{{short description|American actor}} {{Infobox person | name = Bobby Connelly | image = A Child for Sale.jpg | imagesize = | caption = Bobby Connelly and Creighton Hale(l). 1920. | birth_name = Robert Joseph Connelly | birth_date = {{birth date|1909|04|04}} | birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1922|07|05|1909|04|04}} | death_place = Lynbrook, Nassau County, New York, U.S. | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1913–1922}} [[File:Humoresque (1920) - 5.jpg|thumb|L-R: Dore Davidson, Bobby Connelly with Miriam Battista in ''Humoresque (1920 film)'' ]] '''Robert Joseph Connelly''' (April 4, 1909 – July 5, 1922) was an American child actor of silent films. He is one of the first male child stars of American motion pictures beginning his career in 1913 at the age of four.<ref>[http://www.allmovie.com/artist/bobby-connolly-p14503 Bobby Connelly profile], allmovie.com; accessed August 10, 2015.</ref>

==Career== Connelly's parents were vaudeville performers, and young Connelly began in films with the Kalem company. His sister Helen also had a career as a child actress. In 1914 Connelly switched to Vitagraph Studios, which were based primarily in New York and New Jersey, close to where Connelly and his family lived. He appeared in films with major players of the day, and in 1914–15 portrayed "Sonny Jim" in a series of shorts about the adventures of a young boy.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}} right|thumb|Connelly in "Sonny Jim" film fragment In 1917, he got his own series of films with his name in the title to emphasize his star billing. His career pertains primarily with the Vitagraph studios, but occasionally he would appear in other studios' productions, such as ''Humoresque'' produced by Paramount Pictures in 1920. ''Humoresque'', a story by Fannie Hurst was a huge hit in 1920 and is one of Connelly's few films to survive.<ref>[http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/H/Humoresque1920.html ''Humoresque''(1920)], silentera.com; accessed August 10, 2015.</ref>

On stage, Connelly acted in ''Man and Wife'' at Proctor's Theater in Yonkers, New York.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bobby Connelly is just fine on stage also |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67813652/bobby-connelly/ |access-date=January 17, 2021 |work=The Yonkers Herald |date=April 1, 1921 |page=5|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref>

==Death== In 1917, Connelly was diagnosed with endocarditis. Nevertheless, he was still allowed to keep a heavy work schedule. In 1922, Connelly became ill after completing work on the film ''Wildness of Youth''. He died of bronchitis at his home on July 5, 1922, at the age of 13.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1922/07/07/archives/bobby-connelly-dead-child-screen-star-dies-of-bronchitis-at-his.html New York Times "BOBBY" CONNELLY DEAD.; Child Screen Star Dies of Bronchitis at His Home...(Friday July 7, 1922)]</ref>

==Selected filmography== *''Salvation Joan'' (1916) *''The Suspect'' (1916) *''A Prince in a Pawnshop'' (1916) *''Her Right to Live'' (1917) *''The Seal of Silence'' (1918) *''Beyond the Law'' (1918) *''Out of a Clear Sky'' (1918) *''The Road Through the Dark'' (1918) *''The Unpardonable Sin'' (1919) *''A Child for Sale'' (1920) *''The Flapper'' (1920) *''Humoresque'' (1920) * ''Other Men's Shoes'' (1920) * ''A Wide Open Town'' (1922)

==References== {{reflist}}

==Bibliography== * Holmstrom, John. ''The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995'', Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, p.&nbsp;39.

==External links== {{Commons category|Bobby Connelly}} * {{IMDb name|175050}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Connelly, Bobby}} Category:1909 births Category:1922 deaths Category:American male child actors Category:American male film actors Category:American male silent film actors Category:Deaths from bronchitis Category:Male actors from Brooklyn Category:20th-century American male actors Category:People from Lynbrook, New York

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