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William Bakewell
Acting
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,…
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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.
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BODY OF WORK
William Bakewell's Filmography
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Bruised Celluloid
as Himself
The Strongest Man in the World
as Professor
Set This Town on Fire
as Desk Clerk
Call Her Mom
as Jeremy's Father
Not With My Wife, You Don't!
as Brig. Gen. Swift (uncredited)
Down Liberty Road
as Waldo (Uncredited)
Davy Crockett and the River Pirates
as Official at Keel Boat Race (uncredited)
Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier
as Maj. Tobias Norton
Davy Crockett Goes to Congress
as Norton
Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter
as Major Norton
Lucky Me
as Motorist (uncredited)
So This Is Love
as Charles, Waiter (uncredited)
Radar Men from the Moon
as Ted Richards
Come Fill the Cup
as Hal Ortman
When the Redskins Rode
as Appleby
Wells Fargo Gunmaster
as Charlie Lannon
The Capture
as Herb Tolin, Bolsa Grande Oil
You Gotta Stay Happy
as Dick Hebert
Night Wind
as Capt. Kingston
Romance on the High Seas
as Dudley (Travel Agent)
So This Is New York
as Hotel Clerk
Arthur Takes Over
as Lawrence White
King of the Bandits
as Captain Frank Mason
Messenger of Peace
as Pastor Willie von Adel
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
as Winters
The Trespasser
as Bruce Coleman
The Farmer's Daughter
as Windor
The Fabulous Dorseys
as Eddie
Jungle Terror
as Tom Branning
Hop Harrigan: America's Ace of the Airways
as Hop Harrigan
Yanks Ahoy
as Ens. Crosby (uncredited)
King of the Mounties
as Cpl. Hall Ross
The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe
as Hugh Pleasant
The Postman Didn't Ring
as Robert Harwood Jr.
I Live on Danger
as Mac
The Dawn Express
as Tom Fielding
Dr. Kildare's Victory
as Mr. Hubbell
Seven Sinners
as Ensign
The Saint Takes Over
as Shipboard Card Player
Beyond Tomorrow
as David Chadwick
Gone with the Wind
as Mounted Officer
Hotel Imperial
as Cadet (uncredited)
Zenobia
as Townsman at Zeke's Recitation
King of the Turf
as Intern
The Duke of West Point
as Honor Committee Spokesman
The Higgins Family
as Eddie Davis
Exiled to Shanghai
as Andrew
Trapped by G-Men
as Dick Withers
Jungle Menace
as Tom Banning
Dangerous Holiday
as Tom Connor
Mile a Minute Love
as Bob
Quality Street
as Lieutenant Spicer
Sea Spoilers
as Lieut. Commander Mays
Lady Luck
as Dave Haines
Happiness C.O.D.
as Ken Sherridan
Together We Live
as Billy
On Probation
as Bill Coleman
Strangers All
as Dick Carter
Laddie
as Robert Pryor
Sons of Steel
as Roland Chadburne
Crimson Romance
as Adolph
The Curtain Falls
as Barry Graham
The Party's Over
as Clay
Straight Is the Way
as Dr. Wilkes
Green Eyes
as Cliff Miller
The Quitter
as Russell Tilford
Speed Wings
as Jerry
You Can't Buy Everything
as Don Bell (adult)
Straightaway
as Billy Dawson
A Man of Sentiment
as John Russell
Three Cornered Moon
as Douglas Rimplegar
Lucky Devils
as Slugger Jones
Back Street
as Richard Saxel
While Paris Sleeps
as Paul Renoir
Cheaters at Play
as Maurice Perry
The Spirit of Notre Dame
as Jim Stewart
Guilty Hands
as Tommy Osgood
A Woman of Experience
as Count Karl Runyi
Daybreak
as Otto
Politics
as Benny Emerson
Dance, Fools, Dance
as Rodney Jordan
Reducing
as Tommy Haverly
Paid
as Carney
The Bat Whispers
as Brook
All Quiet on the Western Front
as Albert Kropp
Playing Around
as Jack
The Show of Shows
as Performer in 'Bicycle Built for Two' Number (uncredited)
Gold Diggers of Broadway
as Wally Saunders
On With the Show!
as Jimmy
Hot Stuff
as Mack Moran
The Iron Mask
as Louis XIV / Twin Brother
Lady of the Pavements
as A Pianist
Annapolis
as Skippy
The Battle of the Sexes
as The Son
Harold Teen
as Percival
The Devil's Trademark
as Tom Benton
The Latest from Paris
as Bud Dolan
West Point
as 'Tex' McNeil
The Shield of Honor
as Jerry MacDowell
Mother
as Jerry Ellis
The Heart Thief
Bertha the Sewing Machine Girl
as Salesman
Old Ironsides
as Young Philadelphian (uncredited)
Whispering Wires
The Last Edition
as 'Ink' Donovan