Willie Best
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.
Known For
Credits
- 2004 · TV in Black: The First Fifty Years as Self (archive footage)
- 1975 · Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? as Self (archive footage)
- 1962 · Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy as Charlie (archive footage)
- 1954 · Waterfront as Billy Slocum
- 1952 · My Little Margie as
- 1952 · Ellis in Freedomland as Male Model
- 1951 · South of Caliente as Willie, Stable Boy
- 1951 · Racket Squad as
- 1950 · The Stu Erwin Show as Willie
- 1948 · Shanghai Chest as Willie Best
- 1948 · Half Past Midnight as Andy Jones
- 1947 · The Red Stallion as Jackson
- 1947 · Suddenly It's Spring as Porter on Train
- 1946 · Dangerous Money as Chattanooga Brown
- 1946 · The Bride Wore Boots as Joe
- 1946 · The Face of Marble as Shadrach
- 1945 · She Wouldn't Say Yes as Porter (uncredited)
- 1945 · Hold That Blonde! as Willie Shelley
- 1945 · The Red Dragon as Chattanooga Brown
- 1945 · Pillow to Post as Lucille, Colonial Auto Court Porter
- 1945 · The Monster and the Ape as Flash
- 1944 · Music for Millions as Red Cap (uncredited)
- 1944 · The Mark of the Whistler as Men's Room Attendant (uncredited)
- 1944 · The Girl Who Dared as Woodrow
- 1944 · The Adventures of Mark Twain as Butler
- 1944 · Home in Indiana as Mo' Rum (uncredited)
- 1943 · Thank Your Lucky Stars as Soldier in "Ice Cold Katie" Number (uncredited)
- 1943 · The Kansan as Bones
- 1943 · Dixie as Steward (uncredited)
- 1943 · Cabin in the Sky as Second Idea Man
- 1943 · Cinderella Swings It as Hipp
- 1943 · The Powers Girl as Men's Room Attendant (uncredited)
- 1942 · The Hidden Hand as Eustis, the chauffeur
- 1942 · Scattergood Survives a Murder as Hipp
- 1942 · Busses Roar as Sunshine
- 1942 · A-Haunting We Will Go as Waiter
- 1942 · Maisie Gets Her Man as Sam (Uncredited)
- 1942 · Juke Girl as Jo-Mo
- 1942 · Whispering Ghosts as Euclid White Brown
- 1941 · The Body Disappears as Willie
- 1941 · Breakdowns of 1941 as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1941 · Nothing But the Truth as Samuel
- 1941 · The Smiling Ghost as Clarence
- 1941 · Minstrel Days as Singer
- 1941 · Highway West as Bub Wellington
- 1941 · Kisses for Breakfast as Arnold
- 1941 · The Lady from Cheyenne as George
- 1941 · Scattergood Baines as Hipp
- 1941 · Road Show as Willie
- 1941 · Flight from Destiny as George
- 1941 · High Sierra as Algernon
- 1940 · Who Killed Aunt Maggie? as Andrew
- 1940 · Money and the Woman as George Washington Jones
- 1940 · The Ghost Breakers as Alex
- 1940 · Blondie on a Budget as Newsboy (uncredited)
- 1940 · I Take This Woman as Sambo
- 1939 · Slightly Honorable as Art, Elevator Operator
- 1939 · Private Detective as Norton's Valet
- 1939 · The Covered Trailer as Baltimore
- 1939 · Blondie Brings Up Baby as Hotel Janitor (uncredited)
- 1939 · At the Circus as Redcap (uncredited)
- 1939 · Blackmail as Bunny - the Janitor (uncredited)
- 1939 · Way Down South as Chimney Sweep
- 1939 · Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation as Driver (uncredited)
- 1939 · Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter as Apollo Johnson
- 1939 · Mr. Moto in Danger Island as Launch Pilot
- 1939 · The Saint Strikes Back as Algernon, Simon's Butler (Uncredited)
- 1938 · Blondie as Porter
- 1938 · Spring Madness as Porter on Train
- 1938 · Straight, Place and Show as Hannibal
- 1938 · Youth Takes a Fling as George
- 1938 · I'm from the City as Train Porter
- 1938 · Vivacious Lady as Porter
- 1938 · Goodbye Broadway as Jughead
- 1938 · Merrily We Live as George
- 1938 · Gold Is Where You Find It as Joshua
- 1938 · Everybody's Doing It as Jasper - Elevator Operator
- 1938 · Crashing Hollywood as Train Porter (uncredited)
- 1937 · Saturday's Heroes as Sam
- 1937 · The Lady Fights Back as McTavish
- 1937 · Mississippi Moods as
- 1937 · Super-Sleuth as Warts, Martin's manservant
- 1937 · Meet the Missus as Bootblack
- 1937 · You Can't Buy Luck as Airline Porter (uncredited)
- 1937 · Breezing Home as Speed
- 1937 · Racing Lady as Brass
- 1937 · We Who Are About to Die as Airport Porter (uncredited)
- 1937 · Deep South as
- 1936 · Night Waitress as Black Pedestrian
- 1936 · General Spanky as Henry
- 1936 · Thank You, Jeeves! as Drowsy
- 1936 · Mummy's Boys as Catfish
- 1936 · Down the Stretch as Noah
- 1936 · The Green Pastures as Henry - the Angel (uncredited)
- 1936 · The Bride Walks Out as Smokie
- 1936 · Murder on a Bridle Path as 'High-Pockets'
- 1936 · Two in Revolt as Eph
- 1936 · Silly Billies as Excitement
- 1936 · Muss 'em Up as Janitor at Spivali's Bar (uncredited)
- 1935 · The Littlest Rebel as James Henry
- 1935 · To Beat the Band as Elevator Operator
- 1935 · Hot Tip as Apollo
- 1935 · Jalna as Sam
- 1935 · The Arizonian as Pompey
- 1935 · The Nitwits as Sleepy
- 1935 · Hit and Rum as Shoe Shine Man (uncredited)
- 1935 · Raised and Called as
- 1935 · Murder on a Honeymoon as Willie (as Sleep 'n' Eat)
- 1935 · Horse Heir as
- 1934 · West of the Pecos as Jonah (as Sleep 'n' Eat)
- 1934 · Kentucky Kernels as Buckshot (as Sleep 'n' Eat)
- 1934 · Little Miss Marker as Dizzy Memphis (uncredited)
- 1932 · The Monster Walks as Exodus
- 1931 · The Guilty Generation as Club Merlin Doorman (uncredited)
- 1931 · Up Pops the Devil as Laundryman
- 1931 · Virtuous Husband as Luftus
- 1930 · Feet First as Janitor
- 1930 · Ladies of Leisure as George (uncredited)