Joe Roberts

Joseph Henry Roberts (February 2, 1871 – October 28, 1923) 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 "The Cowboy, the Swell and the Lady." At this time, the first decade of the twentieth century, Buster Keaton's father, Joe Keaton, had a summer Actors' Colony for vaudevillians between Lake Michigan and Muskegon Lake in Michigan, where Roberts got to know the Keaton family.

When Buster's apprenticeship with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle came to an end and Keaton began making his own short films in 1920, he asked Roberts to join him. The hefty Roberts, usually playing a menacing heavy or authority figure, made an amusing contrast next to thin, Keaton. Roberts played "Roaring Bill" Rivers in 1922's The Primitive Lover starring Keaton's sister-in-law Constance Talmadge and silent film actor Harrison Ford. He also had signed a deal with Fox Films, and played such roles as 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 keep working with Roberts. Roberts had roles in Keaton's Three Ages and Our Hospitality (both 1923). On August 17, while filming Our Hospitality, Roberts had a stroke. A Wassermann test, ordered by consulting physician Dr. Louis Regan, confirmed a diagnosis of late-onset neurosyphilis, a fatal disease that causes seizures, dementia, and paralysis. Roberts returned – weakened – to finish the film, and would live to attend an October 17, 1923, Glendale preview, but died of a second stroke just after midnight of the following day.

Filmography Film Year Character Ref One Week 1920 Piano Mover (uncredited) Short Convict 13 The Crazed Prisoner The Scarecrow Farmhand (uncredited) Neighbors Her Father (uncredited) The Haunted House 1921 Bank Cashier Hard Luck Lizard Lip Luke The High Sign Leader of Buzzards (uncredited) His Meal Ticket Organ Grinder The Goat Police Chief Who's Who The Judge The Devilish Romeo Little Lord Fauntleroy Buzz Saw Brannigan (uncredited) The Play House Actor-Stage Manager (uncredited) Short One Moment, Please The Paleface 1922 The Indian Chief (uncredited) Cops Police Chief (uncredited) The Primitive Lover 'Roaring' Bill Rivers My Wife's Relations Brother (uncredited) Short The Blacksmith Blacksmith (uncredited) The Frozen North The Driver The Electric House Millionaire (uncredited) Day Dreams The Mayor (uncredited) The Love Nest 1923 Captain of the WhalerThe Four FlusherThe Russian CountThe MummyBig Joe Three Ages The Girl's Father Our Hospitality Joseph Canfield No LoafingBig piano carrier Short The Misfit 1924 The Drill Master