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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
September 29, 1887
Died
November 26, 1957
Place of Birth
Orange, New South Wales, Australia
Also Known As
- William Bevan
- Bill Bevans
- Billy Bevin
- Bill Bivin
Billy Bevan
0.5 Popularity
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.)
Known For
3.0
(archive footage)
30 Years of Fun
1963
6.9
archive footage
The Golden Age of Comedy
1957
6.2
Town Councilman (uncredited)
Hans Christian Andersen
1952
0.0
(archive footage)
The Slappiest Days of Our Lives
1951
6.4
Ed Jackson (uncredited)
Three Secrets
1950
4.8
Will Scarlet
Rogues of Sherwood Forest
1950
7.1
Billy Bragg
Fortunes of Captain Blood
1950
6.3
Winston, Kitty's Butler (uncredited)
Tell It to the Judge
1949
🎬
6.0
Douglas (uncredited)
The Secret Of St. Ives
1949
7.1
Barney
The Secret Garden
1949
Credits
30 Years of Fun
as (archive footage)
1963
3.0
The Golden Age of Comedy
as archive footage
1957
6.9
Hans Christian Andersen
as Town Councilman (uncredited)
1952
6.2
The Slappiest Days of Our Lives
as (archive footage)
1951
0.0
Three Secrets
as Ed Jackson (uncredited)
1950
6.4
Rogues of Sherwood Forest
as Will Scarlet
1950
4.8
Fortunes of Captain Blood
as Billy Bragg
1950
7.1
Tell It to the Judge
as Winston, Kitty's Butler (uncredited)
1949
6.3
🎬
The Secret Of St. Ives
as Douglas (uncredited)
1949
6.0
The Secret Garden
as Barney
1949
7.1
Let's Live a Little
as Morton
1948
6.3
The Ed Sullivan Show
as Self
1948
6.8
The Black Arrow
as Dungeon Keeper
1948
5.2
The Swordsman
as Old Andrew
1948
0.0
It Had to Be You
as Evans
1947
6.5
Moss Rose
as Harry, Cab Driver (uncredited)
1947
6.4
Cluny Brown
as Uncle Arn Porritt
1946
7.2
Devotion
as Mr. Ames (uncredited)
1946
6.0
Terror by Night
as Conductor Taking Tickets
1946
6.5
The Picture of Dorian Gray
as Malvolio Jones
1945
7.1
National Velvet
as Constable (uncredited)
1945
7.2
Tonight and Every Night
as Cabbie (uncredited)
1945
5.2
The Pearl of Death
as Constable With Food Tray (uncredited)
1944
7.1
The Invisible Man's Revenge
as Police Sergeant (uncredited)
1944
5.6
The Lodger
1944
6.4
Jane Eyre
as Bookie (uncredited)
1943
6.9
The Return of the Vampire
as Horace (uncredited)
1943
6.1
Forever and a Day
as Wartime Cabby
1943
7.4
London Blackout Murders
as Air Raid Warden
1943
5.0
Happy Times and Jolly Moments
as (archive footage)
1943
0.0
I Married a Witch
as Puritan Vendor (uncredited)
1942
6.8
Counter-Espionage
as George Barrow
1942
6.2
Mrs. Miniver
as Bus Conductor (uncredited)
1942
7.1
This Above All
as Farmer
1942
6.7
The Man Who Wouldn't Die
as Phillips
1942
6.4
Confirm or Deny
as Mr. Bindle
1941
3.8
Suspicion
as Ticket Taker (uncredited)
1941
7.1
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
as Mr. Weller
1941
6.5
Shining Victory
as Chivers
1941
5.9
Penny Serenade
as McDougal (uncredited)
1941
6.6
Tin Pan Alley
as Stage Doorman
1940
5.1
The Long Voyage Home
as Joe
1940
6.6
Rebecca
as Policeman (uncredited)
1940
7.9
The Invisible Man Returns
as Jim (uncredited)
1940
6.3
The Earl of Chicago
as Castle Guide
1940
5.6
We Are Not Alone
as Mr. Jones
1939
6.1
Pack Up Your Troubles
as British Sergeant
1939
6.2
Captain Fury
as Duffy
1939
4.9
Let Freedom Ring
as Cockney (uncredited)
1939
6.0
A Christmas Carol
as Street Watch Leader
1938
7.0
Arrest Bulldog Drummond
as Aquarium Guard
1938
6.6
Shadows Over Shanghai
as Gallicuddy
1938
4.8
Mysterious Mr. Moto
as Customs Official
1938
6.0
The Young in Heart
as Kennel Man (uncredited)
1938
6.5
Blond Cheat
as Bartender (uncredited)
1938
6.0
The Girl of the Golden West
as Nick
1938
4.6
Bringing Up Baby
as Joe (uncredited)
1938
7.5
The Wrong Road
as McLean
1937
4.4
The Sheik Steps Out
as Munson
1937
4.0
Another Dawn
as Pvt. Hawkins
1937
6.2
Slave Ship
as Atkins
1937
4.5
Personal Property
as Frank (uncredited)
1937
6.9
God's Country and the Woman
as Plug Hat
1937
4.2
Lloyd's of London
as Innkeeper
1936
7.2
Piccadilly Jim
as Taxi Driver
1936
6.5
Private Number
as Frederick
1936
6.6
Dracula's Daughter
as Albert
1936
5.9
Champagne Charlie
as Mr. Boswick
1936
4.8
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
as Cabby (uncredited)
1936
7.5
Song and Dance Man
as Curtis
1936
0.0
A Tale of Two Cities
as Jerry Cruncher
1935
6.8
The Widow from Monte Carlo
as Officer Watkins
1935
5.0
The Last Outpost
as Private Foster
1935
6.1
Black Sheep
as Alfred
1935
7.0
Vanessa: Her Love Story
as Horse Auctioneer
1935
6.0
🎬
Mystery Woman
as Jepson
1935
0.0
Caravan
as Police Sergeant
1934
5.0
Limehouse Blues
as Herb
1934
3.7
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
as Man in Hotel Room
1934
5.3
One More River
as Cloakroom Attendant
1934
4.7
Shock
as Meadows
1934
6.0
Stingaree
as Mac
1934
5.8
The Lost Patrol
as Hale
1934
6.5
🎬
Pop's Pal
as Grandpa
1933
0.0
Alice in Wonderland
as Two of Spades (uncredited)
1933
6.1
The Way to Love
as M. Prial
1933
0.0
Too Much Harmony
as Stage Director
1933
5.0
🎬
The Big Squeal
as Jake Burke
1933
0.0
🎬
Thundering Taxis
as One of the Taxi Boys
1933
0.0
Peg o' My Heart
as Detective #2 (uncredited)
1933
4.4
A Study in Scarlet
as Will Swallow
1933
5.5
🎬
Uncle Jake
as Uncle Jake
1933
0.0
Looking Forward
as Mr. Barker
1933
6.2
🎬
Techno-Crazy
as Mary's Father - the Mayor
1933
0.0
Cavalcade
as George Grainger
1933
5.5
Luxury Liner
as Schultz
1933
6.3
She Whoops To Conquer
1933
0.0
Me and My Gal
as Ashley, Arguing Drunk (uncredited)
1932
6.3
Payment Deferred
as Charlie Hammond
1932
5.6
🎬
Honeymoon Beach
as Billy Bevan
1932
0.0
Vanity Fair
as Joseph Sedley
1932
3.5
Sky Devils
as Colonel
1932
4.0
The Silent Witness
as Horace Ward
1932
5.5
Who's Who in the Zoo
as Father
1931
0.0
Waterloo Bridge
as Soldier on the Make (uncredited)
1931
6.9
Transatlantic
as Hodgkins
1931
5.5
Chances
as Cuthbert (uncredited)
1931
7.0
Born to Love
as Departing British Soldier (uncredited)
1931
5.0
For the Love o' Lil
as Edward O. Walker
1930
0.0
Monte Carlo
as Train Conductor (uncredited)
1930
6.5
Temptation
as Sam
1930
0.0
Journey's End
as Trotter
1930
6.3
Scotch
as Gilbert - Addie's Brother
1930
0.0
Peacock Alley
as Walter
1930
4.3
Weak But Willing
as George Downing
1929
0.0
The Trespasser
as Reporter (uncredited)
1929
6.6
High Voltage
as Gus Jones
1929
4.6
🎬
Don't Get Jealous
as Billy Blake
1929
0.0
Pink Pajamas
as Billy Brooks
1929
0.0
Calling Hubby's Bluff
as Billy Barton
1929
0.0
The Sky Hawk
as Tom Berry
1929
6.0
His New Stenographer
as Billy Brooks
1928
0.0
Riley the Cop
as Paris Cabman
1928
5.6
🎬
Hubby's Weekend Trip
as Bill Blake
1928
0.0
Motorboat Mamas
as Billy Bender
1928
0.0
His Unlucky Night
as Billy Trotter
1928
0.0
The Girl from Nowhere
as Constable Billy Barnes
1928
0.0
The Bicycle Flirt
as Doty Bassett - the Bicycle Flirt
1928
0.0
The Best Man
as Best Man
1928
0.0
The Beach Club
1928
0.0
The Girl from Everywhere
as Messenger
1927
0.0
🎬
The Bull Fighter
as Pete De Tour
1927
0.0
Gold Digger of Weepah
as The Barber
1927
0.0
The Golf Nut
as Billy Divott
1927
0.0
Cured in the Excitement
as Professor Brawn
1927
0.0
🎬
A Small Town Princess
as Joe Whiffet
1927
0.0
🎬
Easy Pickings
as The Detective
1927
0.0
Peaches and Plumbers
as Bill the Plumber
1927
0.0
🎬
Should Sleepwalkers Marry?
as Charley Carter
1927
0.0
Flirty Four-Flushers
as Jerry Connors / Archibald De Shyster
1926
5.0
🎬
Masked Mamas
as Casey McCorkle
1926
0.0
Should Husbands Marry?
as The Cop
1926
0.0
Hoboken to Hollywood
as Billy Judkins
1926
0.0
Hubby’s Quiet Little Game
as Billy Foote
1926
0.0
A Sea Dog's Tale
as Wilbur Watts
1926
0.0
Ice Cold Cocos
as Gus Gander
1926
0.0
Musclebound Music
as Billy Hornby
1926
0.0
Fight Night
as Walter Moore
1926
5.0
🎬
Hayfoot, Strawfoot?
as Pete
1926
0.0
Wandering Willies
as Percy Nudge
1926
0.0
Circus Today
as Gus Barnum
1926
0.0
🎬
Trimmed in Gold
as Otto Stropp
1926
0.0
Whispering Whiskers
as The Drifter
1926
0.0
From Rags to Britches
as Joe Bush
1925
0.0
Over Thereabouts
as Joe Dobell
1925
0.0
Butter Fingers
as Nick
1925
5.8
The Iron Nag
as Joe Gobb
1925
0.0
Sneezing Beezers
as Joe Honck - Taxi Driver
1925
0.0
Super-Hooper-Dyne Lizzies
as Hiram Case
1925
0.0
The Lion's Whiskers
as Otto Klutch
1925
0.0
🎬
Giddap!
as Gaspard De Brie
1925
0.0
Honeymoon Hardships
as Farmer
1925
0.0
Off His Trolley
as The Traffic Cop
1924
0.0
🎬
The Cannon Ball Express
as Adam Fargo - Baggage Master
1924
0.0
Galloping Bungalows
as John Syrup Soother
1924
5.0
Wandering Waistlines
as Sandy Hook - Sailor
1924
0.0
Little Robinson Corkscrew
as The Sheriff
1924
0.0
Three Foolish Weeks
as King of Anchovia
1924
0.0
Lizzies of the Field
as Bud Gasket
1924
6.2
East of the Water Plug
as The Sheriff
1924
0.0
Wall Street Blues
as The Janitor
1924
0.0
The Hollywood Kid
as Studio Organist
1924
4.3
The White Sin
as Travers Dale
1924
6.0
One Spooky Night
as A.J. Bird Jr.
1924
0.0
🎬
Inbad the Sailor
as Jake aka Inbad the Sailor
1923
0.0
🎬
One Cylinder Love
as The Bachelor's Butler / Chauffeur / Footman
1923
0.0
The Extra Girl
as Comedian
1923
5.9
Pitfalls of a Big City
as Barfly (uncredited)
1923
0.0
Nip and Tuck
as Sailor
1923
0.0
When Summer Comes
as Lyons - the Tenderfoot
1922
0.0
The Crossroads of New York
as Press Agent
1922
0.0
Gymnasium Jim
as Jim
1922
4.5
On Patrol
as The Amateur Cop
1922
3.0
The Duck Hunter
as The Sportsman
1922
0.0
🎬
Around the Town: British Film Stars and Studios
as Himself
1921
0.0
Bright Eyes
as The Nosey Butler
1921
0.0
Be Reasonable
as A Rolling Stone
1921
7.3
🎬
Love and Doughnuts
as The Burglar
1921
0.0
Astray from the Steerage
as A steerage passenger
1921
0.0
A Small Town Idol
as Director
1921
6.0
Love, Honor and Behave
as A Fake Lawyer
1920
0.0
The Quack Doctor
as The Hired Lady's Sweetheart
1920
0.0
Married Life
as Hospital Staff / Janitor (uncredited)
1920
0.0
Distilled Love
1920
5.0
Cupid In Quarantine
as The Father
1918
5.0
🎬
Her Rustic Romeo
1918
0.0
Are Married Policemen Safe?
1918
0.0
Somebody's Widow
as Secretary
1918
0.0
Bombs and Bandits
as The Chief of Police
1917
0.0
Pirates of the Air
as The Bartender
1916
0.0
Gertie's Gasoline Glide
as The Minister
1916
5.0