Billy De Wolfe

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Billy De Wolfe (born February 18, 1907 in Quincy , Massachusetts , † March 5, 1974 in Los Angeles ) was an American actor .

Life

Wolfe worked as a theater and film actor in the United States. During the Second World War he was in the United States Navy . From 1943 until his death in 1974 he was seen in various film roles. From 1943 he was under contract with Paramount Pictures . Here the character actor with a distinctive mustache and the conspicuous manner of speaking played mostly cranked, blasé or effeminate characters for comedic purposes. His " campy " canvas figure was at times very popular with viewers. Billy De Wolfe, himself homosexual, like Franklin Pangborn, often played vaguely and cliché-looking characters at a time when homosexuality could not be openly shown in Hollywood films because of the Hays Code .

At the side of his good friend Doris Day , De Wolfe starred in two movies and later in twelve episodes of her television series The Doris Day Show . After his contract with Paramount expired in the 1950s, De Wolfe was rarely seen on the big screen. Instead, he turned back to the stage work and played in 1957 in the last edition of the Ziegfeld Follies . He was also seen in the role of JB Biggley in the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying for over two years . From the 1960s until his death, De Wolfe worked increasingly for US television series, he was also a guest on the talk show of Johnny Carson several times . In 1969 he was one of the speakers in the short film Frosty the Snowman , which still enjoys cult status in the USA to this day.

Billy De Wolfe died of cancer in 1974 at the age of 67.

Filmography (selection)

year title role Further information
1943 Dixie Mr. Bones
1945 Duffy's Tavern doctor
1946 Miss Susie Slagle's Ben Mead
1946 Our Hearts Were Growing Up Roland you Frere
1946 Blue is the sky (Blue Skies) Tony
1947 Dear Ruth Albert Sorrow
1947 Pauline, stop kissing (The Perils of Pauline) Mr. Timmy Timmons
1947 Variety girl Than himself
1948 Isn't It Romantic? Horace Frazier
1949 Dear Wife Albert Sorrow
1950 Charming Woman (Tea for Two) Larry Blair
1951 The Lullaby of Broadway Lefty Mack
1951 Dear Brat Albert
1953 Madame makes history (s) (Call Me Madam) Pemberton Maxwell
1960 Johnny Midnight Demon TV series, episode: "The Impresario"
1965 Billie Mayor Charlie Davis
1965 The Dick Van Dyke Show Demon TV series, episode: "The Ugliest Dog in the World"
1966-1969 That girl Jules Benedict TV series, 3 episodes
1967-1968 Good Morning, World Roland B. Hutton Jr. TV series, 25 episodes
1969 Frosty the Snowman Professor Hinkle / The Magician TV movie, voice
1970 The Debbie Reynolds Show Delbert Deloy TV series, episode: "Mission: Improbable"
1970-1973 The Doris Day Show Willard Jarvis / Billy De Wolfe / Randolph Jarvis TV series, 12 episodes
1973 The World's Greatest Athlete Dean Maxwell
1973 Love, American style Mr. Gratz TV series, episode: "Love and the Fractured Fibula"
1974 Free to Be ... You and Me The principal TV movie, voice

Awards and prizes (selection)

  • Donaldson Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Billy De Wolfe | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos. Retrieved July 29, 2020 (American English).
  2. ↑ Billy DeWolfe, Comedian, Dies; In 'Call Me Madam,' Other Films . In: The New York Times . March 7, 1974, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed July 29, 2020]).
  3. ^ David Kaufman: Doris Day: The Untold Story of the Girl Next Door . Virgin Books, 2008, ISBN 978-1-905264-30-8 ( google.de [accessed July 29, 2020]).
  4. ↑ Kenneth Schuyler Lynn: Charlie Chaplin and His Times . Simon and Schuster, 1997, ISBN 978-0-684-80851-2 ( google.com [accessed July 29, 2020]).
  5. ↑ Billy DeWolfe, Comedian, Dies; In 'Call Me Madam,' Other Films . In: The New York Times . March 7, 1974, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed July 29, 2020]).
  6. ↑ Billy DeWolfe, Comedian, Dies; In 'Call Me Madam,' Other Films . In: The New York Times . March 7, 1974, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed July 29, 2020]).
personal data
SURNAME De Wolfe, Billy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH February 18, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Quincy , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH March 5th 1974
Place of death los Angeles