Willie Best
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 African-American film actors and comedians to become well known. 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 an African-American bit player. Willie Best appeared in more than one hundred films of the 1930s and 1940s. Although several sources state that for years he was billed only as “Sleep n' Eat,” Best received credit under this moniker instead of his real name in only six movies: his first film as a bit player (Harold Lloyd's Feet First) and in Up Pops the Devil (1931), The Monster Walks (1932), Kentucky Kernels and West of the Pecos (both 1934), and Murder on a Honeymoon (1935). Best was first loved as a great clown, then later in the 20th century reviled and pitied, before being forgotten in the history of film. Hal Roach called him one of the greatest talents he had ever met. Comedian Bob Hope similarly acclaimed him as “the best actor I know,” while the two were working together in 1940 on The Ghost Breakers. As a supporting actor, Best, like many black actors of his era, was regularly cast in domestic worker or service-oriented roles (though a few times he played the role echoing his previous occupation as a private chauffeur). He was often seen making a brief comic turn as a hotel, airline or train porter, as well as an elevator operator, custodian, butler, valet, waiter, deliveryman, and at least once as a launch pilot (in the 1939 movie Mr. Moto in Danger Island). Willie Best received screen credit most of the time, which was unusual for “bit players,” most in the 1930s and '40s were not accorded due credit. This also happened to white actors in small roles, but black actors were not credited even when their roles were larger. In more than 80 of his movies, he was given a proper character name (as opposed to simple descriptions such as “room service waiter” or “shoe-shine boy”), beginning with his second film. Best played “Chattanooga Brown” in two Charlie Chan films —The Red Dragon in 1945 and Dangerous Money in 1946. He also played the character of “Hipp” in three of RKO’s six Scattergood Baines films with Guy Kibbee: Scattergood Baines (1941), Scattergood Survives a Murder (1942), and Cinderella Swings It in 1943. (Actor Paul White, who played a young version of Best’s “Hipp” in the first film, went on to play “Hipp” in the next three films. Best returned to the role in the last two.) After a drug arrest ended his film career, he worked in television for a while and became known to early TV audiences as “Charlie the Elevator Operator” on CBS's My Little Margie, from 1953 to 1955. He also played Willie, the house servant, handyman and close friend of the title character of ABC’s The Trouble with Father, for its entire run from 1950 to 1955.
Known for
Racket Squad
Super-Sleuth
Warts, Martin's manservant
My Little Margie
Night Waitress
Black Pedestrian
Hot Tip
Apollo
Vivacious Lady
Porter
Blondie
Porter
Waterfront
Billy Slocum
Juke Girl
Jo-Mo
Racing Lady
Brass
Mississippi Moods
Virtuous Husband
Luftus
Dixie
Steward (uncredited)
The Stu Erwin Show
Willie
High Sierra
Algernon
Thank You, Jeeves!
Drowsy
The Littlest Rebel
James Henry
Merrily We Live
George
Hold That Blonde!
Willie Shelley
Up Pops the Devil
Laundryman
A-Haunting We Will Go
Waiter
At the Circus
Redcap (uncredited)
The Shanghai Chest
Willie Best
Nothing But the Truth
Samuel
The Ghost Breakers
Alex
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Self (archive footage)
Little Miss Marker
Dizzy Memphis (uncredited)
Thank Your Lucky Stars
Soldier in "Ice Cold Katie" Number (uncredited)
Ladies of Leisure
George (uncredited)
Mr. Moto in Danger Island
Launch Pilot
The Kansan
Bones
The Hidden Hand
Eustis, the chauffeur
Breakdowns of 1941
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Green Pastures
Henry - the Angel (uncredited)
Cabin in the Sky
Second Idea Man
The Adventures of Mark Twain
Butler
I Take This Woman
Sambo
The Lady from Cheyenne
George
Money and the Woman
George Washington Jones
Gold Is Where You Find It
Joshua
You Can't Buy Luck
Airline Porter (uncredited)
The Saint Strikes Back
Algernon, Simon's Butler (Uncredited)
Private Detective
Norton's Valet
Home in Indiana
Mo' Rum (uncredited)
Highway West
Bub Wellington
Murder on a Honeymoon
Willie (as Sleep 'n' Eat)
TV in Black: The First Fifty Years
Self (archive footage)
Way Down South
Chimney Sweep
The Bride Walks Out
Smokie
Flight from Destiny
George
Music for Millions
Red Cap (uncredited)
The Nitwits
Sleepy
Dangerous Money
Chattanooga Brown
Murder on a Bridle Path
'High-Pockets'
The Monster Walks
Exodus (as Sleep n' Eat)
Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation
Driver (uncredited)
Who Killed Aunt Maggie?
Andrew
The Face of Marble
Shadrach
Kentucky Kernels
Buckshot (as Sleep 'n' Eat)
The Bride Wore Boots
Joe
Feet First
Janitor
Silly Billies
Excitement
The Smiling Ghost
Clarence
The Body Disappears
Willie
Half Past Midnight
Andy Jones
The Mark of the Whistler
Men's Room Attendant (uncredited)
Whispering Ghosts
Euclid White Brown
Youth Takes a Fling
George
Suddenly It's Spring
Porter on Train
Blackmail
Bunny - the Janitor (uncredited)
Road Show
Willie
The Girl Who Dared
Woodrow
Everybody's Doing It
Jasper - Elevator Operator
I'm from the City
Train Porter
West of the Pecos
Jonah (as Sleep 'n' Eat)
Blondie on a Budget
Newsboy (uncredited)
She Wouldn't Say Yes
Porter (uncredited)
Jalna
Sam
The Arizonian
Pompey
Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter
Apollo Johnson
Slightly Honorable
Art, Elevator Operator
The Powers Girl
Men's Room Attendant (uncredited)
Busses Roar
Sunshine
The Covered Trailer
Baltimore
Horse Heir
Blondie Brings Up Baby
Hotel Janitor (uncredited)
Straight, Place and Show
Hannibal
General Spanky
Henry
South of Caliente
Willie, Stable Boy
To Beat the Band
Elevator Operator
We Who Are About to Die
Airport Porter (uncredited)
Muss 'em Up
Janitor at Spivali's Bar (uncredited)
Meet the Missus
Bootblack
Spring Madness
Porter on Train
Mummy's Boys
Catfish
Scattergood Baines
Hipp
The Monster and the Ape
Flash
The Guilty Generation
Club Merlin Doorman (uncredited)
Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy
Charlie (archive footage)
Cinderella Swings It
Hipp
Scattergood Survives a Murder
Hipp
Saturday's Heroes
Sam
Pillow to Post
Lucille, Colonial Auto Court Porter
Down the Stretch
Noah
Maisie Gets Her Man
Sam (Uncredited)
The Red Dragon
Chattanooga Brown
The Red Stallion
Jackson
Goodbye Broadway
Jughead
Crashing Hollywood
Train Porter (uncredited)
Ellis in Freedomland
Male Model
Deep South
Two in Revolt
Eph
Breezing Home
Speed
Kisses for Breakfast
Arnold
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company "B"
Hot-Breath Harry (voice) (uncredited)
The Lady Fights Back
McTavish
Raised and Called
Minstrel Days
Singer
Meet the O'Briens
Willie
Hit and Rum
Shoe Shine Man (uncredited)