William Bakewell
Biography
William Bakewell (May 2, 1908 – April 15, 1993), also known as Billy Bakewell, was an American actor, who achieved his greatest fame as one of the premiere juvenile performers of the late 1920s and early 1930s. Bakewell, educated at Los Angeles Harvard Military School, began his film career as an extra in the silent movie Fighting Blood (1924), and went on to appear in some 170 films and television shows. He had supporting roles at the end of the silent era and reached the peak of his career around 1930. He is perhaps best remembered for playing German soldier Albert Kropp in the film classic All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), and Rodney Jordan, Joan Crawford's brother, in Dance, Fools, Dance (1931). He also co-starred in Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929) with Winnie Lightner and Lilyan Tashman. In 1933, he contributed to the founding of the Screen Actors Guild, and was member 44 of the original 50. He never achieved stardom after the Depression years, although he became familiar in dozens of films, including his short appearance as a mounted soldier in Gone with the Wind (1939) whom Scarlett O'Hara asks when the Yankee soldiers are coming to Atlanta. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army with the rank of second lieutenant. He was stationed at the 73rd Evacuation Hospital and at the Radio Section of the Special Service Division as the Post Intelligence Officer. He also worked under the department that handled distribution of recorded programs to overseas station circuits. He starred in the Columbia Pictures serial Hop Harrigan (1946), where he played a top Air Corps pilot. He also portrayed Major Tobias Norton and a Keelboat Race Master of Ceremonies in the phenomenally popular Disney series Davy Crockett (1954-1955). In the 1960s, he guest starred in numerous situation comedy television series, including Guestward, Ho!, Pete and Gladys, Bringing Up Buddy, The Tab Hunter Show, Mister Ed, Leave It to Beaver, The Jack Benny Program, Petticoat Junction , and Hazel. He also was cast in episodes of Peter Gunn, Sea Hunt, Wagon Train, The Roaring 20s, The Virginian, Arrest and Trial, and 87th Precinct He played the Virginia statesman George Wythe in the episode "George Mason" in the 1965 NBC documentary series, Profiles in Courage. He made his last film in 1975. For four decades, Bakewell served on the board of Motion Picture and Television Fund. He died on April 15, 1993 of leukemia at the age of 84.
Known For
Albert Kropp
All Quiet on the Western Front
Mounted Officer
Gone with the Wind
Robert Pryor
Laddie
Mr. Hubbell
Dr. Kildare's Victory
Mac
I Live on Danger
Motorist (uncredited)
Lucky Me
Winters
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
Ensign
Seven Sinners
Dudley (Travel Agent)
Romance on the High Seas
Herb Tolin, Bolsa Grande Oil
The Capture
Billy
Together We Live
'Tex' McNeil
West Point
Douglas Rimplegar
Three Cornered Moon
Salesman
Bertha the Sewing Machine Girl
Tom Fielding
The Dawn Express
Wally Saunders
Gold Diggers of Broadway
Norton
Davy Crockett Goes to Congress
Cliff Miller
Green Eyes
Rodney Jordan
Dance, Fools, Dance
Dick Withers
Trapped by G-Men
Jimmy
On With the Show!
Tommy Osgood
Guilty Hands
Bruce Coleman
The Trespasser
Benny Emerson
Politics
Dick Carter
Strangers All
Dr. Wilkes
Straight Is the Way
Don Bell (adult)
You Can't Buy Everything
Dave Haines
Lady Luck
Ken Sherridan
Happiness C.O.D.
Bill Coleman
On Probation
Tom Connor
Dangerous Holiday
Captain Frank Mason
King of the Bandits
Tom Banning
Jungle Menace
Adolph
Crimson Romance
Ted Richards
Radar Men from the Moon
Andrew
Exiled to Shanghai
Tommy Haverly
Reducing
Performer in 'Bicycle Built for Two' Number (uncredited)
The Show of Shows
Jack
Playing Around
Billy Dawson
Straightaway
Jerry
Speed Wings
'Ink' Donovan
The Last Edition
Louis XIV / Twin Brother
The Iron Mask
John Russell
A Man of Sentiment
Roland Chadburne
Sons of Steel
Count Karl Runyi
A Woman of Experience
Percival
Harold Teen
Paul Renoir
While Paris Sleeps
Brook
The Bat Whispers
Slugger Jones
Lucky Devils
Barry Graham
The Curtain Falls
Desk Clerk
Set This Town on Fire
Townsman at Zeke's Recitation
Zenobia
Maj. Tobias Norton
Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier
Himself
Geschundenes Zelluloid - Das Schicksal des Kinoklassikers "Im Westen nichts Neues"
Jerry MacDowell
The Shield of Honor
Maurice Perry
Cheaters at Play
Otto
Daybreak
Tom Branning
Jungle Terror
Shipboard Card Player
The Saint Takes Over
Russell Tilford
The Quitter
Brig. Gen. Swift (uncredited)
Not With My Wife, You Don't!
Bob
Mile a Minute Love
Appleby
When the Redskins Rode
Eddie Davis
The Higgins Family
Lieut. Commander Mays
Sea Spoilers
Robert Harwood Jr.
The Postman Didn't Ring
Skippy
Annapolis
The Son
The Battle of the Sexes
Official at Keel Boat Race (uncredited)
Davy Crockett and the River Pirates
Hop Harrigan
Hop Harrigan: America's Ace of the Airways
David Chadwick
Beyond Tomorrow
Young Philadelphian (uncredited)
Old Ironsides
Eddie
The Fabulous Dorseys
Windor
The Farmer's Daughter
Richard Saxel
Back Street
Hugh Pleasant
The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe
Lieutenant Spicer
Quality Street
Pastor Willie von Adel
Messenger of Peace
Cadet (uncredited)
Hotel Imperial
Cpl. Hall Ross
King of the Mounties
Charlie Lannon
Wells Fargo Gunmaster
Hal Ortman
Come Fill the Cup
Charles, Waiter (uncredited)
So This Is Love
Mack Moran
Hot Stuff
Professor
The Strongest Man in the World
Bud Dolan
The Latest from Paris
Carney
Paid
Intern
King of the Turf
Clay
The Party's Over
Capt. Kingston
Night Wind
Lawrence White
Arthur Takes Over
Major Norton
Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter
Jerry Ellis
Mother
Committee Captain
The Duke of West Point
Hotel Clerk
So This Is New York
The Heart Thief
Dick Hebert
You Gotta Stay Happy
Jim Stewart
The Spirit of Notre Dame
Jeremy's Father
Call Her Mom
A Pianist
Die Lady von der Straße
Whispering Wires
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
102
Gender
Male
Birthday
1908-05-02
Place of Birth
Los Angeles, California, USA
Also Known As
Billy Bakewell