Billy Bevan

Billy Bevan
Billy Bevan
Other names	William Bevan; Bill Bevans; Bill Bivens
Years active	1916-1950

Billy Bevan (born William Bevan Harris on 29 September 1887 in Orange, New South Wales, Australia – died 26 November 1957), was an Australian film actor. He appeared in 254 films between 1916 and 1950.

Bevan (rhymes with "seven") broke into films with the Sigmund Lubin studio in 1916. When the company disbanded, Bevan became a supporting actor in Mack Sennett comedies. An expressive pantomimist, Bevan's quiet scene-stealing attracted attention, and by 1922 Bevan was a Sennett star. Usually seen in a derby hat and drooping mustache, Bevan may not have had 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 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 Billy Bevan.

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.

Talking pictures took their toll on the careers of many silent stars, including Billy Bevan. His Australian accent came across as British, but was sufficiently neutral that he could play nondescript character parts (like a hotel employee in the Mae Murray talkie "Peacock Alley"). His starring series came to an end, however, and Bevan began a second career as a character actor and bit player. For the next 20 years he often played rowdy Cockneys (as in "Pack Up Your Troubles" with The Ritz Brothers), and affable Englishmen (as in "Tin Pan Alley" and "Terror by Night").

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.)

Selected filmography

External links

Billy Bevan at IMDb

Template:Persondata

Billy Bevan and Mack Sennett Bathing Beauties, 1920s
Scene from "Oh! Daddy!", featuring Billy Bevan (bottom) and Mildred June, 1922

Radio show publicizing "A Tale of Two Cities," 1936. Left to Right Reginald Owen, Edna Mae Oliver, Ronald Coleman, Benita Hume, Billy Bevan

Radio show publicizing "A Tale of Two Cities," 1936. Left to Right Reginald Owen, Edna Mae Oliver, Ronald Coleman, Benita Hume, Billy Bevan