William Hill, known professionally as Billie Ritchie (5 September 1874 – 6 July 1921), was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

comedian who first gained transatlantic fame as a performer for British music hall producer

Fred Karno Frederick John Westcott (26 March 1865 – 17 September 1941), best known by his stage name Fred Karno, was an English theatre impresario of the British music hall. As a comedian of slapstick he is credited with popularising the custard-pie-in ...

— a full decade before

Stan Laurel Stan Laurel ( ; born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, director and writer who was in the comedy double act, duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 sh ...

and

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

took a similar career path. Ritchie is best recalled today for the

silent comedy Silent comedy is a style of film, related to but distinct from mime, developed to bring comedy into the medium of film during the silent film era (1900s–1920s), before synchronized soundtracks that could include dialogue were technologically av ...

shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ar ...

he made between 1914 and 1920 for producer-director

Henry Lehrman Henry Lehrman (30 March 1881 – 7 November 1946) was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. Lehrman was a very prominent figure of Hollywood's silent film era, working with such cinematic pioneers as D. W. Griffith and Mack Sen ...

's L-KO Motion Picture Company and

Fox Film The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American independent company that produced motion pictures and was formed in 1914 by the theater "chain" pioneer William Fox. It was the corporate successor to his earlier Greater Ne ...

Sunshine Comedy unit.

Biography

In 1906–1908 and again in 1911–1913, Ritchie toured in

Lee Orean Smith Lee Orean Smith (August 9, 1874 – April 6, 1942) was an American composer, arranger, music editor, publisher, music teacher, multi-instrumentalist, and conductor. A diverse composer who began his career writing Tin Pan Alley songs and music for ...

's musical ''

Around the Clock Round the clock may refer to: * a service available at any time, 24/7 * Round the Clock (Darts), the game played on a dartboard * Round the Clock (radio), an English internet radio service from China Radio International See also * '' Around th ...

'' in which he starred as the drunk Billie Smith. Variations on Ritchie's "tramp" and "drunk" personae – which Ritchie claimed he had developed before and during his Karno years – were introduced to film audiences by

in such shorts as the Lehrman-directed ''

Kid Auto Races at Venice ''Kid Auto Races at Venice'' (also known as ''The Pest'') is a 1914 American film starring Charles Chaplin. It is the first film in which his " Little Tramp" character makes an appearance before the public. The first film to be produced that fe ...

'' (7 February 1914) and ''

Mabel's Strange Predicament ''Mabel's Strange Predicament'' is a 1914 American film starring Mabel Normand and Charles Chaplin, notable for being the first film for which Chaplin donned the costume of The Tramp, although his appearance in the costume in ''Kid Auto Races ...

'' (9 February 1914). Ritchie, who, due to a series of on-set injuries, spent his final years relatively inactive, succumbed to

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...

in the summer of 1921. Winifred Frances, the comedian's widow and onetime stage partner, wound up in the employ of Charlie Chaplin as a wardrobe mistress, suggesting there was no animosity between the two performers. Wyn Ritchie, their daughter, was also a performer and, in private life, the wife (for 55 years) of songwriter

Ray Evans Raymond Bernard Evans (February 4, 1915 – February 15, 2007) was an American songwriter best known for being a half of a composing-songwriting duo with Jay Livingston, specializing himself in writing lyrics for film songs. On music Livingston ...

In popular culture

In 1918 Dutch illustrator David Bueno de Mesquita created a comic book about Ritchie named ''Billie Ritchie en Zijn Ezel'' (''Billie Ritchie and his Donkey''). This was the first celebrity comic in Dutch history.

References

External links

* * * * *
The Ray and Wyn Ritchie Evans Foundation Official Website

1874 births 1921 deaths Comedians from Glasgow Scottish male comedians 20th-century Scottish comedians Scottish male film actors Scottish male silent film actors Scottish emigrants to the United States {{UK-comedian-stub