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