Actor, Author, Screenwriter. He was best known for playing the character roles of men of authority such as doctors, elected officials, military officers, and lawyers, usually in action films and western films. He will be best remembered for his role as the 'Prison Board Chairman' in the crime drama film noir, "I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang" (1932), which was directed by Mervyn LeRoy, and which also starred Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell, and Helen Vinson, tells the story of a wrongly convicted James Allen who serves in the intolerable conditions of a Southern chain gang, which later comes back to haunt him. He was born one of three children in Runnels, Texas, to Orin Robertson and his wife Tillie Jackson Robertson (1863-1944), on January 1, 1886. He was educated locally, studied to be a lawyer, was admitted to the bar, and commenced to practice of law. He left that profession soon after when he took on a sudden interest in acting thanks to his friend the great stage actor Joseph Jefferson. His initial venture onto the stage did not last, however. He returned to the practice of law as an attorney with the Interstate Commerce Commission. During World War I, he was drafted but never served, but he was an administrator in the Chicago, Illinois, office of the federal railway police. He did eventually return to acting and went to New York City where he appeared in several stage productions of the plays, "The Builders (May 20, 1907, to June 1907), as 'Billy Peavy' in "The Warrens Of Virginia" (December 03, 1907, to October 1908), "The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine" (January 29, 1912, to February 1912), "The Brute" (October 08, 1912, to October 1912), "Big Game" (January 20, 1920, to February 1920), as 'Neil Cornish' in "Miss Lulu Bett" (December 27, 1920, to June 1921), as 'Tom Lane' in "The Detour" (August 23, 1921, to September 1921), as 'Cash Hawkins' in "The Squaw Man" (December 26, 1921, to February 1922), as 'Judge Bradford' in "Icebound" (February 10, 1923, to July 07, 1923), as 'Lew Sisler' in "Lazybones" (September 22, 1924, to November 1924), "The Sea Woman" (August 24, 1925, to September 1925), "Black Velvet" (September 27, 1927, to October 1927), as 'Pratt' in "The Racket" (November 22, 1927, to March 1928), as 'Zed Parrum' in "Rope" (February 22, 1928, to March 1928), as 'Murphy' in "The Front Page" (August 14, 1928, to April 1929), as 'Chet Williams' in Winter Bound (Nov 12, 1929, to January 1930), and as 'Buck' in "This Man's Town (March 10, 1930, to March 1930). While on Broadway, he worked with the likes of Charles Dow Clark, John J. Collins, Master Richard Cubitt, Margaret Ellsworth, Marion Fairfax, John Fenton, Amelia Gardner, William Ingersoll, Harry Mainhall, Tully Marshall, Albert Meyer, Theodore Morris, Milano Cary Tilden, Henry J. West, Ethel Clayton, Stephen Davis, Ernest Glendinning, Jeffreys Lewis, Neil Moran, Ruth Shepley, Harry Andrews, Eva Condon, Claude Cooper, Augustin Duncan, Angela McCahill, Effie Shannon, James Waters, Leon Watsky, and many others. During this time he also made the transition to films. He made his actual film debut playing the role of 'Professor Woodbury' in the crime drama film, "Daughters Of The Night" (1934). The film which he also wrote for the screen was directed by Elmer Clifton, and also starred Orville Caldwell, Alyce Mills, and Phelps Decker. Besides, "I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang" (1932), and "Daughters Of The Night" (1934), his many other film credits include, "Big Game" (1921, based on a play), "Why Women Love" (1925, based on his play, "The Sea Woman"), "The Last Of The Duanes" (1930), "Once A Sinner" (1931), "Fair Warning" (1931), "Skippy" (1931), "City Streets" (1931), "The Lawyer's Secret" (1931), "Murder By The Clock" (1931), "Silence" (1931), "Shanghaied Love" (1931), "Graft" (1931), "The Ruling Voice" (1931), "The Cisco Kid" (1931), "Sooky" (1931), "The Gay Caballero" (1932), "Behind The Mask" (1932), "Steady Company" (1932), "The Broken Wing" (1932), "The Famous Ferguson Case" (1932), "The Rider Of Death Valley" (1932), "So Big!" (1932), "The Texas Bad Man" (1932), "Tom Brown Of Culver" (1932), "Doctor X" (1932), "Guilty As Hell" (1932), "Okay America!" (1932), "Wild Girl" (1932), "Virtue" (1932), "If I Had A Million" (1932), "Call Her Savage" (1932), "Silver Dollar" (1932), "Frisco Jenny" (1932), "Born To Fight" (1932), "Destination Unknown" (1933), "Central Airport" (1933), "Trick For Trick" (1933), "Supernatural" (1933), "Heroes For Sale" (1933), "Another Language" (1933), "Tugboat Annie" (1933), "Wild Boys Of The Road" (1933), "The Mad Game" (1933), "Ever In My Heart" (1933), "Female" (1933), "The World Changes" (1933), "Roman Scandals" (1933), "East Of Fifth Avenue" (1933), "Lady Killer" (1933), "Two Alone" (1934), "Dark Hazard" (1934), "Heat Lightning" (1934), "Gambling Lady" (1934), "Whirlpool" (1934), "Upperworld" (1934), "I'll Tell The World" (1934), "One Is Guilty" (1934), "He Was Her Man" (1934), "Let's Talk It Over" (1934), "Wild Gold" (1934), "Operator 13" (1934), "Murder In The Private Car" (1934), "Here Comes The Navy" (1934), "Housewife" (1934), "Have A Heart" (1934), "Death On The Diamond" (1934), "Elinor Norton" (1934), "Mills Of The Gods" (1934), "The Secret Bride" (1934), "Million Dollar Baby" (1934), "Biography Of A Bachelor Girl" (1935), "Transient Lady" (1935), "Laddie" (1935), "Straight From The Heart" (1935), "Black Fury" (1935), "Oil For The Lamps Of China" (1935), "Dante's Inferno" (1935), "The Virginia Judge" (1935), "O'Shaughnessy's Boy" (1935), "His Night Out" (1935), "The Old Homestead" (1935), "Forced Landing" (1935), "Dangerous Waters" (1936), "Three Godfathers" (1936), "The First Baby" (1936), "I Married A Doctor" (1936), "The Last Of The Mohicans" (1936), "The Gorgeous Hussy" (1936), "The Man Who Lived Twice" (1936), "Winterset" (1936), "Wanted! Jane Turner" (1936), "That Girl From Paris" (1936), "Larceny On The Air" (1937), "John Meade's Woman" (1937), "Park Avenue Logger" (1937), "The Go Getter" (1937), "This Is My Affair" (1937), "Roaring Timber" (1937), "Exclusive" (1937), "Hot Water" (1937), "The Last Gangster" (1937), "Island In The Sky" (1938), "Gangs Of New York" (1938), "You And Me" (1938), "Men With Wings" (1938), "Torchy Gets Her Man" (1938), "Kentucky" (1938), "Jesse James" (1939), "My Son Is A Criminal" (1939), "Union Pacific" (1939), "Heritage Of The Desert" (1939), "Each Dawn I Die" (1939), "Range War" (1939), "Two Bright Boys" (1939), "Main Street Lawyer" (1939), "Remember The Night" (1940), "My Little Chickadee" (1940), "Moontide" (1942, which was based on his novel, "Moon Tide" (1940), with the film starring Jean Gabin and Ida Lupino), "Castle On The Hudson" (1940), "Lucky Cisco Kid" (1940), "Brigham Young" (1940), "North West Mounted Police" (1940), "The Monster And The Girl" (1941), "I Wanted Wings" (1941), "Men Of The Timberland" (1941), "Texas" (1941), "The Night Of January 16th" (1941), "Sullivan's Travels" (1941), "Juke Girls" (1942), "Wake Island" (1942), "The Ox-Bow Incident" (1943), "No Time For Love" (1943), "Air Force" (1943), "Background To Danger" (1943), "Nine Girls" (1944), "Along Came Jones" (1945), "To Each His Own" (1946), "Perilous Holiday" (1946), "Renegades" (1946), "The Virginian" (1946), "Gallant Journey" (1946), "My Favorite Brunette" (1947), "Deep Valley" (1947), "Sitting Pretty" (1948), and his last role as 'General Leads' in the western film, "Fury At Furnance Creek" (1948), which was directed by H. Bruce Humberstone, and which also starred Victor Mature, Coleen Gray, and Glenn Langan. He continued to act until his death. He passed away following a short battle with cancer at the Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Hollywood, California, on April 5, 1948, at the age of 62, and he was buried in Angeles Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. He was married to Meta Muller Robertson, Pearl Harrison Robertson, and Kate McLaurin Robertson.