The following has been posted on Simesite for a long time in the “Muggs” section. But for those of you who didn’t notice it, we reproduce it here on the occasion of Roger’s passing. Here is Rog’s account of how he got the Variety job, in his own words:
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by Mort Bryer
It was late on a raw, chilly, damp November day in 1978 that I was sitting next to Roger Watkins in the back seat of one of those wonderful London cabs, creeping up a narrow street somewhere in the bowels of London, already late for appointments with a several clients, including one at the Beeb. The cab inched along in the usual heavy traffic in central London. A 90 year old, with a walker and a bad case of bunions, could have made better time.
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by Fred Lombardi
Serving as editor of Variety between Syd Silverman and Peter Bart, Roger Watkins represented the last stretch of continuity in the editor’s chair from the original Variety to its transition into a corporate entity.
Roger also evoked the past in other ways. There is always pressure on upper echelon people to be very limited in their candor. I always found Roger to be very straightforward, a straight arrow guy with a keen sense of fun. He was accessible to everyone and communication levels with the staff were always strong.
In the last few years my contact with Roger was limited to a few emails but I always considered him to be a friend. I was very disappointed when I learned that he was unable to appear at the Variety Reunion. I was deeply saddened when I learned of the circumstances that made that absence unavoidable. I am further saddened today to learn that all communication lines to Roger are now gone.
by Frank Segers
The death of Roger Watkins has hit harder than I could have imagined.
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by Ron Holloway
The Roger Watkins I remember with some affection was a Variety mugg packed to the brim with jokes. My German friends hailed him as a fast-talking ad-salesman who could pepper a scene with a pinch of barbed humor. And, if I can borrow an observation from a mutual friend in the trades, Roger was considered as a past master of the ploy that could pay dividends. Whatever that meant.
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