Coy Watson, Sr

Coy Watson, Sr was one of filmmaking's pioneers as an actor, stuntman, animal wrangler, director, and most notably, special effects technician for several studios, the majority of the time with Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios. Born James Caughey Watson on April 14, 1890, in Belleville, Ontario, Canada, he moved with his family to Edendale, a community in northwest Los Angeles in 1895. Edendale was the first movie colony on the west coast with four studios-Norberg, Bison, Keystone, and Selig (the first permanent movie studio in
California, established in 1909)-operated there in the early part of the 20th century in kind of a Hollywood before there was a Hollywood. Its heyday lasted less than a decade, however, due to a lack of real estate for a rapidly increasing industry. By the mid-teens, all but Mack Sennett and his Keystone Studios had relocated ten miles west to Hollywood. Coy Watson got his start in the movie business in an unexpected manner. In 1911, after spending most of a day breaking a horse, he was standing on the street talking with two other cowboys when a man approached them, told them he worked for Selig Studios and asked them if they wanted to appear in a movie. The offer was $1 per day per actor and $2 for horses. Watson hired out three of his own horses and himself. In those days, actors supplied their own horses and gear and some of the early cowboy stars he worked with included Buck Jones, Hoot Gibson, and Tom Mix. Being a cowboy actor was dangerous work, as Watson would later find out. In 1913, while making Logan of the U.S.A., he was thrown from his horse and trampled. He suffered a broken arm and shoulder and was laid up for three weeks. Being a trouper, he went back in front of the camera as soon as he was able. However, he began to spend more time behind the scenes, learning the movie business and in the process, becoming one of the first prop men and special effects experts. His accomplishments included being the first to use piano wire to suspend actors and objects in mid-air and the first wrangler to work with exotic wild animals. For all of his accomplishments, he is best known for being the father of nine children, all of whom were child actors. The Watson family lived literally next door to Keystone so whenever a child was needed for a role, the studios would simply go to the Watson home and pick one out. Between Coy Sr and his children, the Watsons appeared in over a thousand movies. This led them to be dubbed "The First Family of Hollywood." Coy Watson, Sr passed away in 1968. On April 22, 1999, the Watson family received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6674 Hollywood Blvd, near the intersection of Las Palmas and Hollywood. There is an
excellent biography of Coy Watson, Jr on the market entitled "The Keystone Kid: Tales of Early Hollywood"
that makes for great reading.