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