1913-05-27 Sunflower, Mississippi, USA
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.
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TV in Black: The First Fifty Years | Self (archive footage) | 2004-01-01 |
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Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? | Self (archive footage) | 1975-08-06 |
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Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy | Charlie (archive footage) | 1962-12-04 |
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Ellis in Freedomland | Male Model | 1952-06-15 |
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South of Caliente | Willie, Stable Boy | 1951-10-15 |
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The Shanghai Chest | Willie Best | 1948-07-11 |
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Half Past Midnight | Andy Jones | 1948-03-01 |
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The Red Stallion | Jackson | 1947-08-16 |
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Suddenly It's Spring | Porter on Train | 1947-02-13 |
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Dangerous Money | Chattanooga Brown | 1946-10-12 |
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The Face of Marble | Shadrach | 1946-01-19 |
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The Bride Wore Boots | Joe | 1946-06-05 |
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She Wouldn't Say Yes | Porter (uncredited) | 1945-11-29 |
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The Monster and the Ape | Flash | 1945-04-20 |
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Pillow to Post | Lucille, Colonial Auto Court Porter | 1945-06-09 |
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Hold That Blonde! | Willie Shelley | 1945-11-23 |
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The Red Dragon | Chattanooga Brown | 1945-08-01 |
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The Mark of the Whistler | Men's Room Attendant (uncredited) | 1944-10-09 |
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Home in Indiana | Mo' Rum (uncredited) | 1944-06-15 |
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Music for Millions | Red Cap (uncredited) | 1944-12-18 |
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The Girl Who Dared | Woodrow | 1944-08-05 |
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The Adventures of Mark Twain | Butler | 1944-07-20 |
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Thank Your Lucky Stars | Soldier in "Ice Cold Katie" Number (uncredited) | 1943-09-25 |
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The Kansan | Bones | 1943-09-10 |
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Cinderella Swings It | Hipp | 1943-01-22 |
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The Powers Girl | Men's Room Attendant (uncredited) | 1943-01-15 |
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Cabin in the Sky | Second Idea Man | 1943-03-24 |
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Dixie | Steward (uncredited) | 1943-06-23 |
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A-Haunting We Will Go | Waiter | 1942-08-07 |
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Busses Roar | Sunshine | 1942-09-19 |
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Whispering Ghosts | Euclid White Brown | 1942-05-17 |
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The Hidden Hand | Eustis, the chauffeur | 1942-11-07 |
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Maisie Gets Her Man | Sam (Uncredited) | 1942-06-01 |
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Juke Girl | Jo-Mo | 1942-05-30 |
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Scattergood Survives a Murder | Hipp | 1942-10-01 |
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The Body Disappears | Willie | 1941-11-22 |
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Flight from Destiny | George | 1941-02-08 |
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High Sierra | Algernon | 1941-01-23 |
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Breakdowns of 1941 | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1941-11-14 |
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The Lady from Cheyenne | George | 1941-04-11 |
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Nothing But the Truth | Samuel | 1941-10-10 |
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Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company "B" | Hot-Breath Harry (voice) (uncredited) | 1941-08-31 |
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Highway West | Bub Wellington | 1941-08-07 |
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Scattergood Baines | Hipp | 1941-02-21 |
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Road Show | Willie | 1941-02-18 |
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Kisses for Breakfast | Arnold | 1941-07-05 |
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The Smiling Ghost | Clarence | 1941-09-06 |
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Minstrel Days | Singer | 1941-09-06 |
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The Ghost Breakers | Alex | 1940-06-21 |
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Blondie on a Budget | Newsboy (uncredited) | 1940-02-29 |
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Who Killed Aunt Maggie? | Andrew | 1940-11-01 |
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Money and the Woman | George Washington Jones | 1940-08-17 |
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I Take This Woman | Sambo | 1940-02-02 |
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Slightly Honorable | Art, Elevator Operator | 1939-12-22 |
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Mr. Moto in Danger Island | Launch Pilot | 1939-04-07 |
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Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation | Driver (uncredited) | 1939-07-07 |
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Private Detective | Norton's Valet | 1939-12-09 |
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At the Circus | Redcap (uncredited) | 1939-10-20 |
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Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter | Apollo Johnson | 1939-06-17 |
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The Covered Trailer | Baltimore | 1939-11-10 |
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Way Down South | Chimney Sweep | 1939-07-21 |
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The Saint Strikes Back | Algernon, Simon's Butler (Uncredited) | 1939-03-08 |
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Blondie Brings Up Baby | Hotel Janitor (uncredited) | 1939-11-08 |
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Blackmail | Bunny - the Janitor (uncredited) | 1939-09-08 |
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I'm from the City | Train Porter | 1938-08-05 |
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Vivacious Lady | Porter | 1938-05-13 |
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Crashing Hollywood | Train Porter (uncredited) | 1938-01-07 |
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Straight, Place and Show | Hannibal | 1938-09-30 |
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Blondie | Porter | 1938-11-30 |
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Youth Takes a Fling | George | 1938-09-22 |
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Gold Is Where You Find It | Joshua | 1938-02-12 |
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Spring Madness | Porter on Train | 1938-11-11 |
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Everybody's Doing It | Jasper - Elevator Operator | 1938-01-14 |
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Merrily We Live | George | 1938-03-04 |
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Goodbye Broadway | Jughead | 1938-04-01 |
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The Lady Fights Back | McTavish | 1937-10-01 |
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Super-Sleuth | Warts, Martin's manservant | 1937-07-16 |
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Meet the Missus | Bootblack | 1937-06-04 |
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Mississippi Moods | 1937-07-19 | |
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Saturday's Heroes | Sam | 1937-10-08 |
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Deep South | 1937-01-01 | |
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Racing Lady | Brass | 1937-01-12 |
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We Who Are About to Die | Airport Porter (uncredited) | 1937-01-08 |
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You Can't Buy Luck | Airline Porter (uncredited) | 1937-04-30 |
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Breezing Home | Speed | 1937-02-01 |
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General Spanky | Henry | 1936-12-11 |
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Two in Revolt | Eph | 1936-04-03 |
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Mummy's Boys | Catfish | 1936-10-02 |
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Murder on a Bridle Path | 'High-Pockets' | 1936-04-17 |
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Down the Stretch | Noah | 1936-09-18 |
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The Bride Walks Out | Smokie | 1936-07-10 |
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Thank You, Jeeves! | Drowsy | 1936-10-04 |
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Night Waitress | Black Pedestrian | 1936-12-18 |
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Silly Billies | Excitement | 1936-03-20 |
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Muss 'em Up | Janitor at Spivali's Bar (uncredited) | 1936-02-13 |
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The Green Pastures | Henry - the Angel (uncredited) | 1936-08-01 |
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The Nitwits | Sleepy | 1935-06-07 |
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Murder on a Honeymoon | Willie (as Sleep 'n' Eat) | 1935-02-22 |
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To Beat the Band | Elevator Operator | 1935-11-23 |
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The Littlest Rebel | James Henry | 1935-12-27 |
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Hit and Rum | Shoe Shine Man (uncredited) | 1935-04-25 |
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Horse Heir | 1935-02-01 | |
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Jalna | Sam | 1935-08-09 |
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Hot Tip | Apollo | 1935-08-20 |
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Raised and Called | 1935-03-22 | |
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The Arizonian | Pompey | 1935-06-27 |
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Little Miss Marker | Dizzy Memphis (uncredited) | 1934-06-01 |
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Kentucky Kernels | Buckshot (as Sleep 'n' Eat) | 1934-11-02 |
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West of the Pecos | Jonah (as Sleep 'n' Eat) | 1934-12-27 |
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The Monster Walks | Exodus (as Sleep n' Eat) | 1932-02-07 |
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The Guilty Generation | Club Merlin Doorman (uncredited) | 1931-11-19 |
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Up Pops the Devil | Laundryman | 1931-05-19 |
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Virtuous Husband | Luftus | 1931-04-12 |
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Feet First | Janitor | 1930-10-30 |
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Ladies of Leisure | George (uncredited) | 1930-04-05 |
