Walt Disney Animation Studios. Photo: MandiRodriguez7, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RoyE.DisneyAnimationBuilding.jpg)
Gallery of Robert Anderson
Universal Pictures. Photo: Coolcaesar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gate2universalstudios.JPG)
Walt Disney Animation Studios. Photo: MandiRodriguez7, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RoyE.DisneyAnimationBuilding.jpg)
Robert James Anderson, professionally known as Bobby Anderson, was an American actor and film and television producer. He became widely known as the child actor who played young George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life (1946), then served in the U.S. Navy and built a long career in production management, producing, and production consulting.
Background
Robert James Anderson was born on March 6, 1933, in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, into a family connected with the American film industry. His father, Eugene Randolph Anderson, worked as an assistant director and production manager, while his mother was Marie Augusta Fleischer. Anderson's extended family also included directors William Beaudine and James Flood, who married his mother's sisters.
Anderson entered films as a child performer during Hollywood's studio era. His early work included a role in The Grapes of Wrath (1940), and his best-known performance came as young George Bailey in Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946).
Career
Anderson began his screen career as a child actor in the 1940s, appearing in films including The Grapes of Wrath, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, It's a Wonderful Life, The Bishop's Wife, Ruthless, Kidnapped, Samson and Delilah, A Place in the Sun, and Born to the Saddle. He also appeared in the television production Further Adventures of Spin and Marty. His acting career diminished as he reached adulthood, and his final film appearance was in 1956.
During the Korean War, Anderson served in the United States Navy as a photographer on aircraft carriers. After military service, he moved behind the camera, first working as an assistant director and later in production management. His career developed within the studio and television system represented by Disney, Warner Bros., Universal, HBO, United Artists, Columbia, and 20th Century Fox, companies involved in the production and distribution of major American films and television programs.
Anderson later worked as a production manager, producer, line producer, and production consultant. His credits included production work associated with The Apartment, Hawaii, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Code Red, Ripley's Believe It or Not!, Passenger 57, Demolition Man, and Heat. This later phase extended his contribution to filmmaking from on-screen performance to the organization and supervision of complex film and television productions.
Anderson became widely recognized for playing young George Bailey in Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946), one of the defining American films of the postwar period.
After acting as a child, Anderson developed a second career behind the camera as a production manager, producer, line producer, and production consultant in American film and television.
Works
film
It's a Wonderful Life
(Anderson played young George Bailey in Frank Capra's Chri...)
1946
A Place in the Sun
(Anderson appeared as an Eagle Scout in George Stevens's a...)
1951
The Grapes of Wrath
(Anderson appeared as a child performer in John Ford's fil...)
1940
The Bishop's Wife
(Anderson appeared as the Defense Captain in the romantic ...)
1947
Heat
(Anderson worked as a line producer or production consulta...)
1995
The Apartment
(Anderson was associated with production work on Billy Wil...)
1960
Passenger 57
(Anderson served as a line producer or unit production man...)
1992
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
(Anderson played Augie in Elia Kazan's film adaptation of ...)
1945
Demolition Man
(Anderson worked in production management on the science-f...)
1993
Born to the Saddle
(Anderson played Ricky Summers in the Western film.)
1953
TV series
Further Adventures of Spin and Marty
(Anderson appeared as Terry Moore in the television contin...)
1956
Ripley's Believe It or Not!
(Anderson worked in production management on the televisio...)
1982
Connections
Anderson was the son of Eugene Randolph Anderson and Marie Augusta Fleischer. He was related by marriage to film directors William Beaudine and James Flood, who married his mother's sisters. He was married to Victoria Anderson and had six children. Actress Hayley Marie Norman was his great-niece.
Father:
Eugene Randolph Anderson
Worked as an assistant director and production manager in Hollywood.
Mother:
Marie Augusta Fleischer
Uncle:
William Beaudine
Film director who was related to Anderson by marriage.
Uncle:
James Flood
Film director who was related to Anderson by marriage.
Anderson was recognized as an Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America and an achievement associated with sustained advancement, service, and leadership in scouting.
Anderson was recognized as an Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America and an achievement associated with sustained advancement, service, and leadership in scouting.
