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Billy West (silent film actor)
Billy West | |
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 West in 1917 | |
| Born | Roy B Weissburg September 22, 1892 Russia |
| Died | July 21, 1975 Hollywood, California |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
Billy West (September 22, 1892 – July 21, 1975) was a film actor, producer and director of the silent film era. He is best known as a Charlie Chaplin impersonator.
Contents
1 Biography
2 Personal life
3 Selected filmography
4 References
5 External links
Biography
Play mediaThe Candy Kid
Born Roy B. Weissburg (or Weissberg[1]) in the Russian Empire to a Jewish family, West emigrated to Chicago with his family aged two.[2][3] He appeared in many short films, first in Apartment No. 13 in 1912. In 1917 movie theaters could not get enough Charlie Chaplin comedies, and an enterprising producer hired West, who had been doing comic pantomimes on the vaudeville stage, to make imitation-Chaplin subjects to meet the demand. West, wearing the identical "tramp" costume and makeup, copied Chaplin's movements and gestures so accurately that he is often mistaken for the genuine performer. Reportedly, Chaplin himself saw the Billy West company filming on a Hollywood street once, and told West, "You're a damned good imitator." Some West comedies were later re-released on the home-movie market as "Charlie Chaplin" pictures. Most of the West comedies of 1917–18 resembled the Chaplin comedies of 1916–17, with Oliver Hardy approximating the villainy of Eric Campbell, and Leatrice Joy in the Edna Purviance ingenue role.
In 1922 West became his own producer, and dropped the Chaplin imitation in favor of a dapper, straw-hatted, pencil-mustached character. Moving behind the cameras in 1925, West produced a brief series of slapstick comedies co-starring the fat-and-skinny team of Oliver "Babe" Hardy and Bobby Ray, and a series of "Winnie Winkle" comedies with Ethelyn Gibson.
West took small roles in sound films, first for small independent companies and later for Columbia Pictures. He became manager of the Columbia Grill restaurant.[4] He died July 21, 1975, of a heart attack while leaving the Hollywood Park racetrack in Hollywood, California.[4]
His Waiting Career (1920)
Personal life
Selected filmography
Apartment No. 13 (1912)
Back Stage (1917)
The Hero (1917)
Dough Nuts (1917)
Cupid's Rival (1917)
The Villain (1917)
The Millionaire (1917)
The Goat (1917)
The Fly Cop (1917)
The Chief Cook (1917)
The Candy Kid (1917)
The Hobo (1917)
The Pest (1917)
The Band Master (1917)
The Slave (1917)
The Stranger (1918)
Bright and Early (1918)
The Rogue (1918)
His Day Out (1918)
The Orderly (1918)
The Scholar (1918)
The Messenger (1918)
The Handy Man (1918)
The Straight and Narrow (1918)
Playmates (1918)
Beauties in Distress (1918)
Stick Around (1925 - produced)
Hey, Taxi! (1925 - produced)
Rivals (1925)
Hop to It! (1925 - produced)
They All Fall (1925 - produced)
The Joke's on You (1925)
Hard Boiled Yeggs (1926)
Thrilling Youth (1926)
Ex-Lady (1933)
References
^ McCaffrey, Donald W.; Jacobs, Christopher P. (15 September 1999). "Guide to the Silent Years of American Cinema". Greenwood Publishing Group – via Google Books..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ Roots, James (23 October 2014). "The 100 Greatest Silent Film Comedians". Rowman & Littlefield – via Google Books.
^ Haining, Peter (15 September 1989). "Charlie Chaplin: a centenary celebration". Foulsham – via Google Books.
^ ab Sloan, Will (July 22, 2015). "The Only and Original", partisanmagazine.com. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Billy West (silent film actor). |
Billy West on IMDb
Billy West at Find a Grave
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