Billy Bevan Photo

Billy Bevan

Acting

1.4 Popularity Sep 29, 1887 (70 years old) Orange, New South Wales, Australia

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 S...

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.)

Filmography 200

1963
30 Years of Fun Movie

as (archive footage)

1957
The Golden Age of Comedy Movie

as archive footage

1952
Hans Christian Andersen Movie

as Town Councilman (uncredited)

1951
The Slappiest Days of Our Lives Movie

as (archive footage)

1950
Three Secrets Movie

as Ed Jackson (uncredited)

1950
Rogues of Sherwood Forest Movie

as Will Scarlet

1950
Fortunes of Captain Blood Movie

as Billy Bragg

1949
Tell It to the Judge Movie

as Winston, Kitty's Butler (uncredited)

1949
The Secret Of St. Ives Movie

as Douglas (uncredited)

1949
The Secret Garden Movie

as Barney

1948
Let's Live a Little Movie

as Morton

1948
1948
The Black Arrow Movie

as Dungeon Keeper

1948
The Swordsman Movie

as Old Andrew

1947
It Had to Be You Movie

as Evans

1947
Moss Rose Movie

as Harry, Cab Driver (uncredited)

1946
Cluny Brown Movie

as Uncle Arn Porritt

1946
Devotion Movie

as Mr. Ames (uncredited)

1946
Terror by Night Movie

as Conductor Taking Tickets

1945
The Picture of Dorian Gray Movie

as Malvolio Jones

Photos 3

Billy Bevan Photo
Billy Bevan Photo
Billy Bevan Photo

Personal Details

Known For Acting
Gender Not specified
Birthday September 29, 1887 (70 years old)
Died November 26, 1957
Place of Birth Orange, New South Wales, Australia
Also Known As William Bevan, Bill Bevans, Billy Bevin and 1 more
Years Active 1916 - 1963
Popularity 1.4
Career Stats
200 Total Credits
198 Movie Roles
1 TV Roles
3 Photos