Search a film or person :
FacebookConnectionRegistration
Willie Best is a Actor American born on 27 may 1913 at Sunflower (USA)

Willie Best

Willie Best
If you like this person, let us know!
Birth name William Best
Nationality USA
Birth 27 may 1913 at Sunflower (USA)
Death 27 november 1962 (at 49 years) at Woodland Hills (USA)

William "Willie" Best (May 27, 1916 – February 27, 1962), sometimes known as Sleep n' Eat, was an American television and film actor.

Best was one of the first well-known African-American film actors and comedians. In the 21st century, his work, like that of Stepin Fetchit, is sometimes reviled because he was often called upon to play stereotypically lazy, illiterate, and/or simple-minded characters in films. Of the 124 films he appeared in, he received screen credit in at least 77, an unusual feat for a bit player.

Usually with

Roy Webb
Roy Webb
(14 films)
Milo Anderson
Milo Anderson
(10 films)
Richard Lane
Richard Lane
(10 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Willie Best (106 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy, 1h34
Directed by Harold Lloyd
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Documentary
Actors Harold Lloyd, Willie Best, Bebe Daniels, Mildred Davis
Roles Charlie (archive footage)
Rating69% 3.4774553.4774553.4774553.4774553.477455
Jiggs and Maggie in Jackpot Jitters, 1h8
Directed by William Beaudine
Origin USA
Themes Films about animals, Sports films, Films about horses, Horse sports in film
Actors Joe Yule, Renie Riano, Jimmy Aubrey, Willie Best, Betty Blythe, Chester Conklin
Roles Willie
Rating70% 3.5245553.5245553.5245553.5245553.524555
Jiggs and Maggie win a racehorse in a competition, but lose large sums of money on it each time it races.
Half Past Midnight, 1h9
Directed by William F. Claxton
Origin USA
Genres Crime
Actors Kent Taylor, Peggy Knudsen, Joe Sawyer, Walter Sande, Martin Kosleck, Mabel Paige
Roles Andy Jones
Rating58% 2.930292.930292.930292.930292.93029
Kent Taylor plays a man who meets a dancer in a nightclub. She's implicated in a killing, and he's drawn into escaping from the police with her through Chinatown as they seek the real murderer.
Shanghai Chest
Directed by William Beaudine
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Crime
Actors Roland Winters, Victor Sen Yung, Mantan Moreland, Tristram "Tris" Coffin, Russell Hicks, Pierre Watkin
Roles Willie Best
Rating60% 3.001553.001553.001553.001553.00155
As Victor Armstrong visits his uncle, Judge Wesley Armstrong in San Francisco, he is knocked unconscious by an unknown attacker, and when he wakes up he finds out his uncle has been stabbed to death. The judge's private secretary, Phyllis Powers, finds the two men and calls the police to the scene. When Victor wakes up he has the knife that stabbed his uncle in his hand.
The Red Stallion, 1h21
Directed by Lesley Selander
Origin USA
Genres Western
Themes Films about animals, Films about horses, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Actors Ted Donaldson, Robert Paige, Noreen Nash, Jane Darwell, Pierre Watkin, Ray Collins
Roles Jackson
Rating57% 2.861612.861612.861612.861612.86161
Joel Curtis (Ted Donaldson) is a young orphan who is living with his grandmother, Aggie Curtis (Jane Darwell), on her ranch. Joel finds an orphaned colt in the nearby woods, and names the horse Red. Joel learns that Grandma Curtis has extensive debts, and will be forced to sell her ranch to pay them off. Joel is friends with Andy McBride (Robert Paige), a ranch hand at the nearby Moresby Farms. Joel convinces Andy to help him train Red as a racehorse, with the intention of selling his beloved horse to pay off his grandmother's debts.
The Bride Wore Boots, 1h25
Directed by Irving Pichel, Oscar Rudolph
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy, Romance
Themes Films about animals, Sports films, Films about horses, Horse sports in film
Actors Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Cummings, Diana Lynn, Robert Benchley, Natalie Wood, Peggy Wood
Roles Joe
Rating60% 3.00063.00063.00063.00063.0006
Sally Warren runs a horse farm, but husband Jeff has a dislike and fear of horses. He is a Civil War historian and lecturer, which bores Sally but is very popular with local ladies who call themselves the Mason-Dixon Dames.
Dangerous Money, 1h6
Origin USA
Genres Crime
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films
Actors Sidney Toler, Gloria Warren, Victor Sen Yung, Rick Vallin, Joseph Crehan, Willie Best
Roles Chattanooga Brown
Rating62% 3.144463.144463.144463.144463.14446
Aboard an ocean liner in the South Pacific, US Treasury agent Scott Pearson confidentially asks Charlie Chan for help. There have been two attempts on his life. Chan rescues him from a third, but not the fourth (a knife in the back). The captain asks Chan to complete the dead man's mission and find out who is responsible for the recent surfacing of counterfeit dollars and stolen art. Chan declines, citing urgent business in Australia, but sets out to find the murderer.
The Monster and the Ape
Directed by Howard Bretherton
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Action, Crime
Actors Robert Lowery, George Macready, Ralph Morgan, Carole Mathews, Willie Best, Jack Ingram
Roles Flash
Rating55% 2.7864552.7864552.7864552.7864552.786455
The Monster of the title is the "Metalogen Man", a robot created by Professor Franklin Arnold. After displaying his invention, the robot is stolen by Professor Ernst with the aid of his trained ape, Thor. Ken Morgan leads the attempts to recover the stolen robot.
She Wouldn't Say Yes, 1h27
Directed by Alexander Hall
Genres Comedy, Romance
Actors Rosalind Russell, Lee Bowman, Adele Jergens, Charles Winninger, Harry Davenport, Sara Haden
Roles Porter (uncredited)
Rating61% 3.0979753.0979753.0979753.0979753.097975
A psychiatrist, Dr. Susan Lane, is leaving a military psychiatric hospital after spending two weeks there. Before she leaves, she encounters a patient reading a comic strip by Michael Kent. The comic's character, the Nixie, encourages people to act on their impulses by whistling in their ear. Dr. Lane explains to the patient that it's not good to act on their impulses. Colonel Brady, another psychiatrist, mentions to Dr. Lane that her confidence as a professional comes from some problem that she has repressed.
Pillow to Post
Directed by Vincent Sherman
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy
Themes Military humor in film, Political films, Films based on plays
Actors Ida Lupino, Sydney Greenstreet, William Prince, Stuart Erwin, Ruth Donnelly, Barbara Brown
Roles Lucille, Colonial Auto Court Porter
Rating65% 3.2882253.2882253.2882253.2882253.288225
Socialite Jean Howard (Ida Lupino) is stirred to patriotism and eager to help the war effort. When she overhears her father, J. R. Howard (an uncredited Paul Harvey), complain that the military has taken all of the salesmen of his oil rig supply company, she volunteers to take their place. J. R. gives in, though he reminds her that she has never worked a day in her life.