Film Historian Bob Chatterton Dies

Robert W. (Bob) Chatterton, a figure on the Hollywood scene for decades as a film historian and lecturer, died Thursday at his home in Burbank. He was 67.

Chatterton, who started in show business as a vaudeville promoter in his hometown of Cleveland, came to California in the 1940s and opened a small canteen called The Nickelodeon on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City. But soon he began what was to be a lifelong career--collecting films and lecturing at universities and film archives up and down the West Coast.

He amassed one of the largest collections of Laurel and Hardy comedy films and became an authority on comedians of the Laurel and Hardy era, in addition to becoming a friend of the team’s straight man, Stan Laurel. Chatterton also collected sometimes spicy outtakes from Hollywood movies.

Chatterton--whose Hollywood acquaintances ranged from Judy Garland and W. C. Fields to Madame Sul-te-Wan, the “Birth of a Nation” actress who was the first black to receive a seven-year film contract--is survived by a sister, Jean Cash of Brunswick, Ohio, and a brother, Frank Chatterton of Mira Loma.

Memorial services will be held Thursday at the Pierce Bros. Valhalla Mortuary, 10621 Victory Blvd., North Hollywood. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills.