Willie Best

This article is about the actor. For other uses, see William Best. Willie Best , William Best Born William Best, (1916-05-27)May 27, 1916, Sunflower, Mississippi, U.S. Died February 27, 1962(1962-02-27) (aged 45), Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S. Cause of death Cancer Resting place Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery Other names Sleep 'n' Eat Occupation Actor Years active 1930-1955 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 well-known African American film actors and comedians, although his work, like that of Stepin Fetchit, is today 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 of them, an unusual feat for a bit player. Career as an actor: Stage: A native of Sunflower, Mississippi, Best had arrived in Hollywood as chauffeur for a vacationing couple, and began his performing career with a traveling show in southern California. He became a regular character actor in Hollywood films after a talent scout discovered him on stage. Film: Best appeared in more than one hundred films of the 1930s and 1940s. Although several sources state that for years he was only billed as "Sleep n' Eat," Best received credit under this moniker instead of his real name in only five movies: his first film as a bit player (Harold Lloyd's Feet First) and his next four films that followed (The Monster Walks (1932); Kentucky Kernels and West of the Pecos (both 1934) and Murder on a Honeymoon (1935)). He thereafter usually received credit as "Willie Best" or "William Best." Best was alternately loved as a great clown, then reviled, then pitied, finally virtually forgotten. Hal Roach called him one of the greatest talents he had ever met. In a similar gesture, Bob Hope acclaimed him as, "the best actor I know," as the two worked together on The Ghost Breakers in 1940. As a bit player, Best, like many black actors of his era, was regularly cast in domestic worker or service-oriented roles (a few times he played the role that echoed his previous occupation - that of a private chauffeur), and was usually seen making a brief comedic appearance as a hotel, airline or train porter; but also as elevator operators, custodians, butlers, valets, waiters, deliverymen - and at least once as a launch pilot (in 1939's Mr. Moto in Danger Island). Best's work as a bit player was unusual in that he received screen credit most of the time. The largest part of bit players in 1930s and '40s did not. Walter Brennan, for example, made 125 movies between 1930 and 1939, but was credited on only 57 of them. Best's career was also unusual because he was regularly - in over 80 of his movies - given a proper character name (as opposed to simple descriptions like 'room service waiter' or 'shoe shine boy'), starting with his second film. By comparison, Lucille Ball wasn't billed with a proper character name until her 14th film, and some bit players like Robert Dudley and Ethelreda Leopold were only rarely billed with anything more than a character description. Best played "Chattanooga Brown" in two Charlie Chan films, 1945's The Red Dragon and 1946's Dangerous Money. He also played the character of "Hipp" in three of RKO's six Scattergood Baines films with Guy Kibbee: 1941's Scattergood Baines, 1942's Scattergood Survives a Murder, and 1943's Cinderella Swings It. (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). Television: Best 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. Death: Best died on February 27, 1962 at the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills, California, of cancer, at age forty-five. He was buried (by the Motion Picture Fund) on March 5, 1962 at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery. Legacy: Best's "Sleep n' Eat" moniker surfaced again in the 2000 motion picture satire Bamboozled, directed by Spike Lee. In the film a "twenty-first-century minstrel show" is televised, starring two African American performers, one of whom (portrayed by Tommy Davidson) plays a character named "Sleep n' Eat." In a nod to one of Best's most respected contemporaries, his on-stage counterpart is named "Mantan." Selected filmography: Year Title Role Notes 1930 Feet First Janitor Credited as Sleep 'n' Eat 1931 The Virtuous Husband Luftus Alternative title: What Wives Don't Want 1931 Up Pops the Devil Laundryman Uncredited 1932 The Monster Walks Exodus Credited as Sleep 'n' Eat 1934 Little Miss Marker Dizzy Memphis Uncredited 1934 West of the Pecos Jonah Credited as Sleep 'n' Eat 1935 Murder on a Honeymoon Willie, the Porter Credited as Sleep 'n' Eat 1935 Annie Oakley Second Cook Uncredited 1935 The Littlest Rebel James Henry, a Cary slave 1936 The Bride Walks Out Smokie - at marriage bureau 1936 Mummy's Boys Catfish 1936 Thank You, Jeeves Drowsy 1937 Breezing Home Speed Credited as William Best 1937 The Lady Fights Back McTavish 1937 Deep South Short film 1938 Merrily We Live George W. Jones 1938 Gold Is Where You Find It Joshua 1938 Youth Takes a Fling George 1938 Vivacious Lady Train Porter 1939 Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter Apollo Johnson 1939 Miracle on Main Street Duke 1940 The Ghost Breakers Alex 1940 Who Killed Aunt Maggie? Andrew 1941 High Sierra Algernon 1941 Scattergood Baines Hipp 1941 Nothing But the Truth Samuel 1941 The Smiling Ghost Clarence 1942 Whispering Ghosts Euclid White Brown 1942 The Hidden Hand Eustis the Chauffeur 1943 Cabin in the Sky Second Idea Man The Kansan Bones 1943 Thank Your Lucky Stars Soldier Uncredited 1944 The Adventures of Mark Twain George, Twain's Butler Uncredited 1944 The Girl Who Dared Woodrow 1945 Hold That Blonde Willie Shelley 1945 The Red Dragon Chattanooga Brown 1946 The Bride Wore Boots Joe 1946 Dangerous Money Chattanooga Brown Alternative title: Charlie Chan in Dangerous Money 1947 Suddenly, It's Spring Porter on train 1947 The Red Stallion Jackson 1948 Smart Woman Train Porter Uncredited 1949 Jiggs and Maggie in Jackpot Jitters Willie Uncredited 1950 High and Dizzy Wesley 1950 to 1955 The Stu Erwin Show Willie, The Handyman 30 episodes 1951 South of Caliente Willie 1951 to 1952 Racket Squad Janitor, Cleaning Man 2 episodes 1952 to 1955 My Little Margie Charlie 21 episodes 1954 to 1955 Waterfront Billy Slocum/Willie Slocum 18 episodes

Source: Wikipedia

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