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Billy Bevan

Billy Bevan

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.)

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1963

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1957

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1952

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1951

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1950

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1950

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1950

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1949

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1949

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1949

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1948

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1948

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1948

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1947

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1947

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1946

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1946

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1946

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1945

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1945

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1945

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1944

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1944

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1944

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1943

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1943

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1943

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1943

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1943

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1942

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1942

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1942

as Bus Conductor (uncredited)

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1942

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1942

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1941

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1941

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1941

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1941

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1941

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1940

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1940

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1940

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1940

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1940

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1939

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Pack Up Your Troubles

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1939

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1939

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Let Freedom Ring

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1939

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1938

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1938

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1938

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1938

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1938

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1938

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1938

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1938

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1937

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1937

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1937

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1937

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1937

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1937

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Lloyd's of London

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1936

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1936

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1936

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Dracula's Daughter

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1936

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Champagne Charlie

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1936

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Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

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1936

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1936

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1935

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1935

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1935

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1935

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1935

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1934

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1934

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1934

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1934

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1934

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1934

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The Lost Patrol

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1934

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Pop's Pal

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1933

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Alice in Wonderland

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1933

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1933

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Too Much Harmony

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1933

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The Big Squeal

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1933

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1933

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Peg o' My Heart

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1933

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1933

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1933

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Looking Forward

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1933

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Techno-Crazy

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1933

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1933

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1933

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1933

Me and My Gal

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1932

as Ashley, Arguing Drunk (uncredited)

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1932

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1932

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Vanity Fair

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1932

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1932

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1932

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Who's Who in the Zoo

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1931

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1931

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1931

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1931

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1931

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1930

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1930

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1930

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1930

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1930

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1930

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1929

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1929

as Reporter (uncredited)

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1929

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Don't Get Jealous

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1929

as Billy Blake

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1929

as Billy Brooks

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1929

as Billy Barton

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1929

as Tom Berry

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1928

as Billy Brooks

Riley the Cop

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1928

as Paris Cabman

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1928

as Bill Blake

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1928

as Billy Bender

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1928

as Billy Trotter

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1928

as Constable Billy Barnes

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1928

as Doty Bassett - the Bicycle Flirt

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1928

as Best Man

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1928

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1927

as Messenger

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1927

as Pete De Tour

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1927

as The Barber

The Golf Nut

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1927

as Billy Divott

Cured in the Excitement

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1927

as Professor Brawn

A Small Town Princess

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1927

as Joe Whiffet

Peaches and Plumbers

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1927

as Bill the Plumber

Easy Pickings

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1927

as The Detective

Should Sleepwalkers Marry?

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1927

as Charley Carter

Flirty Four-Flushers

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1926

as Jerry Connors / Archibald De Shyster

Masked Mamas

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1926

as Casey McCorkle

Should Husbands Marry?

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1926

as The Cop

Hoboken to Hollywood

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1926

as Billy Judkins

Hubby’s Quiet Little Game

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1926

as Billy Foote

A Sea Dog's Tale

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1926

as Wilbur Watts

Ice Cold Cocos

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1926

as Gus Gander

Musclebound Music

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1926

as Billy Hornby

Fight Night

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1926

as Walter Moore

Hayfoot, Strawfoot?

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1926

as Pete

Wandering Willies

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1926

as Percy Nudge

Circus Today

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1926

as Gus Barnum

Trimmed in Gold

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1926

as Otto Stropp

Whispering Whiskers

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1926

as The Drifter

From Rags to Britches

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1925

as Joe Bush

Over Thereabouts

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1925

as Joe Dobell

Butter Fingers

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1925

as Nick

The Iron Nag

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1925

as Joe Gobb

Sneezing Beezers

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1925

as Joe Honck - Taxi Driver

Super-Hooper-Dyne Lizzies

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1925

as Hiram Case

The Lion's Whiskers

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1925

as Otto Klutch

Giddap!

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1925

as Gaspard De Brie

Honeymoon Hardships

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1925

as Farmer

Off His Trolley

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1924

as The Traffic Cop

The Cannon Ball Express

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1924

as Adam Fargo - Baggage Master

Galloping Bungalows

Galloping Bungalows

1924

as John Syrup Soother

Wandering Waistlines

Wandering Waistlines

1924

as Sandy Hook - Sailor

Little Robinson Corkscrew

Little Robinson Corkscrew

1924

as The Sheriff

Three Foolish Weeks

Three Foolish Weeks

1924

as King of Anchovia

Lizzies of the Field

Lizzies of the Field

1924

as Bud Gasket

East of the Water Plug

East of the Water Plug

1924

as The Sheriff

Wall Street Blues

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1924

as The Janitor

The Hollywood Kid

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1924

as Studio Organist

The White Sin

The White Sin

1924

as Travers Dale

One Spooky Night

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1924

as A.J. Bird Jr.

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1923

as Jake aka Inbad the Sailor

One Cylinder Love

One Cylinder Love

1923

as The Bachelor's Butler / Chauffeur / Footman

The Extra Girl

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1923

as Comedian

Pitfalls of a Big City

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1923

as Barfly (uncredited)

Nip and Tuck

Nip and Tuck

1923

as Sailor

When Summer Comes

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1922

as Lyons - the Tenderfoot

The Crossroads of New York

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1922

as Press Agent

Gymnasium Jim

Gymnasium Jim

1922

as Jim

On Patrol

On Patrol

1922

as The Amateur Cop

The Duck Hunter

The Duck Hunter

1922

as The Sportsman

Around the Town: British Film Stars and Studios

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1921

as Himself

Bright Eyes

Bright Eyes

1921

as The Nosey Butler

Be Reasonable

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1921

as A Rolling Stone

Love and Doughnuts

Love and Doughnuts

1921

as The Burglar

Astray from the Steerage

Astray from the Steerage

1921

as A steerage passenger

A Small Town Idol

A Small Town Idol

1921

as Director

The Quack Doctor

The Quack Doctor

1920

as The Hired Lady's Sweetheart

Distilled Love

Distilled Love

1920

Cupid In Quarantine

Cupid In Quarantine

1918

as The Father

Her Rustic Romeo

Her Rustic Romeo

1918

Somebody's Widow

Somebody's Widow

1918

as Secretary

Bombs and Bandits

Bombs and Bandits

1917

as The Chief of Police

Pirates of the Air

Pirates of the Air

1916

as The Bartender

Gertie's Gasoline Glide

Gertie's Gasoline Glide

1916

as The Minister