{{Short description|American actor (1913–1962)}} {{About|the actor||William Best (disambiguation){{!}}William Best}} {{Use American English|date=September 2021}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Willie Best | image = Dangerous Money (1946) - Willie Best.jpg | caption = Best in ''[[Dangerous Money]]'' (1946) | birth_name = William Best | birth_date = {{Birth date|1913|5|27|mf=y}} | birth_place = [[Sunflower, Mississippi]], U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1962|2|27|1913|5|27|mf=y}} | death_place = [[Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California]], U.S. | resting_place = [[Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery]] | other_names = Sleep 'n' Eat | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1930–1955 }}
'''William Best''' (May 27, 1913<ref>Cox, James L. (2001). ''The Mississippi Almanac : The Ultimate Reference on the State, 2001–2002''. Yazoo City, MS : Computer Search & Research. {{ISBN|9780964354524}}; Reproduced in [https://www.mediafire.com/view/hrrn79liuxs83vr "Black History... Mississippi Style"]. ''The Mississippi Link''. March 6, 2002. {{ProQuest|<!-- Add ProQuest data here -->}}</ref><ref>Radishofski, Kathryn. [https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/willie-best/ "Willie Best (1913–1962), Actor"]. ''MississippiEncyclopedia.org''. Retrieved February 4, 2021.</ref><ref>Ellenburger, Allan (2001). [https://books.google.com/books?id=8bOJCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA201 ''Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory'']. Jefferson, NC; McFarland & Company. Page 201. {{ISBN|0-7864-0983-5}}.</ref> – February 27, 1962), known professionally as '''Willie Best''' or '''Sleep 'n' Eat''',<ref name="bcbc">{{cite book |last1=Littleton |first1=Darryl |title=Black Comedians on Black Comedy: How black Americans Taught Us to Laugh |date=2006 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=9781557836809 |page=46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nCv5NaiezZQC&q=%22Willie+Best%22&pg=PA46 |access-date=5 August 2018 |language=en}}</ref> was an American television and film [[actor]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://movies.nytimes.com/person/5959/Willie-Best?scp=1&sq=Willie%20Best%20&st=cse|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104071915/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/5959/Willie-Best?scp=1&sq=Willie%20Best%20&st=cse|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 November 2012|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=2012|title=Willie Best – About This Person – Movies & TV – NYTimes.com|access-date=24 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9407EEDB163AE233A25755C2A96F9C946093D6CF|title=Movie Review – The Smiling Ghost – Poor Ghost – NYTimes.com|access-date=24 March 2016}}</ref>
Best was one of the first [[African American]] film actors and [[comedian]]s to become well known. In the 21st century, his work, like that of [[Stepin Fetchit]], is sometimes reviled{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} 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.
==Stage== A native of [[Sunflower, Mississippi]], Best reached [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] as a [[chauffeur]] for a vacationing couple. He decided to stay in the region and began his performing career with a traveling show in southern [[California]]. He was regularly hired as a character actor in Hollywood films after a talent scout discovered him on stage.
==Motion pictures== [[File:William Best.jpg|thumb|180px|Best in a photo from ''Film Star Who's Who'' (1938)]]
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). He thereafter usually received credit as "Willie Best" or "William Best".
In his early films, Best clearly imitated Stepin Fetchit,{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} delivering dialogue slowly in a thick and almost incoherent dialect, and reacting to things with a pop-eyed stare and slack-jawed amazement or bewilderment. Best later refined his screen character, abandoning the Fetchit mannerisms but retaining his natural comic reactions and dialect.<ref>1934 interview with Willie Best, quoted in Thomas Cripps, ''Slow Fade to Black: The Negro in American Film 1900–1942'', Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 106.</ref>
In reality he was far from the slow-witted clown he often portrayed; he was well aware of being typecast as "lazy darkey" characters: "I often think about these roles I have to play. Most of them are pretty broad. Sometimes I tell the director and he cuts out the bad parts... But what's an actor going to do? Either you do it or get out."<ref>1934 interview with Willie Best, quoted in Thomas Cripps, ''Slow Fade to Black: The Negro in American Film 1900–1942'', Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 106.</ref> [[Mitchell Leisen]], who directed Willie Best in ''[[Suddenly It's Spring]]'', described him as "the most natural actor I've ever seen."<ref>[https://www.mediafire.com/view/itlyq6kvzlrmi12 "This Acting Business Is Not Hard to Comedian"]. ''The Pittsburgh Courier''. April 27, 1946. Page 23. Retrieved February 5, 2021.</ref> Comedian [[Bob Hope]] similarly acclaimed him as "the best actor I know",<ref>Harry and Michael Medved, ''Son of Golden Turkey Awards'', p. 28, Angus and Robertson Publishers, Australia, 1986</ref> while the two were working together in 1940 on ''[[The Ghost Breakers]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D02E2DA123EE432A25757C0A9619C946193D6CF|title=Movie Review – The Ghost Breakers – The Screen; 'Ghost Breakers,' a Comic Thriller, at Paramount – Spy Pictures at the Rialto and Palace – NYTimes.com|access-date=24 March 2016}}</ref>
[[File:Dangerous Money (1946) - Dickerson & Best.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Dudley Dickerson]] (left) and Best in ''[[Dangerous Money]]'' (1946)]]
As a supporting actor, Best, like many black actors of his era, was regularly cast in [[domestic worker]] or [[Tertiary sector of the economy|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 (carrier)|porter]], as well as an elevator operator, custodian, butler, valet, waiter, deliveryman, and once as a [[Maritime pilot|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 1940s 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.{{Citation needed |date=February 2021}}
He 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.
[[Mantan Moreland]], one of Willie Best's contemporaries, played "Birmingham Brown" the chauffeur in the [[Charlie Chan]] films. When Moreland took temporary leave of the series to tour in vaudeville, Willie Best took over Moreland's role (as "Chattanooga Brown") in ''[[The Red Dragon (film)|The Red Dragon]]'' in 1945 and ''[[Dangerous Money]]'' in 1946. Best and Moreland appeared together in the Chan mystery ''[[Shanghai Chest]]'' in 1948.
==Arrests== Best was fond of using recreational narcotics, which resulted in at least two well-publicized arrests. In 1942 he was arrested for possession of marijuana.<ref>''The Afro-American'', "Willie Best, Noted Screen Comedian, Arrested on Narcotics Charge," Sept. 19, 1942, p. 15.</ref> In 1951, he was arrested for possession of heroin.<ref>''Atlanta Daily World'', "Willie Best Is Arrested on Narcotics Charge," June 15, 1951, p. 1.</ref> The 1951 arraignment resulted in a $250 fine and three years' probation. The adverse publicity hurt Best's career. He made no further films after the 1951 [[Roy Rogers]] western ''[[South of Caliente]]''.
==Television== Willie Best was rescued from professional oblivion by veteran producer [[Hal Roach]], who regarded Best as one of the greatest talents he had ever met. Roach was unconcerned with Best's personal life as long as Best remained professional in acting roles. Best worked almost exclusively for Roach in 1950s television. He played Willie, the house servant/handyman and close friend of the title character of the [[Stuart Erwin|Stu Erwin]] [[sitcom]] ''[[The Trouble with Father]]'', for its entire run from 1950 to 1955.<ref>Terrace, Vincent. ''Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 Through 2010'', McFarland & Company, 2011, pp. 732–733. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-6477-7}}.</ref>
He became familiar to early-TV audiences as Charlie, the [[elevator operator]] on [[CBS]]'s ''[[My Little Margie]]'', from 1953 to 1955.<ref>Terrace, p. 1109.</ref> He played Billy Slocum in the syndicated drama ''[[Waterfront (1955 TV series)|Waterfront]]'' (1954).<ref>Terrace, p. 1154.</ref> Perhaps his most surprising television work was in a Christmas-themed episode of ''[[Racket Squad]]'', in which he played a straight character role without comedy or dialect.
==Death== Best died on February 27, 1962, at the [[Motion Picture Country Home]] in [[Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California|Woodland Hills, California]], of cancer at age 48. He was buried by the Motion Picture Fund on March 5, 1962, at [[Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery]].
==Legacy== Best's "Sleep n' Eat" moniker surfaced again in the 2000 motion picture satire ''[[Bamboozled]]'', directed by [[Spike Lee]]. In the film a "twenty-first-century minstrel show" is televised starring two African American performers, one of whom, portrayed by [[Tommy Davidson]], plays a character named "Sleep n' Eat". In a nod to Mantan Moreland, his on-stage counterpart is named "Mantan".
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1930 | ''[[Ladies of Leisure]]'' | George – the Elevator Operator | Uncredited |- | 1930 | ''[[Feet First]]'' | Charcoal – Janitor | Credited as Sleep 'n' Eat |- | 1930 | ''[[Deep South (film)|Deep South]]'' | | |- | 1931 | ''[[The Virtuous Husband]]'' | Luftus | Alternative title: ''What Wives Don't Want'' |- | 1931 | ''[[Up Pops the Devil]]'' | Laundryman | Uncredited |- | 1931 | ''[[The Guilty Generation]]'' | Club Merlin Doorman | Uncredited |- | 1932 | ''[[The Monster Walks]]'' | Exodus | Credited as Sleep 'n' Eat |- | 1932 | ''[[Disorderly Conduct (film)|Disorderly Conduct]]'' | Man at Police Station | Uncredited |- | 1934 | ''[[Little Miss Marker (1934 film)|Little Miss Marker]]'' | Dizzy Memphis | Uncredited |- | 1934 | ''[[Kentucky Kernels]]'' | Buckshot | Credited as Sleep 'n' Eat |- | 1934 | ''[[West of the Pecos (1934 film)|West of the Pecos]]'' | Jonah | Credited as Sleep 'n' Eat |- | 1935 | ''[[Murder on a Honeymoon]]'' | Willie, the Porter | Credited as Sleep 'n' Eat |- | 1935 | ''[[The Nitwits]]'' | Sleepy | |- | 1935 | ''[[The Arizonian]]'' | Pompey | |- | 1935 | ''[[Jalna (film)|Jalna]]'' | Sam, the Janitor | Uncredited |- | 1935 | ''[[Hot Tip]]'' | Apollo | |- | 1935 | ''[[Annie Oakley (1935 film)|Annie Oakley]]'' | Second Cook | Uncredited |- | 1935 | ''[[To Beat the Band]]'' | Elevator Operator | Uncredited |- | 1935 | ''[[The Littlest Rebel]]'' | James Henry, a Cary slave | |- | 1936 | ''[[Muss 'Em Up]]'' | Janitor at Spivali's Bar | Uncredited |- | 1936 | ''[[The Lady Consents]]'' | Sam | Uncredited |- | 1936 | ''[[Silly Billies]]'' | Excitement | Uncredited |- | 1936 | ''[[Two in Revolt]]'' | Eph | |- | 1936 | ''[[Murder on a Bridle Path]]'' | High Pockets | |- | 1936 | ''[[The Bride Walks Out]]'' | Smokie – at marriage bureau | |- | 1936 | ''[[The Green Pastures (film)|The Green Pastures]]'' | Henry – the Angel | Uncredited |- | 1936 | ''[[Down the Stretch (1936 film)|Down the Stretch]]'' | Noah | Credited as William Best |- | 1936 | ''[[Mummy's Boys]]'' | Catfish | |- | 1936 | ''[[Thank You, Jeeves!]]'' | Drowsy | |- | 1936 | ''[[Make Way for a Lady]]'' | William Townley – Jackson's Chauffeur | Uncredited |- | 1936 | ''[[General Spanky]]'' | Henry | |- | 1936 | ''[[Night Waitress]]'' | Cars For Rent attendant | Uncredited |- | 1937 | ''[[We Who Are About to Die]]'' | Airport Porter | Uncredited |- | 1937 | ''[[Racing Lady]]'' | Brass | |- | 1937 | ''[[Criminal Lawyer (1937 film)|Criminal Lawyer]]'' | Janitor | Uncredited |- | 1937 | ''[[Breezing Home]]'' | Speed | Credited as William Best |- | 1937 | ''[[You Can't Buy Luck]]'' | Airline Porter | Uncredited |- | 1937 | ''[[Meet the Missus (1937 film)|Meet the Missus]]'' | Mose – Shoe Shine Boy | |- | 1937 | ''[[Super-Sleuth]]'' | Warts | |- | 1937 | ''Mississippi Moods'' | | |- | 1937 | ''[[The Lady Fights Back]]'' | McTavish | |- | 1937 | ''[[Saturday's Heroes]]'' | Sam | |- | 1937 | ''[[Deep South (film)|Deep South]]'' | | [[Short film]] |- | 1938 | ''[[Crashing Hollywood (1938 film)|Crashing Hollywood]]'' | Train Porter | Uncredited |- | 1938 | ''[[Everybody's Doing It (1938 film)|Everybody's Doing It]]'' | Jasper – Elevator Operator | Uncredited |- | 1938 | ''[[Gold Is Where You Find It]]'' | Joshua | |- | 1938 | ''[[Merrily We Live]]'' | George W. Jones | |- | 1938 | ''[[Goodbye Broadway]]'' | Jughead | |- | 1938 | ''[[Vivacious Lady]]'' | Train Porter | |- | 1938 | ''[[I'm From the City]]'' | Train Porter | Uncredited |- | 1938 | ''[[Youth Takes a Fling]]'' | George | |- | 1938 | ''[[Straight Place and Show]]'' | Hannibal | Uncredited |- | 1938 | ''[[Spring Madness]]'' | Hotel Porter | Uncredited |- | 1938 | ''[[Blondie (1938 film)|Blondie]]'' | Porter | |- | 1939 | ''[[The Saint Strikes Back]]'' | Algernon | Uncredited |- | 1939 | ''[[Mr. Moto in Danger Island]]'' | Launch Pilot | Uncredited |- | 1939 | ''[[Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter]]'' | Apollo Johnson | |- | 1939 | ''[[Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation]]'' | Driver | Uncredited |- | 1939 | ''[[Way Down South (film)|Way Down South]]'' | Chimney Sweep | Uncredited |- | 1939 | ''[[Blackmail (1939 film)|Blackmail]]'' | Bunny – the Janitor | Uncredited |- | 1939 | ''[[At the Circus]]'' | Redcap | Uncredited |- | 1939 | ''[[Blondie Brings Up Baby]]'' | Hotel Janitor | Uncredited |- | 1939 | ''[[The Covered Trailer]]'' | Baltimore | |- | 1939 | ''[[Private Detective (film)|Private Detective]]'' | Norton's Valet | |- | 1939 | ''[[Miracle on Main Street]]'' | Duke | |- | 1939 | ''[[Slightly Honorable]]'' | Art, the Elevator Operator | |- | 1940 | ''[[I Take This Woman (1940 film)|I Take This Woman]]'' | Sambo | |- | 1940 | ''[[Blondie on a Budget]]'' | Newspaper Boy | Uncredited |- | 1940 | ''[[The Ghost Breakers]]'' | Alex | |- | 1940 | ''[[Money and the Woman]]'' | George Washington Jones, Dave's Servant | |- | 1940 | ''[[Who Killed Aunt Maggie?]]'' | Andrew | |- | 1941 | ''[[High Sierra (film)|High Sierra]]'' | Algernon | |- | 1941 | ''[[Flight from Destiny]]'' | George | |- | 1941 | ''[[The Body Disappears]]'' | Willie | Credited as Willie Best |- | 1941 | ''[[Scattergood Baines]]'' | Hipp | |- | 1941 | ''[[The Lady from Cheyenne]]'' | George | |- | 1941 | ''[[Kisses for Breakfast (film)|Kisses for Breakfast]]'' | Arnold | |- | 1941 | ''[[Highway West]]'' | Bub Wellington | |- | 1941 | ''[[The Smiling Ghost]]'' | Clarence |Credited as Willie Best |- | 1941 | ''[[Nothing But the Truth (1941 film)|Nothing But the Truth]]'' | Samuel | |- | 1941 | ''[[The Body Disappears]]'' | Willie | |- | 1942 | ''[[Whispering Ghosts]]'' | Euclid White Brown | |- | 1942 | ''[[Juke Girl]]'' | Jo-Mo | |- | 1942 | ''[[Maisie Gets Her Man]]'' | Sam, Room Service Waiter | Uncredited |- | 1942 | ''[[A-Haunting We Will Go (1942 film)|A-Haunting We Will Go]]'' | Waiter | |- | 1942 | ''[[Busses Roar]]'' | Sunshine | |- | 1942 | ''[[Scattergood Survives a Murder]]'' | Hipp | |- | 1942 | ''[[The Hidden Hand (1942 film)|The Hidden Hand]]'' | Eustis the Chauffeur | |- | 1943 | ''[[The Powers Girl]]'' | Men's Room Attendant | Uncredited |- | 1943 | ''[[Cinderella Swings It]]'' | Hipp | |- | 1943 | ''[[Cabin in the Sky (film)|Cabin in the Sky]]'' | Second Idea Man | |- | 1943 | ''[[Dixie (film)|Dixie]]'' | Steward | Uncredited |- | 1943 | ''[[The Kansan (film)|The Kansan]]'' | Bones | |- | 1943 | ''[[Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943 film)|Thank Your Lucky Stars]]'' | Soldier | Uncredited |- | 1944 | ''[[The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944 film)|The Adventures of Mark Twain]]'' | George, Twain's Butler | Uncredited |- | 1944 | ''[[Home in Indiana]]'' | Mo' Rum | Uncredited |- | 1944 | ''[[The Girl Who Dared]]'' | Woodrow | |- | 1944 | ''[[The Mark of the Whistler]]'' | Men's Room Attendant | Uncredited |- | 1944 | ''[[Music for Millions]]'' | Red Cap | Uncredited |- | 1945 | ''[[The Monster and the Ape]]'' | Flash | Serial |- | 1945 | ''[[Pillow to Post]]'' | Lucille | |- | 1945 | ''[[Hold That Blonde!]]'' | Willie Shelley | |- | 1945 | ''[[She Wouldn't Say Yes]]'' | Porter | Uncredited |- | 1945 | ''[[The Red Dragon (film)|The Red Dragon]]'' | Chattanooga Brown | |- | 1946 | ''[[The Bride Wore Boots]]'' | Joe | |- | 1946 | ''[[The Face of Marble]]'' | Piano Delivery Man | Uncredited |- | 1946 | ''[[Dangerous Money]]'' | Chattanooga Brown | Alternative title: ''Charlie Chan in Dangerous Money'' |- | 1947 | ''[[Suddenly, It's Spring]]'' | Porter on train | |- | 1947 | ''[[The Red Stallion]]'' | Jackson | |- | 1948 | ''[[Half Past Midnight]]'' | Andy Jones | |- | 1948 | ''[[Smart Woman (1948 film)|Smart Woman]]'' | Train Porter | Uncredited |- | 1948 | ''[[Shanghai Chest]]'' | Willie Best, in jail cell | Uncredited |- | 1949 | ''[[Jiggs and Maggie in Jackpot Jitters]]'' | Willie | Uncredited |- | 1950 | ''High and Dizzy'' | Wesley | Short |- | 1951 | ''[[South of Caliente]]'' | Willie | |}
==Television== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1950–1955 | ''[[The Stu Erwin Show]]'' | Willie, The Handyman | 30 episodes |- | 1951–1952 | ''[[Racket Squad]]'' | Janitor / Cleaning Man | 2 episodes |- | 1952–1955 | ''[[My Little Margie]]'' | Charlie | 21 episodes |- | 1953 | ''Mystery Theater / [[Mark Saber]] of the Homicide Squad''<br> "The Case of the Invisible Death" | Manservant / Corpus | |- | 1954–1955 | ''Waterfront'' | Billy Slocum / Willie Slocum | 18 episodes (final appearance) |}
==See also== {{Portal|Biography|Film|United States}} * [[Stepin Fetchit]] * [[Mantan Moreland]] * [[Fred Toones]] * [[Blue Washington]] * [[Blackface]]
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{commons category}} * {{IMDb name|0079008}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Best, Willie}} [[Category:1913 births]] [[Category:1962 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century American male actors]] [[Category:American male film actors]] [[Category:American male television actors]] [[Category:Burials at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery]] [[Category:Deaths from cancer in California]] [[Category:Male actors from Mississippi]] [[Category:People from Sunflower, Mississippi]] [[Category:20th-century African-American male actors]]