Actor. He is best remembered for his portrayal of the level-headed Judge Oliver Whiteside in "Giant" (1956). After working as a civics instructor for Chattanooga High School, he began his career as a leading man on the stage in little theatres and stock companies. Upon being introduced to the acclaimed actress Andrea King while attending a luncheon at the prestigious Musso and Frank Grill, she was so impressed by his mature appearance, humble disposition, and inviting Southern accent that she arranged for him to begin a career in the film industry beginning him appearing alongside her in a supporting role in "I Was a Shoplifter" (1950). From there, he would go on to enjoy a fruitful career as a notable character actor, appearing in over 120 features. Often typecast as husbands, fathers, relatives, boyfriends, guards, bankers, buffoons, eccentrics, landlords, neighbors, curmudgeons, blue-collared guys, bartenders, conmen, politicians, sergeants, detectives, reporters, soda jerks, mailmen, bankers, policemen, cowboys, detectives, reporters, authority figures, and patriarchs. He appeared in such feature films as "The Killer That Stalked New York" (1950), "Storm Warning" (1950), "Dallas" (1950), "Painting the Clouds with Sunshine" (1951), "The Man with a Cloak" (1951), "Just This Once" (1952), "Room for One More" (1952), "The Sniper" (1952), "She's Working Her Way Through College" (1952), "Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie" (1952), "Million Dollar Mermaid" (1952), "The Prisoner of Zenda" (1952), "The Jazz Singer" (1952), "The System" (1953), "The Silver Whip" (1953), "Trouble Along the Way" (1953), "She Couldn't Say No" (1953), "A Star is Born" (1954), "The Boy from Oklahoma" (1954), "New Faces" (1954), "Ricochet Romance" (1954), "Tall Man Riding" (1955), "The Scarlet Coat" (1955), "I Died a Thousand Times" (1955), "Canyon River" (1956), "The Spirit of St. Louis" (1957), "The Big Land" (1957), "An Affair to Remember" (1957), "Raintree County" (1957), "Don't Go Near the Water" (1957), "The High Cost of Living" (1958), "No Name on the Bullet" (1959), "The Big Circus" (1959), "Cimarron" (1960), "Summer and Smoke" (1961), "Ada" (1961), "Billy Rose's Jumbo" (1962), "Who's Got the Action?" (1962), "The Wheeler Dealers" (1963), "Dead Ringer" (1963), "Seven Days in May" (1964), and "Baby the Rain Must Fall" (1965). On television, he appeared in various guest spots on such syndicated sitcoms as "Vacation Playhouse," "Bonanza," "Temple Houston," "Lassie," "I'm Dickens, He's Fester," "Bachelor Father," "Shannon," "Tales of Wells Fargo," "Rawhide," "The Legend of Wyatt Earp," "Death Valley Days," "The Rifleman," "The DuPont Show with June Allyson," "Father Knows Best," "Maverick," "One Step Beyond," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "The Texan," "Mike Hammer," "Goodyear Theatre," "Sugarfoot," "State Trooper," "Dragnet," "Playhouse 90," "Adventures of Superman," "Crown Theatre with Gloria Swanson," "My Hero," "The Cisco Kid," "Rebound," "Your Favorite Story," and "The Lone Ranger". During his career, he was an honorary member of Actors Equity, had been supportive of the Motion Picture and Television Fund, had been a member of the Screen Actors Guild, was a regular parishioner of the Catholic church, had been a member of the Hollywood Democratic Committee, was a mentor to such actors as Scott Brady and Earl Holliman, had been a commercial model for the Ford Agency, was involved within his local charters of the American Red Cross and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, had been a celebrity spokesman for Maxwell House Coffee and Paper Mate Ballpoint Pens, was a theatrical instructor for the Pasadena Playhouse, and he was a financial advisor for Wells Fargo. Upon what would be his final appearance on an episode of "Mister Ed," Watts, who never married nor had any children, died shortly afterward from complications of cancer.