Stephen R. Roberts

After serving as a pilot in World War I, Stephen Roberts eked out a living as a barnstorming stunt flyer. An accident compelled Roberts to seek safer (?) work as a stunt double in the movies. He found the technical end of the business more to his liking, and in the late 1920s began directing comedy short subjects for Pathe. Significantly, Roberts' first feature-film directorial assignment was Sky Bride (1932). For the next four years, Roberts turned out inexpensive but serviceable programmers for Paramount and RKO. His best work can be found in a pair of Thin Man-like mysteries, both starring William Powell: Star of Midnight (1935) and The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936). The last-named picture was Stephen Roberts' swan song; he died suddenly at the age of 41.