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.)
Movie | Vincent Price's Dracula | Horace - (archive footage) | 1986-01-01 |
Series | Klamottenkiste | Billy | 1981-07-02 |
Movie | The Golden Age of Comedy | archive footage | 1957-12-26 |
Movie | Hans Christian Andersen | Town Councilman (uncredited) | 1952-12-19 |
Movie | The Slappiest Days of Our Lives | (archive footage) | 1951-03-23 |
Movie | Fortunes of Captain Blood | Billy Bragg | 1950-05-19 |
Movie | Rogues of Sherwood Forest | Will Scarlet | 1950-06-21 |
Movie | Three Secrets | Ed Jackson (uncredited) | 1950-10-20 |
Movie | The Secret Of St. Ives | Douglas (uncredited) | 1949-06-30 |
Movie | The Secret Garden | Barney | 1949-04-30 |
Movie | Tell It to the Judge | Winston, Kitty's Butler (uncredited) | 1949-11-18 |
Movie | The Swordsman | Old Andrew | 1948-01-02 |
Movie | Let's Live a Little | Morton | 1948-12-09 |
Movie | The Black Arrow | Dungeon Keeper | 1948-03-18 |
Movie | Moss Rose | Harry, Cab Driver (uncredited) | 1947-05-30 |
Movie | It Had to Be You | Evans | 1947-12-07 |
Movie | Terror by Night | Conductor Taking Tickets | 1946-02-01 |
Movie | Devotion | Mr. Ames (uncredited) | 1946-04-05 |
Movie | Cluny Brown | Uncle Arn Porritt | 1946-06-02 |
Movie | Tonight and Every Night | Cabbie (uncredited) | 1945-01-09 |
Movie | National Velvet | Constable (uncredited) | 1945-01-26 |
Movie | The Picture of Dorian Gray | Malvolio Jones | 1945-03-03 |
Movie | The Woman in Green | Street Peddler (uncredited) | 1945-06-15 |
Movie | The Invisible Man's Revenge | Police Sergeant (uncredited) | 1944-06-09 |
Movie | The Pearl of Death | Constable With Food Tray (uncredited) | 1944-08-01 |
Movie | Happy Times and Jolly Moments | (archive footage) | 1943-01-01 |
Movie | London Blackout Murders | Air Raid Warden | 1943-01-15 |
Movie | The Return of the Vampire | Horace (uncredited) | 1943-11-11 |
Movie | Jane Eyre | Bookie (uncredited) | 1943-12-24 |
Movie | Forever and a Day | Wartime Cabby | 1943-01-21 |
Movie | The Man Who Wouldn't Die | Phillips | 1942-04-27 |
Movie | This Above All | Farmer | 1942-05-12 |
Movie | Counter-Espionage | George Barrow | 1942-09-03 |
Movie | Mrs. Miniver | Bus Conductor (uncredited) | 1942-07-03 |
Movie | I Married a Witch | Puritan Vendor (uncredited) | 1942-10-30 |
Movie | Shining Victory | Chivers | 1941-05-30 |
Movie | Penny Serenade | McDougal (uncredited) | 1941-04-24 |
Movie | Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | Mr. Weller | 1941-08-12 |
Movie | Suspicion | Ticket Taker (uncredited) | 1941-11-14 |
Movie | Confirm or Deny | Mr. Bindle | 1941-12-12 |
Movie | The Earl of Chicago | Castle Guide | 1940-01-05 |
Movie | Rebecca | Policeman (uncredited) | 1940-03-23 |
Movie | The Invisible Man Returns | Jim (uncredited) | 1940-01-12 |
Movie | Tin Pan Alley | Stage Doorman | 1940-11-29 |
Movie | The Long Voyage Home | Joe | 1940-11-16 |
Movie | Let Freedom Ring | Cockney (uncredited) | 1939-02-24 |
Movie | Captain Fury | Duffy | 1939-05-26 |
Movie | Pack Up Your Troubles | British Sergeant | 1939-10-24 |
Movie | We Are Not Alone | Mr. Jones | 1939-11-25 |
Movie | The Girl of the Golden West | Nick | 1938-03-18 |
Movie | Bringing Up Baby | Joe (uncredited) | 1938-02-18 |
Movie | The Young in Heart | Kennel Man (uncredited) | 1938-07-06 |
Movie | Blond Cheat | Bartender (uncredited) | 1938-06-17 |
Movie | Mysterious Mr. Moto | Customs Official | 1938-09-17 |
Movie | Shadows Over Shanghai | Gallicuddy | 1938-10-14 |
Movie | Arrest Bulldog Drummond | Aquarium Guard | 1938-11-25 |
Movie | A Christmas Carol | Street Watch Leader | 1938-12-16 |
Movie | Personal Property | Frank (uncredited) | 1937-03-19 |
Movie | God's Country and the Woman | Plug Hat | 1937-01-16 |
Movie | Slave Ship | Atkins | 1937-06-16 |
Movie | Another Dawn | Pvt. Hawkins | 1937-06-26 |
Movie | The Sheik Steps Out | Munson | 1937-09-05 |
Movie | The Wrong Road | McLean | 1937-10-11 |
Movie | Mr. Deeds Goes to Town | Cabby (uncredited) | 1936-04-09 |
Movie | Champagne Charlie | Mr. Boswick | 1936-05-06 |
Movie | Song and Dance Man | Curtis | 1936-03-11 |
Movie | Private Number | Frederick | 1936-06-05 |
Movie | Dracula's Daughter | Police Constable Albert | 1936-05-11 |
Movie | Piccadilly Jim | Taxi Driver | 1936-08-14 |
Movie | Lloyd's of London | Innkeeper | 1936-11-25 |
Movie | Vanessa: Her Love Story | Horse Auctioneer | 1935-03-01 |
Movie | Mystery Woman | Jepson | 1935-01-08 |
Movie | Black Sheep | Alfred | 1935-08-01 |
Movie | The Last Outpost | Private Foster | 1935-10-11 |
Movie | A Tale of Two Cities | Jerry Cruncher | 1935-12-25 |
Movie | The Widow from Monte Carlo | Officer Watkins | 1935-12-19 |
Movie | Stingaree | Mac | 1934-05-24 |
Movie | The Lost Patrol | Hale | 1934-02-16 |
Movie | Shock | Meadows | 1934-07-19 |
Movie | Limehouse Blues | Herb | 1934-12-11 |
Movie | One More River | Cloakroom Attendant | 1934-08-06 |
Movie | Caravan | Police Sergeant | 1934-12-30 |
Movie | Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back | Man in Hotel Room | 1934-08-15 |
Movie | Looking Forward | Mr. Barker | 1933-04-28 |
Movie | Cavalcade | George Grainger | 1933-02-08 |
Movie | She Whoops To Conquer | 1933-01-01 | |
Movie | Uncle Jake | Uncle Jake | 1933-05-04 |
Movie | Luxury Liner | Schultz | 1933-02-03 |
Movie | The Way to Love | M. Prial | 1933-10-20 |
Movie | A Study in Scarlet | Will Swallow | 1933-05-14 |
Movie | Alice in Wonderland | Two of Spades (uncredited) | 1933-12-18 |
Movie | Too Much Harmony | Stage Director | 1933-09-23 |
Movie | Peg o' My Heart | Detective #2 (uncredited) | 1933-05-26 |
Movie | Thundering Taxis | One of the Taxi Boys | 1933-06-23 |
Movie | The Silent Witness | Horace Ward | 1932-02-07 |
Movie | Vanity Fair | Joseph Sedley | 1932-03-15 |
Movie | Sky Devils | Colonel | 1932-03-12 |
Movie | Payment Deferred | Charlie Hammond | 1932-11-01 |
Movie | Me and My Gal | Ashley (uncredited) | 1932-12-04 |
Movie | Honeymoon Beach | Billy Bevan | 1932-10-22 |
Movie | Born to Love | Departing British Soldier (uncredited) | 1931-04-17 |
Movie | Chances | Cuthbert (uncredited) | 1931-07-18 |
Movie | Transatlantic | Hodgkins | 1931-08-19 |
Movie | Waterloo Bridge | Soldier on the Make (uncredited) | 1931-09-01 |
Movie | Journey's End | Trotter | 1930-04-09 |
Movie | Peacock Alley | Walter | 1930-01-04 |
Movie | Monte Carlo | Train Conductor (uncredited) | 1930-08-27 |
Movie | For the Love o' Lil | Edward O. Walker | 1930-08-29 |
Movie | High Voltage | Gus Jones | 1929-06-29 |
Movie | The Trespasser | Reporter (uncredited) | 1929-11-11 |
Movie | His New Stenographer | Billy Brooks | 1928-12-30 |
Movie | The Beach Club | 1928-01-21 | |
Movie | His Unlucky Night | Billy Trotter | 1928-08-12 |
Movie | The Best Man | Best Man | 1928-02-08 |
Movie | Motorboat Mamas | Billy Bender | 1928-09-30 |
Movie | Riley the Cop | Paris Cabman | 1928-11-25 |
Movie | A Small Town Princess | Joe Whiffet | 1927-03-20 |
Movie | Should Sleepwalkers Marry? | Charley Carter | 1927-01-23 |
Movie | Easy Pickings | The Detective | 1927-02-20 |
Movie | The Golf Nut | Billy Divott | 1927-09-03 |
Movie | Gold Digger of Weepah | The Barber | 1927-10-02 |
Movie | The Girl from Everywhere | Messenger | 1927-12-11 |
Movie | The Bull Fighter | Pete De Tour | 1927-11-27 |
Movie | Hayfoot, Strawfoot? | Pete | 1926-04-18 |
Movie | Fight Night | Walter Moore | 1926-05-09 |
Movie | Wandering Willies | Percy Nudge | 1926-03-28 |
Movie | Trimmed in Gold | Otto Stropp | 1926-02-14 |
Movie | Whispering Whiskers | The Drifter | 1926-01-24 |
Movie | Circus Today | Gus Barnum | 1926-03-07 |
Movie | Ice Cold Cocos | Gus Gander | 1926-06-20 |
Movie | Flirty Four-Flushers | Jerry Connors / Archibald De Shyster | 1926-12-25 |
Movie | Musclebound Music | Billy Hornby | 1926-05-30 |
Movie | Should Husbands Marry? | The Cop | 1926-10-26 |
Movie | Masked Mamas | Casey McCorkle | 1926-10-30 |
Movie | Hoboken to Hollywood | Billy Judkins | 1926-09-05 |
Movie | A Sea Dog's Tale | Wilbur Watts | 1926-07-11 |
Movie | Giddap! | Gaspard De Brie | 1925-03-22 |
Movie | Honeymoon Hardships | Farmer | 1925-01-25 |
Movie | Super-Hooper-Dyne Lizzies | Hiram Case | 1925-06-14 |
Movie | Butter Fingers | Nick | 1925-08-30 |
Movie | Over Thereabouts | Joe Dobell | 1925-10-11 |
Movie | From Rags to Britches | Joe Bush | 1925-12-13 |
Movie | The Iron Nag | Joe Gobb | 1925-08-09 |
Movie | East of the Water Plug | The Sheriff | 1924-08-24 |
Movie | The White Sin | Travers Dale | 1924-02-24 |
Movie | Lizzies of the Field | Bud Gasket | 1924-09-07 |
Movie | The Hollywood Kid | Studio Organist | 1924-04-19 |
Movie | Wall Street Blues | The Janitor | 1924-08-09 |
Movie | Three Foolish Weeks | King of Anchovia | 1924-09-13 |
Movie | Galloping Bungalows | John Syrup Soother | 1924-11-02 |
Movie | The Cannon Ball Express | Adam Fargo - Baggage Master | 1924-11-30 |
Movie | Little Robinson Corkscrew | The Sheriff | 1924-09-21 |
Movie | Nip and Tuck | Sailor | 1923-08-11 |
Movie | The Extra Girl | Comedian | 1923-10-28 |
Movie | On Patrol | The Amateur Cop | 1922-03-12 |
Movie | Gymnasium Jim | Jim | 1922-05-09 |
Movie | The Duck Hunter | The Sportsman | 1922-02-13 |
Movie | The Crossroads of New York | Press Agent | 1922-06-22 |
Movie | When Summer Comes | Lyons - the Tenderfoot | 1922-09-22 |
Movie | Love and Doughnuts | The Burglar | 1921-09-14 |
Movie | A Small Town Idol | Director | 1921-02-13 |
Movie | Astray from the Steerage | A steerage passenger | 1921-04-23 |
Movie | Be Reasonable | A Rolling Stone | 1921-12-11 |
Movie | Bright Eyes | The Nosey Butler | 1921-12-24 |
Movie | The Quack Doctor | The Hired Lady's Sweetheart | 1920-07-04 |
Movie | Somebody's Widow | Secretary | 1918-01-29 |
Movie | Cupid In Quarantine | The Father | 1918-09-10 |
Movie | Her Rustic Romeo | 1918-05-28 | |
Movie | Gertie's Gasoline Glide | The Minister | 1916-05-17 |