William Benedict

William Benedict

William Benedict.
Born (1917-04-16)April 16, 1917
Haskell, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died November 25, 1999(1999-11-25) (aged 82)
Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation Actor
Years active 1935–1992
Spouse(s) Dolly Benedict (1969-?)

William Benedict (April 16, 1917 – November 25, 1999) was an American actor, perhaps best known for playing "Whitey" in Monogram Pictures' The Bowery Boys series.

Born in Haskell, Oklahoma, he took part in school theatricals, and on leaving school he made his way to Hollywood. His first film was $10 Raise (1935) starring Edward Everett Horton, which launched Benedict on a busy career. The blond-haired Benedict almost always played juvenile roles, such as newsboys, messengers, office boys, and farmhands.

In 1939, when Universal Pictures began its Little Tough Guys series to compete with the popular Dead End Kids features, Billy Benedict was recruited into the cast. These films led him into the similar East Side Kids movies (usually playing a member of the East Side gang, but occasionally in villainous roles). The East Side Kids became The Bowery Boys in 1946, and Benedict stayed with the series (as "Whitey") through the end of 1951.

Other films included My Little Chickadee (1940) starring W. C. Fields and Mae West, The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), Ed Wood's Bride of the Monster (1955), The Sting (1973) and Farewell, My Lovely (1975). Benedict never shook his juvenile image completely, and continued to play messengers and news vendors well into his sixties. He also worked often in television commercials.[1]

Selected filmography

Death

Benedict died at age 82 on November 25, 1999 at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Staff. "William Benedict Character Actor, 82", The New York Times, November 30, 1999. Accessed March 30, 2009.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to William "Billy" Benedict.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/31/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.