Billy Chapin

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William "Billy" McClellan Chapin (born December 28, 1943 in Los Angeles , California - † December 2, 2016 ) was an American child actor .

life and career

Billy Chapin was born in Los Angeles, the second of three children to a bank manager. His older brother Michael Chapin (* 1936) and his younger sister Lauren Chapin (* 1945) were also very busy child actors. Lauren in particular was best known for starring in the hit 1950s family series Father Is the Best . Lauren Chapin reported in later interviews the mother's alcoholism and father's sexual abuse in the quarreling family. Billy Chapin first appeared in front of the camera as a baby, when he portrayed the baby of Gary Cooper and Teresa Wright in Such a Papa (1944). In 1951, Chapin came to Broadway , where he played an important role in the musical Three Wishes for Jamie . His performance earned him an award from the prestigious New York Drama Critics' Circle for Best Young Actor of the Year.

After this success, Chapin's film career took off in Hollywood: he starred as a child baseball coach in the family film The Kid from Left Field, alongside Anne Bancroft and Lloyd Bridges ; He also played a child genius in the science fiction film Tobor the Great with Charles Drake in the lead role. In 1955 he played the film sons of Richard Todd and Victor Mature , each in the films A Man Called Peter and Violent Sunday . In addition to his films, he was also seen in many guest roles on US television. His most famous role today, he had in 1955 as the stepson of a murderous preacher ( Robert Mitchum ) in Charles Laughton's only directorial work The Night of the Hunter . Although the film was a failure at the time, it is now considered a masterpiece. Chapin had his last film role in 1956 in the B-Western Tension at Table Rock . Until 1959, Chapin took on a few guest roles on television before he retired from the acting business at the age of 15.

Chapin served in the United States Navy and worked in the private sector after college. He married and had three children. After a long illness, he died of lung cancer in December 2016 at the age of 72.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1944: Such a Papa (Casanova Brown)
  • 1946: The Cockeyed Miracle
  • 1953: Affair with a Stranger
  • 1953: The Kid from Left Field
  • 1953–1954: Dragnet (TV series, three episodes)
  • 1954: Weak Alibi (Naked Alibi)
  • 1954: Tobor the Great
  • 1954: Rhythm in the Blood (There's No Business Like Show Business)
  • 1955: A Man Called Peter
  • 1955: Sensation on Saturday (Violent Saturday)
  • 1955: The Night of the Hunter (The Night of the Hunter)
  • 1956: Blood on My Hands (Tension at Table Rock)
  • 1957: Adventures in the Wild West ( Zane Gray Theater ; TV series, an episode)
  • 1959: You have to be an adult ( Leave It To Beaver ; TV series, an episode)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary in Hollywood Reporter
  2. ↑ Michael Chapin at the Internet Movie Database
  3. ↑ Lauren Chapin at the Internet Movie Database
  4. ^ Regis Philbin, Kathie Lee Gifford: Interview with Lauren Chapin. "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee" broadcast on Disney – ABC Domestic Television, October 10, 1989 on YouTube (9:40 minutes; English).
  5. ↑ Marc Best: Those Endearing Young Charmes: Child Performers of the Screen. AS Barnes, Cranbury (New Jersey), 1984 ISBN 0-498-07729-2 , p. 30.
  6. ↑ Lauren Chapin's announcement on Facebook
  7. ^ Billy Chapin - a celebration of life (information from the speech of his brother Michael from minute 6). Retrieved September 18, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Chapin, Billy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Chapin, William McClellan; Chapin, Billy (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH December 28, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Los Angeles , California
DATE OF DEATH 2nd December 2016