Willie Best
Born
May 27, 1913
Died
November 27, 1962 (49 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Sunflower, Mississippi, USA
William “Willie” Best (May 27, 1916 - February 27, 1962), sometimes known as “Sleep n' Eat,” was an American television and film actor. Best was one of the first African-American film actors and comedians to become well known. In the 21st century, his work, like that of Stepin Fetchit, is sometimes reviled because he was often called upon to play stereotypically lazy, illiterate, and/or simple-minded characters in films. Of the 124 films he appeared in, he received screen credit in at least 77, an unusual feat for an African-American bit player. Willie Best appeared in more than one hundred films of the 1930s and 1940s. Although several sources state that for years he was billed only as “Sleep n' Eat,” Best received credit under this moniker instead of his real name in only six movies: his first film as a bit player (Harold Lloyd's Feet First) and in Up Pops the Devil (1931), The Monster Walks (1932), Kentucky Kernels and West of the Pecos (both 1934), and Murder on a Honeymoon (1935). Best was first loved as a great clown, then later in the 20th century reviled and pitied, before being forgotten in the history of film. Hal Roach called him one of the greatest talents he had ever met. Comedian Bob Hope similarly acclaimed him as “the best actor I know,” while the two were working together in 1940 on The Ghost Breakers. As a supporting actor, Best, like many black actors of his era, was regularly cast in domestic worker or service-oriented roles (though a few times he played the role echoing his previous occupation as a private chauffeur). He was often seen making a brief comic turn as a hotel, airline or train porter, as well as an elevator operator, custodian, butler, valet, waiter, deliveryman, and at least once as a launch pilot (in the 1939 movie Mr. Moto in Danger Island). Willie Best received screen credit most of the time, which was unusual for “bit players,” most in the 1930s and '40s were not accorded due credit. This also happened to white actors in small roles, but black actors were not credited even when their roles were larger. In more than 80 of his movies, he was given a proper character name (as opposed to simple descriptions such as “room service waiter” or “shoe-shine boy”), beginning with his second film. Best played “Chattanooga Brown” in two Charlie Chan films —The Red Dragon in 1945 and Dangerous Money in 1946. He also played the character of “Hipp” in three of RKO’s six Scattergood Baines films with Guy Kibbee: Scattergood Baines (1941), Scattergood Survives a Murder (1942), and Cinderella Swings It in 1943. (Actor Paul White, who played a young version of Best’s “Hipp” in the first film, went on to play “Hipp” in the next three films. Best returned to the role in the last two.) After a drug arrest ended his film career, he worked in television for a while and became known to early TV audiences as “Charlie the Elevator Operator” on CBS's My Little Margie, from 1953 to 1955. He also played Willie, the house servant, handyman and close friend of the title character of ABC’s The Trouble with Father, for its entire run from 1950 to 1955.

TV in Black: The First Fifty Years
Self (archive footage)
2004

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Self (archive footage)
1975

Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy
Charlie (archive footage)
1962

Waterfront
Billy Slocum · (81 episodes)
1954

My Little Margie
(1 episode)
1952

Ellis in Freedomland
Male Model
1952

South of Caliente
Willie, Stable Boy
1951

Racket Squad
(1 episode)
1951

The Stu Erwin Show
Willie · (129 episodes)
1950

The Shanghai Chest
Willie Best
1948

Half Past Midnight
Andy Jones
1948

The Red Stallion
Jackson
1947

Suddenly It's Spring
Porter on Train
1947

Dangerous Money
Chattanooga Brown
1946

The Bride Wore Boots
Joe
1946

The Face of Marble
Shadrach
1946

She Wouldn't Say Yes
Porter (uncredited)
1945

Hold That Blonde!
Willie Shelley
1945

The Red Dragon
Chattanooga Brown
1945

Pillow to Post
Lucille, Colonial Auto Court Porter
1945

The Monster and the Ape
Flash
1945

Music for Millions
Red Cap (uncredited)
1944

The Mark of the Whistler
Men's Room Attendant (uncredited)
1944

The Girl Who Dared
Woodrow
1944

The Adventures of Mark Twain
Butler
1944

Home in Indiana
Mo' Rum (uncredited)
1944

Thank Your Lucky Stars
Soldier in "Ice Cold Katie" Number (uncredited)
1943

The Kansan
Bones
1943

Dixie
Steward (uncredited)
1943

Cabin in the Sky
Second Idea Man
1943

Cinderella Swings It
Hipp
1943

The Powers Girl
Men's Room Attendant (uncredited)
1943

The Hidden Hand
Eustis, the chauffeur
1942

Scattergood Survives a Murder
Hipp
1942

Busses Roar
Sunshine
1942

A-Haunting We Will Go
Waiter
1942

Maisie Gets Her Man
Sam (Uncredited)
1942

Juke Girl
Jo-Mo
1942

Whispering Ghosts
Euclid White Brown
1942

The Body Disappears
Willie
1941

Breakdowns of 1941
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1941

Nothing But the Truth
Samuel
1941

The Smiling Ghost
Clarence
1941
Minstrel Days
Singer
1941

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company "B"
Hot-Breath Harry (voice) (uncredited)
1941

Highway West
Bub Wellington
1941

Kisses for Breakfast
Arnold
1941

The Lady from Cheyenne
George
1941

Scattergood Baines
Hipp
1941

Road Show
Willie
1941

Flight from Destiny
George
1941

High Sierra
Algernon
1941

Who Killed Aunt Maggie?
Andrew
1940

Money and the Woman
George Washington Jones
1940

The Ghost Breakers
Alex
1940

Blondie on a Budget
Newsboy (uncredited)
1940

I Take This Woman
Sambo
1940

Slightly Honorable
Art, Elevator Operator
1939

Private Detective
Norton's Valet
1939

The Covered Trailer
Baltimore
1939

Blondie Brings Up Baby
Hotel Janitor (uncredited)
1939

At the Circus
Redcap (uncredited)
1939

Blackmail
Bunny - the Janitor (uncredited)
1939

Way Down South
Chimney Sweep
1939

Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation
Driver (uncredited)
1939

Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter
Apollo Johnson
1939

Mr. Moto in Danger Island
Launch Pilot
1939

The Saint Strikes Back
Algernon, Simon's Butler (Uncredited)
1939

Blondie
Porter
1938

Spring Madness
Porter on Train
1938

Straight, Place and Show
Hannibal
1938

Youth Takes a Fling
George
1938

I'm from the City
Train Porter
1938

Vivacious Lady
Porter
1938

Goodbye Broadway
Jughead
1938

Merrily We Live
George
1938

Gold Is Where You Find It
Joshua
1938

Everybody's Doing It
Jasper - Elevator Operator
1938

Crashing Hollywood
Train Porter (uncredited)
1938

Saturday's Heroes
Sam
1937
The Lady Fights Back
McTavish
1937
Mississippi Moods
1937

Super-Sleuth
Warts, Martin's manservant
1937

Meet the Missus
Bootblack
1937

You Can't Buy Luck
Airline Porter (uncredited)
1937

Breezing Home
Speed
1937

Racing Lady
Brass
1937

We Who Are About to Die
Airport Porter (uncredited)
1937

Deep South
1937

Night Waitress
Black Pedestrian
1936

General Spanky
Henry
1936

Thank You, Jeeves!
Drowsy
1936

Mummy's Boys
Catfish
1936

Down the Stretch
Noah
1936

The Green Pastures
Henry - the Angel (uncredited)
1936

The Bride Walks Out
Smokie
1936

Murder on a Bridle Path
'High-Pockets'
1936

Two in Revolt
Eph
1936

Silly Billies
Excitement
1936

Muss 'em Up
Janitor at Spivali's Bar (uncredited)
1936

The Littlest Rebel
James Henry
1935

To Beat the Band
Elevator Operator
1935

Hot Tip
Apollo
1935

Jalna
Sam
1935

The Arizonian
Pompey
1935

The Nitwits
Sleepy
1935
Hit and Rum
Shoe Shine Man (uncredited)
1935
Raised and Called
1935

Murder on a Honeymoon
Willie (as Sleep 'n' Eat)
1935
Horse Heir
1935

West of the Pecos
Jonah (as Sleep 'n' Eat)
1934

Kentucky Kernels
Buckshot (as Sleep 'n' Eat)
1934

Little Miss Marker
Dizzy Memphis (uncredited)
1934

The Monster Walks
Exodus (as Sleep n' Eat)
1932

The Guilty Generation
Club Merlin Doorman (uncredited)
1931

Up Pops the Devil
Laundryman
1931

Virtuous Husband
Luftus
1931

Feet First
Janitor
1930

Ladies of Leisure
George (uncredited)
1930