Billy Bevan
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1887-09-29
Day of Death
1957-11-26 (70 years old)
Place of Birth
Orange, New South Wales, Australia
Billy Bevan
Biography
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.)
Known For
Acting
(1963)
30 Years of Fun
as (archive footage)
(1957)
The Golden Age of Comedy
as archive footage
(1952)
Hans Christian Andersen
as Town Councilman (uncredited)
(1951)
The Slappiest Days of Our Lives
as (archive footage)
(1950)
Fortunes of Captain Blood
as Billy Bragg
(1950)
Three Secrets
as Ed Jackson (uncredited)
(1950)
Rogues of Sherwood Forest
as Will Scarlet
(1949)
The Secret Garden
as Barney
(1949)
Tell It to the Judge
as Winston, Kitty's Butler (uncredited)
(1949)
The Secret Of St. Ives
as Douglas (uncredited)
(1948)
The Black Arrow
as Dungeon Keeper
(1948)
Let's Live a Little
as Morton
(1948)
The Swordsman
as Old Andrew
(1947)
It Had to Be You
as Evans
(1947)
Moss Rose
as Harry, Cab Driver (uncredited)
(1946)
Terror by Night
as Conductor Taking Tickets
(1946)
Cluny Brown
as Uncle Arn Porritt
(1946)
Devotion
as Mr. Ames (uncredited)
(1945)
The Picture of Dorian Gray
as Malvolio Jones
(1945)
National Velvet
as Constable (uncredited)
(1945)
Tonight and Every Night
as Cabbie (uncredited)
(1944)
The Pearl of Death
as Constable With Food Tray (uncredited)
(1944)
The Invisible Man's Revenge
as Police Sergeant (uncredited)
(1944)
(1943)
Jane Eyre
as Bookie (uncredited)
(1943)
The Return of the Vampire
as Horace (uncredited)
(1943)
Forever and a Day
as Wartime Cabby
(1943)
London Blackout Murders
as Air Raid Warden
(1943)
Happy Times and Jolly Moments
as (archive footage)
(1942)
Mrs. Miniver
as Bus Conductor (uncredited)
(1942)
I Married a Witch
as Puritan Vendor (uncredited)
(1942)
This Above All
as Farmer
(1942)
The Man Who Wouldn't Die
as Phillips
(1942)
Counter-Espionage
as George Barrow
(1941)
Penny Serenade
as McDougal (uncredited)
(1941)
Suspicion
as Ticket Taker (uncredited)
(1941)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
as Mr. Weller
(1941)
Confirm or Deny
as Mr. Bindle
(1941)
Shining Victory
as Chivers
(1940)
Rebecca
as Policeman (uncredited)
(1940)
The Invisible Man Returns
as Jim (uncredited)
(1940)
The Long Voyage Home
as Joe
(1940)
Tin Pan Alley
as Stage Doorman
(1940)
The Earl of Chicago
as Castle Guide
(1939)
Let Freedom Ring
as Cockney (uncredited)
(1939)
Pack Up Your Troubles
as British Sergeant
(1939)
Captain Fury
as Duffy
(1939)
We Are Not Alone
as Mr. Jones
(1938)
Bringing Up Baby
as Joe (uncredited)
(1938)
A Christmas Carol
as Street Watch Leader
(1938)
The Young in Heart
as Kennel Man (uncredited)
(1938)
Blond Cheat
as Bartender (uncredited)
(1938)
Mysterious Mr. Moto
as Customs Official
(1938)
The Girl of the Golden West
as Nick
(1938)
Arrest Bulldog Drummond
as Aquarium Guard
(1938)
Shadows Over Shanghai
as Gallicuddy
(1937)
Slave Ship
as Atkins
(1937)
The Wrong Road
as McLean
(1937)
Another Dawn
as Pvt. Hawkins
(1937)
Personal Property
as Frank (uncredited)
(1937)
God's Country and the Woman
as Plug Hat
(1937)
The Sheik Steps Out
as Munson
(1936)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
as Cabby (uncredited)
(1936)
Dracula's Daughter
as Albert
(1936)
Lloyd's of London
as Innkeeper
(1936)
Private Number
as Frederick
(1936)
Piccadilly Jim
as Taxi Driver
(1936)
Song and Dance Man
as Curtis
(1936)
Champagne Charlie
as Mr. Boswick
(1935)
A Tale of Two Cities
as Jerry Cruncher
(1935)
The Last Outpost
as Private Foster
(1935)
Black Sheep
as Alfred
(1935)
The Widow from Monte Carlo
as Officer Watkins
(1935)
Vanessa: Her Love Story
as Horse Auctioneer
(1935)
Mystery Woman
as Jepson
(1934)
The Lost Patrol
as Hale
(1934)
Stingaree
as Mac
(1934)
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
as Man in Hotel Room
(1934)
One More River
as Cloakroom Attendant
(1934)
Caravan
as Police Sergeant
(1934)
Limehouse Blues
as Herb
(1934)
Shock
as Meadows
(1933)
A Study in Scarlet
as Will Swallow
(1933)
Alice in Wonderland
as Two of Spades (uncredited)
(1933)
Cavalcade
as George Grainger
(1933)
The Way to Love
as M. Prial
(1933)
Peg o' My Heart
as Detective #2 (uncredited)
(1933)
Techno-Crazy
as Mary's Father - the Mayor
(1933)
Too Much Harmony
as Stage Director
(1933)
Looking Forward
as Mr. Barker
(1933)
Luxury Liner
as Schultz
(1933)
Pop's Pal
as Grandpa
(1933)
Uncle Jake
as Uncle Jake
(1933)
The Big Squeal
as Jake Burke
(1933)
(1933)
Thundering Taxis
as One of the Taxi Boys
(1932)
Me and My Gal
as Ashley, Arguing Drunk (uncredited)
(1932)
Sky Devils
as Colonel
(1932)
Payment Deferred
as Charlie Hammond
(1932)
Vanity Fair
as Joseph Sedley
(1932)
Honeymoon Beach
as Billy Bevan
(1932)
The Silent Witness
as Horace Ward
(1931)
Waterloo Bridge
as Soldier on the Make (uncredited)
(1931)
Born to Love
as Departing British Soldier (uncredited)
(1931)
Transatlantic
as Hodgkins
(1931)
Chances
as Cuthbert (uncredited)
(1931)
Who's Who in the Zoo
as Father
(1930)
Monte Carlo
as Train Conductor (uncredited)
(1930)
Journey's End
as Trotter
(1930)
Peacock Alley
as Walter
(1930)
Scotch
as Gilbert - Addie's Brother
(1930)
For the Love o' Lil
as Edward O. Walker
(1930)
Temptation
as Sam
(1929)
The Trespasser
as Reporter (uncredited)
(1929)
High Voltage
as Gus Jones
(1929)
The Sky Hawk
as Tom Berry
(1929)
Calling Hubby's Bluff
as Billy Barton
(1929)
Don't Get Jealous
as Billy Blake
(1929)
Weak But Willing
as George Downing
(1929)
Pink Pajamas
as Billy Brooks
(1928)
The Best Man
as Best Man
(1928)
Riley the Cop
as Paris Cabman
(1928)
The Girl from Nowhere
as Constable Billy Barnes
(1928)
The Bicycle Flirt
as Doty Bassett - the Bicycle Flirt
(1928)
Motorboat Mamas
as Billy Bender
(1928)
His Unlucky Night
as Billy Trotter
(1928)
Hubby's Weekend Trip
as Bill Blake
(1928)
His New Stenographer
as Billy Brooks
(1928)
(1927)
The Girl from Everywhere
as Messenger
(1927)
A Small Town Princess
as Joe Whiffet
(1927)
Gold Digger of Weepah
as The Barber
(1927)
The Bull Fighter
as Pete De Tour
(1927)
Easy Pickings
as The Detective
(1927)
The Golf Nut
as Billy Divott
(1927)
Cured in the Excitement
as Professor Brawn
(1927)
Should Sleepwalkers Marry?
as Charley Carter
(1927)
Peaches and Plumbers
as Bill the Plumber
(1926)
Hoboken to Hollywood
as Billy Judkins
(1926)
Ice Cold Cocos
as Gus Gander
(1926)
Fight Night
as Walter Moore
(1926)
Should Husbands Marry?
as The Cop
(1926)
Wandering Willies
as Percy Nudge
(1926)
Whispering Whiskers
as The Drifter
(1926)
Trimmed in Gold
as Otto Stropp
(1926)
Hubby’s Quiet Little Game
as Billy Foote
(1926)
Flirty Four-Flushers
as Jerry Connors / Archibald De Shyster
(1926)
A Sea Dog's Tale
as Wilbur Watts
(1926)
Masked Mamas
as Casey McCorkle
(1926)
Musclebound Music
as Billy Hornby
(1926)
Hayfoot, Strawfoot?
as Pete
(1926)
Circus Today
as Gus Barnum
(1925)
Giddap!
as Gaspard De Brie
(1925)
The Lion's Whiskers
as Otto Klutch
(1925)
Butter Fingers
as Nick
(1925)
Super-Hooper-Dyne Lizzies
as Hiram Case
(1925)
The Iron Nag
as Joe Gobb
(1925)
Over Thereabouts
as Joe Dobell
(1925)
Sneezing Beezers
as Joe Honck - Taxi Driver
(1925)
From Rags to Britches
as Joe Bush
(1925)
Honeymoon Hardships
as Farmer
(1924)
Little Robinson Corkscrew
as The Sheriff
(1924)
Three Foolish Weeks
as King of Anchovia
(1924)
Galloping Bungalows
as John Syrup Soother
(1924)
Off His Trolley
as The Traffic Cop
(1924)
The White Sin
as Travers Dale
(1924)
Wall Street Blues
as The Janitor
(1924)
The Hollywood Kid
as Studio Organist
(1924)
Lizzies of the Field
as Bud Gasket
(1924)
East of the Water Plug
as The Sheriff
(1924)
One Spooky Night
as A.J. Bird Jr.
(1924)
Wandering Waistlines
as Sandy Hook - Sailor
(1924)
The Cannon Ball Express
as Adam Fargo - Baggage Master
(1923)
The Extra Girl
as Comedian
(1923)
Pitfalls of a Big City
as Barfly (uncredited)
(1923)
One Cylinder Love
as The Bachelor's Butler / Chauffeur / Footman
(1923)
Nip and Tuck
as Sailor
(1923)
Inbad the Sailor
as Jake aka Inbad the Sailor
(1922)
The Duck Hunter
as The Sportsman
(1922)
The Crossroads of New York
as Press Agent
(1922)
Gymnasium Jim
as Jim
(1922)
When Summer Comes
as Lyons - the Tenderfoot
(1922)
On Patrol
as The Amateur Cop
(1921)
A Small Town Idol
as Director
(1921)
Bright Eyes
as The Nosey Butler
(1921)
Astray from the Steerage
as A steerage passenger
(1921)
Be Reasonable
as A Rolling Stone
(1921)
Love and Doughnuts
as The Burglar
(1921)
(1920)
The Quack Doctor
as The Hired Lady's Sweetheart
(1920)
(1918)
(1918)
(1918)
Cupid In Quarantine
as The Father
(1918)
Somebody's Widow
as Secretary
(1917)
Bombs and Bandits
as The Chief of Police
(1916)
Gertie's Gasoline Glide
as The Minister
(1916)
Pirates of the Air
as The Bartender
Crew
(1920)
The Quack Doctor
Director