
William Bakewell
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1908-05-02
Day of Death
1993-04-15 (84 years old)
Place of Birth
Los Angeles, California, USA
William Bakewell
Biography
William Bakewell (May 2, 1908 – April 15, 1993), also known as Billy Bakewell, was an American actor, who achieved his greatest fame as one of the premiere juvenile performers of the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Bakewell, educated at Los Angeles Harvard Military School, began his film career as an extra in the silent movie Fighting Blood (1924), and went on to appear in some 170 films and television shows. He had supporting roles at the end of the silent era and reached the peak of his career around 1930. He is perhaps best remembered for playing German soldier Albert Kropp in the film classic All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), and Rodney Jordan, Joan Crawford's brother, in Dance, Fools, Dance (1931). He also co-starred in Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929) with Winnie Lightner and Lilyan Tashman. In 1933, he contributed to the founding of the Screen Actors Guild, and was member 44 of the original 50. He never achieved stardom after the Depression years, although he became familiar in dozens of films, including his short appearance as a mounted soldier in Gone with the Wind (1939) whom Scarlett O'Hara asks when the Yankee soldiers are coming to Atlanta.
During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army with the rank of second lieutenant. He was stationed at the 73rd Evacuation Hospital and at the Radio Section of the Special Service Division as the Post Intelligence Officer. He also worked under the department that handled distribution of recorded programs to overseas station circuits.
He starred in the Columbia Pictures serial Hop Harrigan (1946), where he played a top Air Corps pilot. He also portrayed Major Tobias Norton and a Keelboat Race Master of Ceremonies in the phenomenally popular Disney series Davy Crockett (1954-1955).
In the 1960s, he guest starred in numerous situation comedy television series, including Guestward, Ho!, Pete and Gladys, Bringing Up Buddy, The Tab Hunter Show, Mister Ed, Leave It to Beaver, The Jack Benny Program, Petticoat Junction , and Hazel. He also was cast in episodes of Peter Gunn, Sea Hunt, Wagon Train, The Roaring 20s, The Virginian, Arrest and Trial, and 87th Precinct He played the Virginia statesman George Wythe in the episode "George Mason" in the 1965 NBC documentary series, Profiles in Courage. He made his last film in 1975.
For four decades, Bakewell served on the board of Motion Picture and Television Fund. He died on April 15, 1993 of leukemia at the age of 84.
Known For
Acting
(1984)
Bruised Celluloid
as Himself
(1975)
The Strongest Man in the World
as Professor
(1973)
Set This Town on Fire
as Desk Clerk
(1972)
Call Her Mom
as Jeremy's Father
(1966)
Not With My Wife, You Don't
as Brig. Gen. Swift (uncredited)
(1956)
Davy Crockett and the River Pirates
as Official at Keel Boat Race (uncredited)
(1955)
Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier
as Maj. Tobias Norton
(1955)
Davy Crockett Goes to Congress
as Norton
(1954)
Lucky Me
as Motorist (uncredited)
(1954)
Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter
as Major Norton
(1953)
So This Is Love
as Charles, Waiter (uncredited)
(1952)
Radar Men from the Moon
as Ted Richards
(1951)
When the Redskins Rode
as Appleby
(1951)
Come Fill the Cup
as Hal Ortman
(1951)
Wells Fargo Gunmaster
as Charlie Lannon
(1950)
The Capture
as Herb Tolin, Bolsa Grande Oil
(1948)
Romance on the High Seas
as Dudley (Travel Agent)
(1948)
You Gotta Stay Happy
as Dick Hebert
(1948)
Night Wind
as Capt. Kingston
(1948)
So This Is New York
as Hotel Clerk
(1948)
Arthur Takes Over
as Lawrence White
(1947)
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
as Winters
(1947)
The Fabulous Dorseys
as Eddie
(1947)
The Farmer's Daughter
as Windor
(1947)
The Trespasser
as Bruce Coleman
(1947)
King of the Bandits
as Captain Frank Mason
(1947)
Messenger of Peace
as Pastor Willie von Adel
(1946)
Hop Harrigan: America's Ace of the Airways
as Hop Harrigan
(1946)
Jungle Terror
as Tom Branning
(1942)
The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe
as Hugh Pleasant
(1942)
Dr. Kildare's Victory
as Mr. Hubbell
(1942)
King of the Mounties
as Cpl. Hall Ross
(1942)
The Postman Didn't Ring
as Robert Harwood Jr.
(1942)
I Live on Danger
as Mac
(1942)
The Dawn Express
as Tom Fielding
(1940)
Seven Sinners
as Ensign
(1940)
Beyond Tomorrow
as David Chadwick
(1940)
The Saint Takes Over
as Shipboard Card Player
(1939)
Gone with the Wind
as Mounted Officer
(1939)
Zenobia
as Townsman at Zeke's Recitation
(1939)
Hotel Imperial
as Cadet (uncredited)
(1939)
King of the Turf
as Intern
(1938)
The Duke of West Point
as Committee Captain
(1938)
The Higgins Family
as Eddie Davis
(1937)
Quality Street
as Lieutenant Spicer
(1937)
Exiled to Shanghai
as Andrew
(1937)
Jungle Menace
as Tom Banning
(1937)
Trapped by G-Men
as Dick Withers
(1937)
Dangerous Holiday
as Tom Connor
(1937)
Mile a Minute Love
as Bob
(1936)
Sea Spoilers
as Lieut. Commander Mays
(1936)
Lady Luck
as Dave Haines
(1935)
Laddie
as Robert Pryor
(1935)
Strangers All
as Dick Carter
(1935)
On Probation
as Bill Coleman
(1935)
Happiness C.O.D.
as Ken Sherridan
(1935)
Together We Live
as Billy
(1934)
Crimson Romance
as Adolph
(1934)
Green Eyes
as Cliff Miller
(1934)
Straight Is the Way
as Dr. Wilkes
(1934)
The Curtain Falls
as Barry Graham
(1934)
You Can't Buy Everything
as Don Bell (adult)
(1934)
Sons of Steel
as Roland Chadburne
(1934)
The Quitter
as Russell Tilford
(1934)
Speed Wings
as Jerry
(1934)
The Party's Over
as Clay
(1933)
Three-Cornered Moon
as Douglas Rimplegar
(1933)
Straightaway
as Billy Dawson
(1933)
Lucky Devils
as Slugger Jones
(1933)
A Man of Sentiment
as John Russell
(1932)
Back Street
as Richard Saxel
(1932)
While Paris Sleeps
as Paul Renoir
(1932)
Cheaters at Play
as Maurice Perry
(1931)
Dance, Fools, Dance
as Rodney Jordan
(1931)
Politics
as Benny Emerson
(1931)
Guilty Hands
as Tommy Osgood
(1931)
A Woman of Experience
as Count Karl Runyi
(1931)
The Spirit of Notre Dame
as Jim Stewart
(1931)
Reducing
as Tommy Haverly
(1931)
Daybreak
as Otto
(1930)
All Quiet on the Western Front
as Albert Kropp
(1930)
The Bat Whispers
as Brook
(1930)
Paid
as Carney
(1930)
Playing Around
as Jack
(1929)
The Show of Shows
as Performer in 'Bicycle Built for Two' Number (uncredited)
(1929)
The Iron Mask
as Louis XIV / Twin Brother
(1929)
Lady of the Pavements
as A Pianist
(1929)
On With the Show!
as Jimmy
(1929)
Gold Diggers of Broadway
as Wally Saunders
(1929)
Hot Stuff
as Mack Moran
(1928)
West Point
as 'Tex' McNeil
(1928)
The Battle of the Sexes
as The Son
(1928)
Harold Teen
as Percival
(1928)
Annapolis
as Skippy
(1928)
The Latest from Paris
as Bud Dolan
(1927)
The Shield of Honor
as Jerry MacDowell
(1927)
(1927)
Mother
as Jerry Ellis
(1926)
Old Ironsides
as Young Philadelphian (uncredited)
(1926)
Bertha the Sewing Machine Girl
as Salesman
(1926)
(1925)
The Last Edition
as 'Ink' Donovan