Scene from the movie “His Name Is Bob.”
Robert Crawford, also known as “Keyboard Bob,” has died at age 73.
Multiple news outlets reported that Bob passed away on Sunday.
A Lakewood/East Dallas Advocate article published in 2017 called Bob “Dallas’ most famous drifter.” He is sometimes associated with Deep Ellum, but that article said that he could also be found on the streets of East Dallas and Lake Highlands, particularly on Greenville Avenue, with a keyboard in hand. Another previous article describes him as talkative, telling jokes, asking for rides and narrating seemingly tall tales.
About 15 years ago, a documentary called His Name Is Bob was released about Keyboard Bob. The film tells the story of how Bob was “betrayed, abandoned, beaten and abused,” according to the IMDb page. In the trailer, he is asked if he wants to be famous, and Bob says, “Yep.” Why? “Just to let people know where I’m coming from. … That I don’t fear death, and I don’t fear people.”
Former editor Christina Hughes Babb had this to say about the film (among other thoughts): “This isn’t a perfectly packaged production (hell, the makers told me they didn’t even own a camera when they first started shooting), but if it were, it might not work as well. People like Bob (and our reaction to them) often scare us. Instinctively we distance from them and cozy up to the crowd that is poking fun at them, because that feels like the safe place to be.”
“But if we dare to quiet our preconceived notions and take a closer look, Bob’s madness is a door to new perceptions that, in the end, could quite possibly bring us closer to a spiritual awakening of sorts. In order to experience the mind-blowing beauty that can come from tapping into your own soul, you have to be willing to face some ugliness.”
Eventually, money was raised to relocate Bob into a retirement community with assisted living services, according to the 2017 Lakewood/East Dallas Advocate article.
The Facebook page for the documentary posted about Bob passing away and reported that a “celebration of life” is in the works.
