Watkin was born in Afton Township, Iowa, on December 29, 1887 to Charles H. and Elizabeth J. Watkin. As a young child, his family moved to Sioux City, Iowa, where his parents ran a boarding house for actors. This environment influenced Watkin to go into acting after graduating high school.
Career
Watkin began performing in the late 1900s as a stage actor. He continued to tour the Midwest with various stock companies, before forming his own theatrical troupe, the Pierre Watkin Players. The group was first headquartered in Sioux City, before moving to Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1927. However, the troupe dissassembled when Watkin went East to pursue a Broadway career. The next year, Watkin made his made his Broadway debut in the 1928 play Possession. Following a string of unsuccessful plays, and with many actors moving out West, Watkin moved to California in 1935 to pursue a film career. He made his debut that same year in the Bette Davis film Dangerous, which would be the beginning of a 25-year career. Watkin often appeared in bit roles — many uncredited — as distinguished authority figures. Many of Watkin's more prominent roles came from low-budget poverty row studios, and serials. His first serial came when he starred as the main antagonist in the Universal film serialThe Green Hornet Strikes Again!, his first film serial. Watkin would come to appear in prominent roles in several serials; in 1947, Watkin portrayed the role of Uncle Jim Fairfield in the Columbia serial Jack Armstrong. Following this, Columbia cast him as Perry White in their Superman serial. The serial was the first adaption of the character, and was a success. Watkin would reprise his role in a follow-up, Atom Man vs. Superman, in 1950. He also appeared in several Western films for Republic Pictures. At the turn of the decade, Watkin began to segue into television as the medium began gaining popularity. Watkin appeared in several series, such as The Lone Ranger, Cheyenne, The Jack Benny Program, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, and The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. He also made an appearance on I Love Lucy in 1954, portraying book editor Mr. Dorrance in the episode "Lucy Writes a Novel". Watkin appeared as several minor characters in different episodes of Adventures of Superman. When producers were looking to revive the series after its cancellation in 1958, Watkin was cast in the role of Perry White again, replacing the late John Hamilton. However, these plans never came to fruition after the death of series star George Reeves in June 1959.
