Robert Eugene Courtney, 89, passed away peacefully at home in Hermosa Beach, California on December 1, 2024. Known to family and friends as “Bubsy,” he moved to Hermosa Beach in 1955 and declared he would never live anywhere else. He became a pillar of the South Bay community – a revered criminal defense attorney, a husband and father of four, co-founder of the Labor Day volleyball tournament, and a friend and supporter to everyone he met.
Courtney was born in Bloomfield, N.J. in 1935 to parents Eva and John Courtney, and grew up with siblings John Courtney and Mickie Robbins. He attended Loyola High School and Loyola University, where he starred in several school plays, including “Rumpelstiltskin,” where he met the love of his life and future wife, Dorothy. During college, he was a working actor, appearing in the 1956 film “Rock Pretty Baby” and joining the Screen Actors Guild, where he remained a lifelong member.
He left acting to become an attorney, graduating from Loyola Law School in 1960. After starting his career in the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office, in 1963 he entered private practice in criminal defense. Charismatic and nimble as a trial attorney, he was a good listener with an actor’s gift for storytelling. He earned his clients’ trust with his compassionate counsel and his disinterest in broadcasting his accomplishments. He was invited in 1982 to join the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, a marker of the trust and respect he commanded from colleagues, opposing counsel, and judges in Los Angeles and beyond for his skilled approach to the law.
Bubsy was equally invested in the lives of his large family and his even larger community of friends. At Richstone Family Center events, graduations, volleyball tournaments, soccer games, track meets, crew races, art shows, theater productions, dance recitals, and ice hockey games, Bubsy didn’t just show up, he dressed up, often wearing a carefully selected shirt or hat with the name of the group he was there to support. He was everyone’s number one fan.
Above all, Bubsy embraced life. He loved traveling the world with Dorothy, skiing in Mammoth with the Courtney and Harrington families, and playing beach volleyball and golfing with his many friends.
Bubsy effortlessly connected with people and rooted for them to succeed. An insightful listener, a masterful storyteller, a joyful trickster and a brilliant attorney, he will be profoundly missed by his wife Dorothy Courtney, his children and their spouses Colleen and Jay Cole, Jake and Patricia Courtney, Mary and Michael Burke, Erin Courtney and Scott Adkins, his seven grandchildren, Carter, Katie, Courtney, Tommy, Devon, Charlie and Dora, and his wide community of friends. He was preceded in death by his parents and siblings.
The family is planning a celebration of life for later this year. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to the Richstone Family Center, the Hermosa Beach Museum or to a charity important to you.
Robert Courtney was a Hermosa Beach Icon
By Special Contributor
0 view
Bob Courtney’s brief acting career included the role of a saxophone player in Universal International’s 1956 teen movie “Rock Pretty Baby.” Sal Mineo played the drummer, one year after his break-out performance in “Rebel Without a Cause.” Bass player Rod McKuen went on to become the world’s biggest selling poet and a popular songwriter. Guitarist John Saxon, keyboard player John Wilder and sax player Alan Reed Jr. all went on to successful film careers.
Comments