Billy Bevan

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Billy Bevan born William Bevan Harris 29 September 1887 26 November 1957 was an Australianborn 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 Pollards 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 Bevans quiet scenestealing 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 Bevans skilled timing and reactions the famous oyster routine performed on film by Curly Howard Lou Costello and Huntz Hallin which a bowl of fresh oyster stew shows alarming signs of life and battles the guy trying to eat itwas originated on film decades earlier by Bevan in the short film Wandering Willies By the mid1920s 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 Journeys 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 Youngsons silentcomedy compilations The Youngson films mispronounce his name as BeVAN Bevan himself offered the proper pronunciation in a Voice of Hollywood reel in 1930