Robert James Anderson (March 6, 1933 – June 6, 2008) was an American
child actor and television producer, whose roles included young
George Bailey in ''
It's a Wonderful Life''.
Life and career
Bobby Anderson was born in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
, to a show business family. He was the son of Eugene Randolph Anderson, an assistant director and production manager, and Marie Augusta Fleischer, and his brothers and cousins were
editors and production managers in their own right. He was also the nephew, by marriage, of directors
William Beaudine and
James Flood
James Joseph Flood (1895-1953) was an American film director.
Born in New York City, Flood became an assistant director with Biograph in 1912 and was active through 1952.
Career
When working on ''The Swellhead'', Flood decided he wanted to ...
, both of whom were married to Anderson's mother's sisters. Anderson's film career as an actor was brief. In addition to his featured role as Young George Bailey in ''
It's a Wonderful Life'', Anderson had a cameo in ''
The Grapes of Wrath''. He appeared in the TV show ''
Spin and Marty'' and he made his last film in 1956.
Anderson enlisted in the
Navy during the
Korean War, serving as a photographer on
aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
s. After his time in the Navy, he went on to work behind the scenes in assistant directing, then later production with
Disney,
Warner Bros.,
Universal
Universal is the adjective for universe.
Universal may also refer to:
Companies
* NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company
** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal
** Universal TV, a t ...
,
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
,
United Artists,
Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
, and
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
on such films and TV shows as ''
The Apartment'', ''
Hawaii'', ''
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
''The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter'' (1940) is the debut novel by the American author Carson McCullers; she was 23 at the time of publication. It is about a deaf man named John Singer and the people he encounters in a 1930s mill town in the US state ...
'', ''
Code Red'', ''
Police Story'', and ''
Ripley's Believe It or Not!
''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' is an American franchise founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Originally a newspaper panel, the ''Believe It or Not'' feat ...
''.
He also worked as a line producer and production consultant for films such as ''
Passenger 57
''Passenger 57'' is a 1992 American action thriller film directed by Kevin Hooks. The film stars Wesley Snipes and Bruce Payne, with Snipes portraying a security consultant who finds himself forced to foil a plot to free a captive terrorist during ...
'', ''
Demolition Man'' and ''
Heat''.
Death
He died of cancer at age 75 at his home in
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...
.
He was survived by his wife, 3 sons, 3 daughters and 11 grandchildren.
Partial filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Bobby
1933 births
2008 deaths
20th-century American male actors
American male child actors
United States Navy personnel of the Korean War
Deaths from cancer in California
Male actors from Los Angeles
United States Navy sailors