Billy Bevan
Born
September 29, 1887
Died
November 26, 1957 (70 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
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 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
30 Years of Fun
(archive footage)
1963
The Golden Age of Comedy
archive footage
1957
Hans Christian Andersen
Town Councilman (uncredited)
1952
The Slappiest Days of Our Lives
(archive footage)
1951
Three Secrets
Ed Jackson (uncredited)
1950
Rogues of Sherwood Forest
Will Scarlet
1950
Fortunes of Captain Blood
Billy Bragg
1950
Tell It to the Judge
Winston, Kitty's Butler (uncredited)
1949
The Secret Of St. Ives
Douglas (uncredited)
1949
The Secret Garden
Barney
1949
Let's Live a Little
Morton
1948
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self · (1 episode)
1948
The Black Arrow
Dungeon Keeper
1948
The Swordsman
Old Andrew
1948
It Had to Be You
Evans
1947
Moss Rose
Harry, Cab Driver (uncredited)
1947
Cluny Brown
Uncle Arn Porritt
1946
Devotion
Mr. Ames (uncredited)
1946
Terror by Night
Conductor Taking Tickets
1946
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Malvolio Jones
1945
National Velvet
Constable (uncredited)
1945
Tonight and Every Night
Cabbie (uncredited)
1945
The Pearl of Death
Constable With Food Tray (uncredited)
1944
The Invisible Man's Revenge
Police Sergeant (uncredited)
1944
The Lodger
1944
Jane Eyre
Bookie (uncredited)
1943
The Return of the Vampire
Horace (uncredited)
1943
Forever and a Day
Wartime Cabby
1943
London Blackout Murders
Air Raid Warden
1943
Happy Times and Jolly Moments
(archive footage)
1943
I Married a Witch
Puritan Vendor (uncredited)
1942
Counter-Espionage
George Barrow
1942
Mrs. Miniver
Bus Conductor (uncredited)
1942
This Above All
Farmer
1942
The Man Who Wouldn't Die
Phillips
1942
Confirm or Deny
Mr. Bindle
1941
Suspicion
Ticket Taker (uncredited)
1941
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Mr. Weller
1941
Shining Victory
Chivers
1941
Penny Serenade
McDougal (uncredited)
1941
Tin Pan Alley
Stage Doorman
1940
The Long Voyage Home
Joe
1940
Rebecca
Policeman (uncredited)
1940
The Invisible Man Returns
Jim (uncredited)
1940
The Earl of Chicago
Castle Guide
1940
We Are Not Alone
Mr. Jones
1939
Pack Up Your Troubles
British Sergeant
1939
Captain Fury
Duffy
1939
Let Freedom Ring
Cockney (uncredited)
1939
A Christmas Carol
Street Watch Leader
1938
Arrest Bulldog Drummond
Aquarium Guard
1938
Shadows Over Shanghai
Gallicuddy
1938
Mysterious Mr. Moto
Customs Official
1938
The Young in Heart
Kennel Man (uncredited)
1938
Blond Cheat
Bartender (uncredited)
1938
The Girl of the Golden West
Nick
1938
Bringing Up Baby
Joe (uncredited)
1938
The Wrong Road
McLean
1937
The Sheik Steps Out
Munson
1937
Another Dawn
Pvt. Hawkins
1937
Slave Ship
Atkins
1937
Personal Property
Frank (uncredited)
1937
God's Country and the Woman
Plug Hat
1937
Lloyd's of London
Innkeeper
1936
Piccadilly Jim
Taxi Driver
1936
Private Number
Frederick
1936
Dracula's Daughter
Albert
1936
Champagne Charlie
Mr. Boswick
1936
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Cabby (uncredited)
1936
Song and Dance Man
Curtis
1936
A Tale of Two Cities
Jerry Cruncher
1935
The Widow from Monte Carlo
Officer Watkins
1935
The Last Outpost
Private Foster
1935
Black Sheep
Alfred
1935
Vanessa: Her Love Story
Horse Auctioneer
1935
Mystery Woman
Jepson
1935
Caravan
Police Sergeant
1934
Limehouse Blues
Herb
1934
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
Man in Hotel Room
1934
One More River
Cloakroom Attendant
1934
Shock
Meadows
1934
Stingaree
Mac
1934
The Lost Patrol
Hale
1934
Pop's Pal
Grandpa
1933
Alice in Wonderland
Two of Spades (uncredited)
1933
The Way to Love
M. Prial
1933
Too Much Harmony
Stage Director
1933
The Big Squeal
Jake Burke
1933
Thundering Taxis
One of the Taxi Boys
1933
Peg o' My Heart
Detective #2 (uncredited)
1933
A Study in Scarlet
Will Swallow
1933
Uncle Jake
Uncle Jake
1933
Looking Forward
Mr. Barker
1933
Techno-Crazy
Mary's Father - the Mayor
1933
Cavalcade
George Grainger
1933
Luxury Liner
Schultz
1933
She Whoops To Conquer
1933
Me and My Gal
Ashley, Arguing Drunk (uncredited)
1932
Payment Deferred
Charlie Hammond
1932
Honeymoon Beach
Billy Bevan
1932
Vanity Fair
Joseph Sedley
1932
Sky Devils
Colonel
1932
The Silent Witness
Horace Ward
1932
Who's Who in the Zoo
Father
1931
Waterloo Bridge
Soldier on the Make (uncredited)
1931
Transatlantic
Hodgkins
1931
Chances
Cuthbert (uncredited)
1931
Born to Love
Departing British Soldier (uncredited)
1931
For the Love o' Lil
Edward O. Walker
1930
Monte Carlo
Train Conductor (uncredited)
1930
Temptation
Sam
1930
Journey's End
Trotter
1930
Scotch
Gilbert - Addie's Brother
1930
Peacock Alley
Walter
1930
Weak But Willing
George Downing
1929
The Trespasser
Reporter (uncredited)
1929
High Voltage
Gus Jones
1929
Don't Get Jealous
Billy Blake
1929
Pink Pajamas
Billy Brooks
1929
Calling Hubby's Bluff
Billy Barton
1929
The Sky Hawk
Tom Berry
1929
His New Stenographer
Billy Brooks
1928
Riley the Cop
Paris Cabman
1928
Hubby's Weekend Trip
Bill Blake
1928
Motorboat Mamas
Billy Bender
1928
His Unlucky Night
Billy Trotter
1928
The Girl from Nowhere
Constable Billy Barnes
1928
The Bicycle Flirt
Doty Bassett - the Bicycle Flirt
1928
The Best Man
Best Man
1928
The Beach Club
1928
The Girl from Everywhere
Messenger
1927
The Bull Fighter
Pete De Tour
1927
Gold Digger of Weepah
The Barber
1927
The Golf Nut
Billy Divott
1927
Cured in the Excitement
Professor Brawn
1927
A Small Town Princess
Joe Whiffet
1927
Peaches and Plumbers
Bill the Plumber
1927
Easy Pickings
The Detective
1927
Should Sleepwalkers Marry?
Charley Carter
1927
Flirty Four-Flushers
Jerry Connors / Archibald De Shyster
1926
Masked Mamas
Casey McCorkle
1926
Should Husbands Marry?
The Cop
1926
Hoboken to Hollywood
Billy Judkins
1926
Hubby’s Quiet Little Game
Billy Foote
1926
A Sea Dog's Tale
Wilbur Watts
1926
Ice Cold Cocos
Gus Gander
1926
Musclebound Music
Billy Hornby
1926
Fight Night
Walter Moore
1926
Hayfoot, Strawfoot?
Pete
1926
Wandering Willies
Percy Nudge
1926
Circus Today
Gus Barnum
1926
Trimmed in Gold
Otto Stropp
1926
Whispering Whiskers
The Drifter
1926
From Rags to Britches
Joe Bush
1925
Over Thereabouts
Joe Dobell
1925
Butter Fingers
Nick
1925
The Iron Nag
Joe Gobb
1925
Sneezing Beezers
Joe Honck - Taxi Driver
1925
Super-Hooper-Dyne Lizzies
Hiram Case
1925
The Lion's Whiskers
Otto Klutch
1925
Giddap!
Gaspard De Brie
1925
Honeymoon Hardships
Farmer
1925
Off His Trolley
The Traffic Cop
1924
The Cannon Ball Express
Adam Fargo - Baggage Master
1924
Galloping Bungalows
John Syrup Soother
1924
Wandering Waistlines
Sandy Hook - Sailor
1924
Little Robinson Corkscrew
The Sheriff
1924
Three Foolish Weeks
King of Anchovia
1924
Lizzies of the Field
Bud Gasket
1924
East of the Water Plug
The Sheriff
1924
Wall Street Blues
The Janitor
1924
The Hollywood Kid
Studio Organist
1924
The White Sin
Travers Dale
1924
One Spooky Night
A.J. Bird Jr.
1924
Inbad the Sailor
Jake aka Inbad the Sailor
1923
One Cylinder Love
The Bachelor's Butler / Chauffeur / Footman
1923
The Extra Girl
Comedian
1923
Pitfalls of a Big City
Barfly (uncredited)
1923
Nip and Tuck
Sailor
1923
When Summer Comes
Lyons - the Tenderfoot
1922
The Crossroads of New York
Press Agent
1922
Gymnasium Jim
Jim
1922
On Patrol
The Amateur Cop
1922
The Duck Hunter
The Sportsman
1922
Around the Town: British Film Stars and Studios
Himself
1921
Bright Eyes
The Nosey Butler
1921
Be Reasonable
A Rolling Stone
1921
Love and Doughnuts
The Burglar
1921
Astray from the Steerage
A steerage passenger
1921
A Small Town Idol
Director
1921
The Quack Doctor
The Hired Lady's Sweetheart
1920
Distilled Love
1920
Cupid In Quarantine
The Father
1918
Her Rustic Romeo
1918
Are Married Policemen Safe?
1918
Somebody's Widow
Secretary
1918
Bombs and Bandits
The Chief of Police
1917
Pirates of the Air
The Bartender
1916
Gertie's Gasoline Glide
The Minister
1916