This article is about the slient film actor. For the voice actor, see
Billy West. For other people named Billy West, see
Billy West (disambiguation).
Billy West
West in 1917
Born
Roy Benjamin Weisberg
September 22, 1892
Russia
Died
July 21, 1975(1975-07-21) (aged 82)
Hollywood, California, US
Billy West (September 22, 1892 – July 21, 1975) was a silent film
actor, producer, and
director. Active during the
silent film era, he is best known as a semi-successful
Charlie Chaplin impersonator. Beyond acting, he also directed shorts in the 1910s and 20s, as well as produced films. West ultimately retired in 1935.[1]
Early career
Born Roy B. Weisberg (or Weissberg[2]) in the
Russian Empire to a
Jewish family, West emigrated to
Chicago with his family in 1896.[3][4] He appeared in many short films, first in Apartment No. 13 in 1912.
Chaplin impersonation
In 1917 movie theaters could not get enough Charlie Chaplin comedies, and an enterprising producer hired West, who had been doing comic pantomimes on the
vaudeville stage, to make imitation-Chaplin subjects to meet the demand. West, wearing the identical "tramp" costume and makeup, copied Chaplin's movements and gestures so accurately that he is often mistaken for the genuine performer. Reportedly, Chaplin himself saw the Billy West company filming on a Hollywood street once, and told West, "You're a damned good imitator." Some West comedies were later re-released on the home-movie market as "Charlie Chaplin" pictures. Most of the West comedies of 1917–18 resembled the Chaplin comedies of 1916–17, with
Oliver Hardy approximating the villainy of
Eric Campbell, and
Leatrice Joy in the
Edna Purviance ingenue role.
King-Bee executives were determined to showcase West in a five-reel feature.
Motion Picture News (September 22, 1917)
The King-Bee Film Corporation announces that it is considering the production of a five-reel comedy with Billy West as the star in a modern version of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", with Billy West playing the great lover.
Moving Picture World (November 10, 1917)
About January 1, Billy West will be seen in the first five-reeler made by the King-Bee company entitled King Solomon.
Motion Picture News (December 1, 1917)
King Solomon, the title of the King-Bee Comedy, featuring Billy West, now under production, has been changed to Old King Sol. This change was made by Nat I. Spitzer, sales manager of King-Bee after receipt of a letter from a London company, stating that it had the world rights to a picture under the title King Solomon. Old King Sol will be the first five-reel production made by King- Bee with Billy West featured.
The feature was never produced.
West became his own producer at a point. Moving behind the cameras in 1925, West produced a brief series of slapstick comedies co-starring the fat-and-skinny team of Oliver "Babe" Hardy and
Bobby Ray, and a series of "
Winnie Winkle" comedies with Ethelyn Gibson.
West took small roles in sound films, first for small independent companies and later for
Columbia Pictures.[5]
Billy's tramp was another dimension of Charlie's. Where Chaplin's little fellow exhibited a tendency towards cynicism, tempered with a degree of hopeful optimism (which was always badly bent by the fade out), Billy's tramp was the cheerful optimism who is treated pretty decently by faith. Most of his problems came about as a result of his own carefree ineptitude.[5]
Filmography
Actor
Apartment No. 13 (1912)
Unicorn Film Service (1916)
His Married Life (December 1, 1916)
Bombs and Boarders (1916)
His Waiting Career (1916)
King-Bee Film Corporation (1917-1918)
Back Stage (May 15, 1917) (A print is held at Nederlands Filmmuseum)