joe roberts
 joe roberts
joe roberts

joe roberts -lrb- february 2 , 1871 -- october 28 , 1923 -rrb- was an american comic actor , who appeared in 16 of buster keaton 's 19 silent short films of the 1920s .
`` 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 a member of this community .
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 '' , 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 '' -lrb- both 1923 -rrb- .
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 .
