![foto do ator Willie Best](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w300/akmMrTWzo9GLLy0jxR7Kv7iNjWu.jpg)
Willie Best
Data de nascimento:
27/05/1913
Local de nascimento:
Sunflower, Mississippi, USA
Data de falecimento:
27/11/1962
Biografia
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 African-American film actors and comedians to become well known. In the 21st century, his work, like that of Stepin Fetchit, is 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, an unusual feat for an African-American bit player. Willie Best appeared in more than one hundred films of the 1930s and 1940s. Although several sources state that for years he was billed only as “Sleep n' Eat,” Best received credit under this moniker instead of his real name in only six movies: his first film as a bit player (Harold Lloyd's Feet First) and in Up Pops the Devil (1931), The Monster Walks (1932), Kentucky Kernels and West of the Pecos (both 1934), and Murder on a Honeymoon (1935). Best was first loved as a great clown, then later in the 20th century reviled and pitied, before being forgotten in the history of film. Hal Roach called him one of the greatest talents he had ever met. Comedian Bob Hope similarly acclaimed him as “the best actor I know,” while the two were working together in 1940 on The Ghost Breakers. As a supporting actor, Best, like many black actors of his era, was regularly cast in domestic worker or service-oriented roles (though a few times he played the role echoing his previous occupation as a private chauffeur). He was often seen making a brief comic turn as a hotel, airline or train porter, as well as an elevator operator, custodian, butler, valet, waiter, deliveryman, and at least once as a launch pilot (in the 1939 movie Mr. Moto in Danger Island). Willie Best received screen credit most of the time, which was unusual for “bit players,” most in the 1930s and '40s were not accorded due credit. This also happened to white actors in small roles, but black actors were not credited even when their roles were larger. In more than 80 of his movies, he was given a proper character name (as opposed to simple descriptions such as “room service waiter” or “shoe-shine boy”), beginning with his second film. Best played “Chattanooga Brown” in two Charlie Chan films —The Red Dragon in 1945 and Dangerous Money in 1946. He also played the character of “Hipp” in three of RKO’s six Scattergood Baines films with Guy Kibbee: Scattergood Baines (1941), Scattergood Survives a Murder (1942), and Cinderella Swings It in 1943. (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.) After a drug arrest ended his film career, he worked in television for a while and 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.
Filmes em que atuou
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TV in Black: The First Fifty Years (2004)- 4.00 ★Self (archive footage)
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Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (1975)- 5.70 ★Self (archive footage)
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Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy (1962)- 7.30 ★Charlie (archive footage)
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Ellis in Freedomland (1952)- 0.00 ★Male Model
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South of Caliente (1951)- 0.00 ★Willie, Stable Boy
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Crime Por Alfabeto (1948)- 6.40 ★Willie Best
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Half Past Midnight (1948)- 6.00 ★Andy Jones
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The Red Stallion (1947)- 0.00 ★Jackson
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Relíquias de Amor (1947)- 3.80 ★Porter on Train
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Dinheiro Perigoso (1946)- 5.71 ★Chattanooga Brown
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The Face of Marble (1946)- 4.40 ★Shadrach
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Duelo Romântico (1946)- 5.90 ★Joe
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Charlie Chan no México (1945)- 6.20 ★Chattanooga Brown
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Pillow to Post (1945)- 5.50 ★Lucille, Colonial Auto Court Porter
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Chamam a Isto Amor (1945)- 5.90 ★Porter (uncredited)
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O Monstro e o Gorila (1945)- 6.30 ★Flash
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Agarre Essa Loura (1945)- 7.00 ★Willie Shelley
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The Girl Who Dared (1944)- 5.90 ★Woodrow
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Legado Perigoso (1944)- 5.86 ★Men's Room Attendant (uncredited)
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Home in Indiana (1944)- 5.60 ★Mo' Rum (uncredited)
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The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944)- 6.60 ★Butler
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Music for Millions (1944)- 6.00 ★Red Cap (uncredited)
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Um Lugar No Céu (1943)- 6.30 ★Second Idea Man
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The Powers Girl (1943)- 6.50 ★Men's Room Attendant (uncredited)
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Dixie (1943)- 3.00 ★Steward (uncredited)
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The Kansan (1943)- 5.20 ★Bones
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Cinderella Swings It (1943)- 0.00 ★Hipp
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O Gordo e o Magro - Dois Fantasmas Vivos (1942)- 5.95 ★Waiter
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The Hidden Hand (1942)- 6.20 ★Eustis, the chauffeur
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Whispering Ghosts (1942)- 6.00 ★Euclid White Brown
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Juke Girl (1942)- 6.50 ★Jo-Mo
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Maisie Gets Her Man (1942)- 7.00 ★Sam (Uncredited)
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Busses Roar (1942)- 6.67 ★Sunshine
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Scattergood Survives a Murder (1942)- 4.50 ★Hipp
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Seu Último Refúgio (1941)- 7.03 ★Algernon
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Highway West (1941)- 5.80 ★Bub Wellington
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O Fantasma Risonho (1941)- 6.50 ★Clarence
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A Verdade Acima de Tudo (1941)- 7.10 ★Samuel
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Road Show (1941)- 5.80 ★Willie
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The Lady from Cheyenne (1941)- 5.20 ★George
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Kisses for Breakfast (1941)- 5.50 ★Arnold
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Breakdowns of 1941 (1941)- 7.00 ★Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
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Fugindo ao Destino (1941)- 5.20 ★George
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Scattergood Baines (1941)- 6.00 ★Hipp
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The Body Disappears (1941)- 5.20 ★Willie
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O Castelo Sinistro (1940)- 6.40 ★Alex
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Who Killed Aunt Maggie? (1940)- 4.30 ★Andrew
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Money and the Woman (1940)- 4.30 ★George Washington Jones
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Florisbella Quer o Divórcio (1940)- 6.00 ★Newsboy (uncredited)
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I Take This Woman (1940)- 6.20 ★Sambo
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Nancy Desvenda um Crime (1939)- 6.00 ★Apollo Johnson
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Os Irmãos Marx no Circo (1939)- 6.30 ★Redcap (uncredited)
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The Saint Strikes Back (1939)- 5.60 ★Algernon, Simon's Butler (Uncredited)
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Mr. Moto in Danger Island (1939)- 7.00 ★Launch Pilot
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Way Down South (1939)- 5.40 ★Chimney Sweep
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Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939)- 6.90 ★Driver (uncredited)
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Blackmail (1939)- 6.40 ★Bunny - the Janitor (uncredited)
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Slightly Honorable (1939)- 5.70 ★Art, Elevator Operator
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Private Detective (1939)- 6.00 ★Norton's Valet
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Blondie Brings Up Baby (1939)- 6.50 ★Hotel Janitor (uncredited)
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The Covered Trailer (1939)- 0.00 ★Baltimore
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Blondie (1938)- 7.10 ★Porter
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Goodbye Broadway (1938)- 0.00 ★Jughead
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Sua Excelência, O Chofer (1938)- 7.20 ★George
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Onde o Ouro Se Esconde (1938)- 6.90 ★Joshua
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Youth Takes a Fling (1938)- 1.00 ★George
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Everybody's Doing It (1938)- 5.00 ★Jasper - Elevator Operator
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Spring Madness (1938)- 3.90 ★Porter on Train
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Crashing Hollywood (1938)- 5.80 ★Train Porter (uncredited)
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Vivacious Lady (1938)- 6.84 ★Train Porter
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Straight, Place and Show (1938)- 6.00 ★Hannibal
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O Portento (1937)- 5.00 ★Warts, Martin's manservant
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Meet the Missus (1937)- 4.00 ★Bootblack
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Saturday's Heroes (1937)- 7.00 ★Sam
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We Who Are About to Die (1937)- 6.80 ★Airport Porter (uncredited)
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Racing Lady (1937)- 5.30 ★Brass
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You Can't Buy Luck (1937)- 4.50 ★Airline Porter (uncredited)
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Breezing Home (1937)- 0.00 ★Speed
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Murder on a Bridle Path (1936)- 5.00 ★'High-Pockets'
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Sangue Esportivo (1936)- 5.50 ★Noah
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Two in Revolt (1936)- 6.00 ★Eph
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Mummy's Boys (1936)- 4.20 ★Catfish
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Casar é Melhor (1936)- 5.30 ★Smokie
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Night Waitress (1936)- 5.80 ★Black Pedestrian
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Thank You, Jeeves! (1936)- 6.00 ★Drowsy
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General Spanky (1936)- 5.00 ★Henry
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Silly Billies (1936)- 8.00 ★Excitement
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Muss 'em Up (1936)- 5.50 ★Janitor at Spivali's Bar (uncredited)
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Mais Próximo do Céu (1936)- 6.29 ★Henry - the Angel (uncredited)
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A Pequena Rebelde (1935)- 6.30 ★James Henry
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Murder on a Honeymoon (1935)- 5.80 ★Willie (as Sleep 'n' Eat)
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To Beat the Band (1935)- 0.00 ★Elevator Operator
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The Nitwits (1935)- 6.10 ★Sleepy
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Jalna (1935)- 4.80 ★Sam
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Hot Tip (1935)- 5.00 ★Apollo
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The Arizonian (1935)- 0.00 ★Pompey
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West of the Pecos (1934)- 0.00 ★Jonah (as Sleep 'n' Eat)
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Dada em Penhor (1934)- 6.40 ★Dizzy Memphis (uncredited)
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Em Palpos de Aranha (1934)- 5.90 ★Buckshot (as Sleep 'n' Eat)
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O Passo do Monstro (1932)- 4.16 ★Exodus
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Up Pops the Devil (1931)- 4.20 ★Laundryman
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The Guilty Generation (1931)- 6.00 ★Club Merlin Doorman (uncredited)
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Virtuous Husband (1931)- 0.00 ★Luftus
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Haroldo Trepa-Trepa (1930)- 6.50 ★Janitor
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A Flor dos Meus Sonhos (1930)- 6.00 ★George (uncredited)