BB
Billy Bevan
Actor
Died November 26, 1957 (70 years)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Billy Bevan (born William Bevan Harris, 29 September 1887 – 26 November 1957) was an Australian-born vaudevillian, who became an American film actor. He appeared in 254 American films between 1916 and 1950.
Bevan was born in the country town of Orange, New South Wales, Australia. He went on the stage at an early age, traveled to Sydney and spent eight years in Australian light opera, performing as Willie Bevan. He sailed to America with the Pollard’s Lilliputian Opera Company in 1912 and later toured Canada. Bevan broke into films with the Sigmund Lubin studio in 1916. When the company disbanded, Bevan became a supporting actor in Mack Sennett movie comedies. An expressive pantomimist, Bevan's quiet scene-stealing attracted attention, and by 1922 Bevan was a Sennett star. He supplemented his income, however, by establishing a citrus and avocado farm at Escondido, California.
Usually filmed wearing a derby hat and a drooping mustache, Bevan may not have possessed an indelible screen character like Charlie Chaplin but he had a friendly, funny presence in the frantic Sennett comedies. Much of the comedy depended on Bevan's skilled timing and reactions; the famous "oyster" routine performed on film by Curly Howard, Lou Costello, and Huntz Hall—in which a bowl of "fresh oyster stew" shows alarming signs of life and battles the guy trying to eat it—was originated on film decades earlier by Bevan in the short film Wandering Willies.
By the mid-1920s Bevan was often teamed with Andy Clyde; Clyde soon graduated to his own starring series. The late 1920s found Bevan playing in wild marital farces for Sennett.
The advent of talking pictures took their toll on the careers of many silent stars, including Billy Bevan. Bevan began a second career in "talkies" as a character actor and bit player in roles such as that of a bus driver in the 1929 film High Voltage, a hotel employee in the Mae Murray film Peacock Alley, and the supporting role of Second Lieutenant Trotter in Journey's End in 1930. His starring roles had come to an end, however, and for the next 20 years he often would play rowdy Cockneys (as in Pack Up Your Troubles with The Ritz Brothers), and affable Englishmen (as in Tin Pan Alley and Terror by Night). He played a friendly bus conductor opposite Greer Garson in one of the opening scenes of Mrs. Miniver.
Bevan died in 1957 in Escondido, California, just before new audiences discovered him in Robert Youngson's silent-comedy compilations. (The Youngson films mispronounce his name as "Be-VAN"; Bevan himself offered the proper pronunciation in a Voice of Hollywood reel in 1930.)
Filmography
| 1981 | Klamottenkiste (TV Series) · as Billy |
| 1960 | When Comedy Was King · as edited from 'Super Duper Dyne Lizzies, ' 'The Lion's Whiskers, ' 'Wall Street Blues, ' and' Wandering Willies' |
| 1960 | Lifetime of Comedy · as actor |
| 1957 | The Golden Age of Comedy · as archive footage |
| 1952 | Hans Christian Andersen · as Town Councilman (uncredited) |
| 1951 | Ça c'est du cinéma · as (archive footage) |
| 1950 | Three Secrets · as Ed Jackson (uncredited) |
| 1950 | Fortunes of Captain Blood · as Unknown |
| 1949 | The Secret Garden · as Barney |
| 1949 | Tell It to the Judge · as Winston, Kitty's Butler (uncredited) |
| 1948 | The Swordsman · as Old Andrew |
| 1947 | It Had to Be You · as Evans |
| 1946 | Terror by Night · as Conductor Taking Tickets |
| 1945 | The Picture of Dorian Gray · as Malvolio Jones |
| 1945 | Tonight and Every Night · as Cabbie (uncredited) |
| 1944 | National Velvet · as Constable (uncredited) |
| 1944 | The Lodger · as Bartender |
| 1944 | The Pearl of Death · as Constable With Food Tray (uncredited) |
| 1944 | Once Upon a Time · as Patrol Cop-Driver |
| 1943 | The Return of the Vampire · as Horace (uncredited) |
| 1943 | Young and Willing · as Phillips |
| 1943 | Jane Eyre · as Bookie (uncredited) |
| 1942 | I Married a Witch · as Puritan Vendor (uncredited) |
| 1942 | A Yank at Eton · as Tour Guide |
| 1942 | Counter-Espionage · as George Barrow |
| 1942 | This Above All · as Farmer |
| 1942 | Mrs. Miniver · as Unknown |
| 1941 | Confirm or Deny · as Mr. Bindle |
| 1941 | Scotland Yard · as Porter |
| 1941 | Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde · as Mr. Weller |
| 1941 | Suspicion · as Ticket Taker (uncredited) |
| 1941 | Penny Serenade · as McDougal (uncredited) |
| 1940 | Rebecca · as Policeman (uncredited) |
| 1940 | The Long Voyage Home · as Joe |
| 1939 | Let Freedom Ring · as Cockney (uncredited) |
| 1938 | Bringing Up Baby · as Joe (uncredited) |
| 1938 | Arrest Bulldog Drummond · as Aquarium Guard |
| 1938 | The Young in Heart · as Kennel Man (uncredited) |
| 1938 | Shadows Over Shanghai · as Gallicuddy |
| 1938 | The Girl of the Golden West · as Nick |
| 1938 | A Christmas Carol · as Street Watch Leader |
| 1937 | Personal Property · as Frank (uncredited) |
| 1937 | Another Dawn · as Pvt. Hawkins |
| 1937 | God's Country and the Woman · as Plug Hat |
| 1937 | The Wrong Road · as McLean |
| 1936 | Dracula's Daughter · as Police Constable Albert |
| 1936 | Mr. Deeds Goes to Town · as Cabby (uncredited) |
| 1936 | Lloyd's of London · as Innkeeper |
| 1936 | Piccadilly Jim · as Taxi Driver |
| 1936 | Champagne Charlie · as Mr. Boswick |
| 1935 | A Tale of Two Cities · as Jerry Cruncher |
| 1935 | Dressed to Thrill · as Canadian Soldier |
| 1934 | The Lost Patrol · as Hale |
| 1934 | The Painted Veil · as Bridegroom |
| 1934 | Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back · as Man in Hotel Room |
| 1934 | Shock · as Meadows |
| 1933 | A Study in Scarlet · as Will Swallow |
| 1933 | Cavalcade · as George Grainger |
| 1933 | Alice in Wonderland · as Two of Spades (uncredited) |
| 1932 | Me and My Gal · as Ashley (uncredited) |
| 1932 | Vanity Fair · as Joseph Sedley |
| 1932 | The Spot on the Rug · as Gerald J. Fitzgerald |
| 1931 | Waterloo Bridge · as Soldier on the Make (uncredited) |
| 1931 | The Spy · as Undetermined Role |
| 1931 | Frozen Face · as actor |
| 1930 | Monte Carlo · as Train Conductor (uncredited) |
| 1929 | High Voltage · as Gus Jones |
| 1927 | Gold Digger of Weepah · as The Barber |
| 1923 | The Extra Girl · as Comedian |